Strom Thurmond Mock Trial Team takes tenth state championship win, earns high national rankings (2024)

The Mock Trial team at Strom Thurmond High School was recently honored for its success.

The May 22 event recognized The Mock Trial team for being named the reigning state champions for the South Carolina Bar High School Mock Trial for 10 years as well as receiving high national rankings at the High School Mock Trial national championships.

The award presentation was led by The South Carolina Bar’s Law Related Education Coordinator Marian Kirk and LRE Manager Donald Lanier.

Mock Trial Successes

Strom Thurmond’s Mock Trial Team participated in the South Carolina Bar High School Mock Trial. Participating S.C. schools enter a team of between seven and 18 students who try each year’s fictitious case against other teams at regional competitions in February.

STHS completed as one of the top 12 teams and went on to compete at the state championship in March, where they were named state champions.

After winning the state championship, the STHS Mock Trial Team competed at the 2024 High School Mock Trial national championships in May at the Delaware Law Related Education Center, where they were named the top six mock trial team in the nation.

Strom Thurmond Mock Trial attorney Evan Williams, a sophom*ore, was named as one of the Top 10 high school mock trial attorneys in the nation.

“I feel really proud that we can be part of the legacy that [Strom] Thurmond holds,” Williams said. “That we can just kind of stay up to that standard.”

The Recognition Event

At the recognition event, Lanier spoke about the Mock Trial Team’s State Championship win, noting that they have taken 10 state championships out of the 42 years that S.C. Mock Trial has taken place. “That’s a pretty cool accomplishment over a long number of years,” he said.

The Strom Thurmond Mock Trial Team has earned the title of South Carolina Mock Trial State Champions in 2024, 2022, 2020, 2019, 2017, 2015, 2012, 1987, 1985 and 1984.

“It’s really amazing to put it in perspective,” said Mina Allen, a Strom Thurmond student and Mock Trial Team member.

Lanier called Strom Thurmond’s team one of the most “civil and polite groups of students that you’ll ever interact with,” adding that placing sixth in the nation is “astounding.”

“It’s really cool to have a 10-year legacy… from the beginning of Mock Trial to the end, we’ve become more of a family,” said student and Mock Trial Team member Lilly Smith.

40 Years of Service

Kirk and Lanier gifted retired social studies teacher Denise Jackson with a Law Related Education Legacy Award for her active participation in Strom Thurmond High School’s Mock Trial Team for 40 years.

Jackson took to the stage to give an impromptu speech, saying to the Mock Trial students: “The truth is, you’ve given me way more than I’ve given to you.”

One of Jackson’s former students, 2014 graduate John Gillespie, spoke about her. “She’s an institution not only in the school but in the South Carolina Mock Trial room,” he said.

Gillespie, who is now an attorney in Greenville, attended the recognition event to support Jackson.

“Ms. Jackson is just a staple in my life… she has always encouraged, cheered and wanted me to do the best I could for myself long after graduation,” he added.