Senior Sabrina Philip won first place for courtroom journalist in the San Mateo County Mock Trial competition on Thursday, February 16. She will attend the state finals next month.
Her win was kept a secret from her until the next morning when she was notified during the school’s morning announcements.
“I was very surprised that I won this award. I was tricked into thinking that [we] didn’t know the results. So, when I found out this morning, it was pretty much a shock. I feel very honored, and I’m excited to get more experience at the state competition,” Phillip said.
For the courtroom journalist competition, students have 24 hours to submit an article reporting on their schools’ mock trial. Philip watched NDB’s prosecution team argue against Mercy and Serra HS’s combined defense team in the case People v. Clark. She wrote the first draft of her story in just under three hours. After she submitted the final draft titled “Attorney Convicted in Sunshine Slaying,” she was able to receive feedback on her writing from two professional journalists who acted as judges.
Philip did a lot of preparation before the trial.
“I think it was a lot of learning on the spot because I didn’t really know what I was going into,” Philip said. “So, to prepare, I actually watched a video of an old trial. I actually did a practice writing on that and had Mr. Rojas and Mr. Tomczak correct it. Then, the week before, I went to an actual competition Notre Dame was in and did another practice article on that, so that I could learn the style a little bit. I used the comments I got on that to write the real one … [W]e formatted it to look like a … breaking news stor[y]. So, that was kind of how I learned.”
It was clearly worth it as Philip now has the opportunity to compete for courtroom journalist at the state level. At the end of March, Philip will fly out to Los Angeles for the state finals and compete with the winners from the state’s other counties.
The NDB community is proud of Sabrina’s accomplishment.
“I’m definitely very proud of her,” English teacher Robert Rojas said. “In terms of the writing she’s done as an English student and as a journalist, it’s impressive that she was able to observe the case and then write about it within hours. For her story to be recognized as an award-winning piece of journalism is definitely very impressive.”
“It’s fantastic and well-deserved,” Mock Trial adviser Jonathan Tomczak said. “Sabrina put a lot of work into her preparation, her writing, and the editing of her article in a very short amount of time. It’s gratifying to know that professional journalists think as highly of her article as I do. I’m looking forward to seeing her represent San Mateo County and NDB at the State Finals next month.”
The NDB Mock Trial team seeks to educate students about legal systems, while helping them explore new skills and pursue their passions. They are the only all-female mock trial program in San Mateo County.
