The Law and Justice Summer Program at the University of Â鶹´«Ã½ at Mānoa has been awarded a $2,400 grant to help as many as two dozen high school students experience law and legal education up close, including taking classes with law professors, working with current law students, and conducting their own mock trial.
The (SEED) grant will help defray costs for the June 2016 program at the law school.
This is the second year the law school will open its doors for a week in the summer to public high school students for an immersive learning experience.
- Related UH News story: , June 17, 2015
A taste of legal and civic education
“It’s geared for rising 11th and 12th grade students, because this program could have an impact on their aspirations and college choices,” said Associate Faculty Specialist , who serves as the director of the and Academic Success at the law school. “It provides engaging civic education that may be absent from the normal high school curriculum. We believe that the program makes complex issues of law and justice accessible and this in turn could encourage the participating students to consider a legal education or law-related careers.”
The law school has begun to publicize the summer program and already has received applicants from the Waiʻanae coast and ʻEwa areas, as well as from Farrington High.
“Our law students who mentor and coach the high school students are part of the group,” said Skilling. “The SPOCE students also help with the courts in the community program, in which the Â鶹´«Ã½ Supreme Court hears actual cases at local public high schools. Our law students also teach street law lessons and lessons on first amendment rights around the state.”
Skilling said that high school students last year raved about the program. They especially enjoyed running their own trial, and being able to meet both Governor David Ige and Â鶹´«Ã½ Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald, and several other justices. Reported Skilling, “One student said, ‘The mock trial seemed intimidating at first, but experiencing it firsthand was really fun!’”
In addition to the SEED grant, the law school is seeking added funding for the program, as well as long-term funding to be able to continue it in future summers.
For more information, read the .
UH News video on the 2015 Law and Justice Summer Program
—By Beverly Creamer