LAS VEGAS – Faith Lutheran Middle School & High School students recently were named Champions of the 2017 Nevada State High School Mock Trial Competition, hosted by the State Bar of Nevada. The school sent two of its three teams to compete March 3 and 4, and earned special recognition including: Best Witness – Lucas Richardson, sophomore; Best Attorney – Zachary Smith, junior; and Champions – Team Sandstone, comprised of Menachem Roberts, Zachary Smith, Brooke Benowitz, Koby Dickerson, Bella Guiterrez, Nathan Gulla, Lucas Richardson, Parker Sylvester, and Zachary Anderson.
“All of us here at Faith Lutheran are incredibly proud of the Mock Trial students who represented our school statewide during the competition,” said Dr. Steve Buuck, CEO of Faith Lutheran Middle School & High School. “To win state championships in each of the first three years of our Justice & Advocacy Academy is a true honor and a testament to the talent of our students, Ms. Uy, and their incredible coaches, who are local lawyers volunteering their countless hours to help prepare our kids for success. It’s because of them that we are able to build a state-of-the-art, award-winning program.”
Faith Lutheran High School’s Mock Trial teams are part of the school’s Justice & Advocacy (J & A) Academy, which started three years ago, with the opening of a state-of-the-art Mock Trial Courtroom. The J & A Academy is designed for students who aspire to a career in law or public service. More than 100 students participate in the program, and each possess superior verbal, analytical and persuasion skills in both the written and spoken word. The J & A Academy provides opportunities for students to participate in at least one of its award-winning teams: Mock Trial, Moot Court, Model United Nations and We the People.
Faith Lutheran’s high school students, for each of the past three years, have won the state championship for mock trials in the Nevada State Bar Association competition, led by their coach Jeffrey Sylvester, a founding partner in the Las Vegas-based law firm Sylvester & Polednak Ltd.
“This year, I had the privilege of coaching some exceptionally gifted young women and men,” Sylvester said. “Their commitment to the program and passion for advocacy is remarkable.”
Sylvester said this year’s competition required students to learn, understand and articulate complicated evidentiary issues, while constructing and performing all aspects of a trial from open to close, he said.
The Faith Lutheran High School team included one freshman, four sophomores, two juniors and two seniors.
About Faith Lutheran Middle School & High School
Faith Lutheran Middle School & High School is the largest non-public school in Nevada and the largest Lutheran school in the United States, with over 1,790 students enrolled in the 2016-2017 academic year. Faith’s 50-acre campus is located near Downtown Summerlin. The school offers traditional college preparatory curriculum and specialized technical and creative programs including STEM, Justice & Advocacy, Business Leadership and Entrepreneurship, Film and Broadcast, a Conservatory of the Fine Arts.
The school’s mission is Everyone Prepared! Everyone Saved! For more information, visit faithlutheranlv.org.
About Sylvester & Polednak Ltd.
Sylvester & Polednak Ltd. is a Las Vegas-based law firm specializing in creditor rights in bankruptcy, commercial litigation and commercial transactions, all areas of civil litigation and eminent domain, and all aspects of commercial leasing. For more information, visit www.sylvesterpolednak.com.
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