Abington Heights, the 2024 Pennsylvania Mock Trial Team, won the national competition this spring. They won a trip to the White House.
In the President Biden photo:
From L. to R. Amy Kelly - Teacher/Coach, Daniel E. Cummins, Esq. - Attorney Advisor, Zachary Riggall, Christopher Cummins, Ava Shedlauskas, Serena Mokhtari, Madeline Herold, Amishi Amit, Dane Huggler, Ananya Phadki, President Joe Biden, Ava Whalen, William Newton, Thomas Russini, Nolan Moore, Aidan Lam, Joseph T. Healey, Jennifer Tarr - Teacher/Coach, Henry Mahoney, and Joseph T. Healey, Esq. - Attorney Advisor. Not pictured, Anne Cummins - Performance Advisor
But the team from Abington Heights would have never made it to the White House if not for LEAP's nearly 45-year history with mock trial. In our picture are, front row, left to right, Roberta West, who worked 25 years at LEAP and ran the mock trial program from 2001 to 2014 (Temple Law alum), Beth Earley Farnbach, LEAP's ED from 1975 to 1993 (she started the mock trials in 1979 or so), and Marcia Halbert, Philadelphia School District Museum Educator whose museum was City Hall and who brought tens of thousands of kids to Court to see live trials (she is also the widow of Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Marvin Halbert, with whom she supported LEAP and mock trial throughout her career).
In the next row. Starting on the left, is Bruce Yasgur, retired Central High social studies teacher and Temple Law alum, and a longtime mock trial coach, Brian Pollock, a longtime Fels High School mock trial and debate coach, and Alan Liebowitz, a Temple Law alum and retired educator who first got involved with LEAP in the 70's when he was teaching middle school social studies at Roosevelt and took an in-service. Alan coached mock trial and still scores for the statewide competition today. In the back row, Bob Catina, part of LEAP's statewide law-related education training team retired from Pleasant Valley High School but working as a court crier for the Monroe County Courts and an early statewide mock trial coach who still serves as a scorer, Sarah Kaufman, the coordinator of the John S. Bradway Philadelphia High School Mock Trial Competition since 2014 (and a Temple Law alum) and David Keller Trevaskis, who worked for LEAP for 17 years and ran the program from 1993 until 2001.
It was great to see you all on the 20th! Look to the webpage for future events. https://pcssonline.org/leap/