Marshall-Brennan Project

Fourth Annual Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project a Success

Anonymous — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 19:21:04 +0000

Fourth Annual Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project a Success Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 02/14/2017 - 12:21

On Saturday, January 28, the University of Colorado Law School welcomed approximately 60 high school students from the Denver metro area as they competed in the fourth annual Colorado Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Moot Court Competition, hosted by the Byron R. White Center.

The student competitors delivered oral arguments to panels of volunteer judges and lawyers, including U.S. District Judge Wiley Daniel, Colorado Supreme Court Justice Rich Gabriel, and Judge Laurie Booras of the Colorado Court of Appeals, who judged the final round of argument.

The finalists from the Colorado competition now have the opportunity to travel to Boston, Massachusetts, to compete in the National Marshall-Brennan Moot Court Competition, which features the top high school students from across the country. The national competition will take place March 24-26, 2017, at Suffolk University School of Law.

Finalists:

Rachel Kusbel, Longmont High School (Best Oralist)
Dominick Mobley, Pomona High School
Aimee Sanchez, Pomona High School
Soleil Cully, Academy High School
Diana Contreras, Academy High School
Daniela Castor, Mapleton Early College

Alternates:

Arianna Rivas, Rangeview High School
Marina Ramirez-Loya, STRIVE Prep - Rise

The competition is part of the national Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project, which has chapters across the country. Each year, the Colorado chapter partners a select group of upper-level Colorado Law students (teaching fellows) with public school teachers in underserved high schools to teach a course about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

In addition to working in the classroom with their high school counterparts, teaching fellows also coach the high school students for the moot court competition.

“Watching the arguments, it was evident that the high school students put in enormous effort,” said Melissa Hart, professor and director of the White Center. “It was also clear that the law school Marshall-Brennan Teaching Fellows had gone above and beyond, spending many hours during the month of January—after their official commitment to the class was over.”

“I am deeply grateful to all of the high school teachers, administrators and students who give us the opportunity to work with them on this project each year, to the law students who give so generously of their time and energy, to the alumni who come back year after year to serve as judges, and to the University of Colorado for supporting this work,” Hart said.

Learn more about the White Center.

Off

Traditional

White

White Center Program Creates Brighter Vision for the Future

Anonymous — Fri, 16 May 2014 21:17:13 +0000

White Center Program Creates Brighter Vision for the Future Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 05/16/2014 - 15:17

“The moment I got involved in the Marshall-Brennan Project, my life changed,” said Viviana Andazola, who was a 10th grade student at York International High School in the Mapleton School District during the 2011–12 academic year, the first year of Colorado Law’s Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project. “I now have a brighter vision for my future.”

For Viviana, Marshall-Brennan came at a time when she was realizing that she needed to turn her life around. “My early years at home and in school were really hard, and I didn’t handle it very well. My father wasn’t around, and my mother had a hard time keeping a job and always seemed to have problems,” Viviana explained.

“Then one day I realized that the only way I was ever going to be able to take care of myself was to work really hard, to do well, and stay in school. Fortunately, Colorado Law students came to my class during my sophomore year and I found something that I was extremely interested in participating in.”

Through the Marshall-Brennan Project, Colorado Law students Angela Banducci (’12) and Johanna Blumenthal (’12) were assigned to spend one day each week in Viviana’s civics class, teaching about the Constitution, the U.S. judicial system, and the Supreme Court decisions that are most relevant to high school students. Banducci and Blumenthal also worked with Viviana and her classmates to prepare a moot court appellate argument. This gave the high school students an opportunity to use the constitutional principles they learned in class to make legal arguments and to practice their public speaking skills.

In January 2012, Viviana was one of about 40 students who came to the Wolf Law Building to participate in the first Colorado Marshall-Brennan Moot Court Competition. When she walked into the building and saw all of the competitors from other schools in Denver and Thornton, Viviana remembers being really nervous. “I was fearful of my competition and I didn’t know if I would be able to remember all of the best arguments.” Viviana explained. “But each time I presented my argument, I became more confident.”

