AHHS mock trial team wins national championship
A group of students from Abington Heights High School earned top honors in the nation for their acumen in the courtroom.
After winning the state mock trial championship in March, the team took home the national title Saturday in Delaware — becoming the first school from Pennsylvania to claim the crown by topping a team from Texas.
Abington Heights captured the state title in three of the past four years, placing 24th and 15th in the prior two trips to nationals.
The team, led by teacher coaches Jennifer Tarr and Amy Kelly, attorney advisers Joseph T. (Jody) Healey of Burns White and Daniel E. Cummins of Cummins Law, and performance adviser Anne Cummins, consists of seniors Madeline Herold, Dane Huggler, Aidan Lam, Serena Mokhtari, William Newton and Thomas Russini, juniors J.T. Healey, Zachary Riggall, Ava Shedlauskas and Ava Whalen, and freshmen Amishi Amit, Christopher Cummins, Henry Mahoney, Nolan Moore and Ananya Phadke.
Daniel Cummins praised the students for their resiliency under difficult circumstances.
“Some of them came under the weather and they were exhausted from doing five trials in two days, but they all persevered and rose up to the challenge,” he said. “They swept the competition in the first four trials to get to the final trial and then prevailed in the championship round.”
The case centered on a civil lawsuit by shareholders against a company run by a movie star who was also a business entrepreneur. The claim was that the movie star, who was the CEO, was reckless or grossly negligent in running the company such that it went bankrupt and caused financial damages to the plaintiff shareholders, Cummins said.
“It was a very complex case with a very detailed set of facts that these excellent high school students were able to break down, simplify and present to the jury in a coherent and persuasive fashion,” he said.
Abington Heights High School Principal Lee Ann Theony lauded the students for their commitment to the cause.
“It’s so impressive that they received the case seven weeks ago and were able to rehearse in such a tight timeframe to bring home the national championship,” she said. “It’s a true testament to their talent and dedication.”
Tarr noted the Abington Heights students gained the respect and support of other teams throughout the competition.
“They were kind and humble at every trial,” she said. “They were rooting for every team and enjoying interacting with every team. As a result, when they were going into their final trial, they had the other states rooting for them.”
Mokhtari, who served as a defense attorney, cherished her time as a member of the team, which she stressed became a family.
“As the months progressed, we spent so much time together and formed a bond,” she said. “We trusted in each other that we could go into every case knowing everyone is going to do their best. The second we go into a courtroom, we know we have each other’s back.”
Hearing Abington Heights announced as the national champion proved emotional for Mokhtari.
“I was sobbing because it was such an overwhelming experience knowing everything we put into this case, every waking moment working on it really paid off in the end,” she said.