At the end of the competition, Viviana learned that she was one of the top 10 competitors. As a top competitor, Viviana had earned a trip to Washington, D.C.–supervised by Professor Melissa Hart, Director of the Byron White Center and the law student coaches–to compete in the National Marshall-Brennan Moot Court Competition. While she was in D.C., in addition to competing, Viviana met Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor and visited museums and monuments. For Viviana and most of her peers, it was their first trip out of Colorado.

“Travelling to Washington, meeting a Supreme Court Justice, and recognizing the importance of the legal issues we were learning about really transformed my ideas about what I wanted to do, and what I could do,” said Viviana. “The support I have received from Professor Hart and the law students has helped keep me focused on my long-term goals.”

In December 2013, Viviana learned that Yale University had accepted her application. She will matriculate in the fall of 2014. After Yale, Viviana hopes to go to law school and dreams of someday representing Colorado as our governor.

Support the White Center's Crowdfunding Campaign

Off

Traditional

White

White Center Takes High School Students to Washington for Moot Court Competition

Anonymous — Fri, 03 May 2013 19:25:10 +0000

White Center Takes High School Students to Washington for Moot Court Competition Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 05/03/2013 - 13:25

Before University of Colorado Law School students began visiting her classroom last fall, Crystal Perez, a ninth grade student at York International School in Thornton, had never been anywhere in the United States outside of Colorado and had no interest in the law. Just eight months later, Perez had earned a trip to Washington, D.C., to compete against high school students from across the country in the National Marshall-Brennan Moot Court Competition.

Perez was one of six students from underserved Colorado high schools selected to represent the Colorado Marshall-Brennan Project, a constitutional literacy program run by Colorado Law’s Byron R. White Center, at the national competition in D.C. in April. This moot court competition is just one piece of the Colorado Marshall-Brennan Project, which sends law students into high school classes during the school year to partner with social studies teachers in teaching about the Constitution. The project has touched more than 500 students in 10 different high schools since Professor Melissa Hart, director of the White Center, launched the project in 2012.

In the weeks before the national competition, the high school students practiced three times a week under the guidance of their Colorado Law student coaches. The moot court problem dealt with how the First Amendment applies to student speech on a school-sponsored website, and required the high school students to master difficult legal concepts and a detailed trial court record.

“It was inspiring to see the time and effort that both the high school students and their law school coaches put into preparing for this event,” Hart said. “The payoff in terms of the high school students' deeper understanding of the constitutional issues and their ability to make compelling arguments using both the facts and the law was exceptional.”

All of the high school student competitors presented three oral arguments, each fifteen minutes long, on the first day of the competition. While all six Colorado students delivered outstanding arguments, Perez was the only Coloradan to make it through to the semi-final round on the second day of the competition. For Perez, being the lone Colorado representative was bitter sweet.

“When I found out I was a semi-finalist I was really happy and excited,” Perez said, “but I wanted my teammates to get in. They all worked really hard, too.”

As one of twenty-four students to make it to the semi-final round, Perez had the honor of arguing in a courtroom of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. During her argument, Perez fielded a barrage of complicated questions from a panel of three volunteer judges. Although Perez wanted to impress the judges, she was most concerned about making her family and teammates proud.

“I knew what the judges were looking for, but I was most worried about not letting my family down and all of Colorado down.” Perez explained.

Perez was not among the four finalists, but she still had the experience of a lifetime.

“Before this I had never been anywhere in the U.S. outside of Colorado and I had never been on an airplane,” Perez said. “This experience helped me get out of my shell and explore.”

In addition to seeing a different part of the country, participating in the Colorado Marshall-Brennan Project allowed Perez to build strong friendships with other high school students in Colorado.

“During the trip I really got to know my teammates and we brought back a lot of great memories from D.C.” Perez said. “Because of the trip, we created a great bond that we’ll carry with us our whole life. These people became my family.”

When asked what the best part of the program was, Perez reveals her new appreciation for the law.

“Kids always say ‘it’s a free country,’” Perez explains, “but there are limits and this program teaches us about our nation and how it works more exactly. It is important for students to learn what we can and can’t do under the law.”

Off

Traditional

White