The Ventura County Office of Education is pleased to announce that Oak Park High School’s Team A is the winner of the 2022 Ventura County Mock Trial competition. Westlake High School’s Team A came in second, and Newbury Park High School’s Team A took third place. The winning teams were announced during a live virtual awards ceremony this evening following the final rounds of competition. For the second consecutive year, Mock Trial was held virtually due to the pandemic. Tonight’s final rounds were streamed live so friends, family and the public could watch the participants argue their cases.
A total of 30 teams from 22 high schools throughout Ventura County participated in this year’s competition, which began on February 8. Here is how the top eight teams placed:
- Oak Park High School Team A
- Westlake High School Team A
- Newbury Park High School Team A
- Westlake High School Team B
- Trinity Pacific Christian School Team A
- Royal High School
- Oaks Christian School
- Trinity Pacific Christian School Team B
Oak Park High School will now go on to represent Ventura County in the California Mock Trial contest, which will take place online March 17-20. Last year’s Ventura County winner, Trinity Pacific Christian School, took first place in the state competition. Ventura County teams have also come in first at the state level in 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2013. A list of past Ventura County Mock Trial winners is available here. You can watch video of the Mock Trial finals and the awards ceremony at www.vcoe.org/MockTrial.
About the 2022 Ventura County Mock Trial
Courtroom drama comes to life in the Mock Trial competition as students take on the roles of participants in a criminal trial, including attorneys, witnesses, bailiffs and journalists. The students normally present their cases in real courtrooms before actual judges with local attorneys on hand to score the competition. This year, the students, judges and scoring attorneys all met virtually via Zoom due to the pandemic. This year’s fictitious case was “People v. Cobey: Homicide in the Desert.”
The 22 high schools that participated this year are Adolfo Camarillo High School, Agoura High School, Calabasas High School, Channel Islands High School, Fillmore High School, Grace Brethren Jr./Sr. High School, La Reina High School, Newbury Park High School, Nordhoff High School, Oak Park High School, Oaks Christian School, Rio Mesa High School, Royal High School, Saint Augustine Academy, Saint Bonaventure High School, Santa Paula High School, Santa Susana High School, Simi Valley High School, Thousand Oaks High School, Trinity Pacific Christian School, Ventura High School and Westlake High School.
- Adolfo Camarillo High School
- Agoura High School
- Calabasas High School
- Channel Islands High School
- Fillmore High School
- Grace Brethren Jr./Sr. High School
- La Reina High School
- Newbury Park High School
- Nordhoff High School
- Oak Park High School
- Oaks Christian School
- Rio Mesa High School
- Royal High School
- Saint Augustine Academy
- Saint Bonaventure High School
- Santa Paula High School
- Santa Susana High School
- Simi Valley High School
- Thousand Oaks High School
- Trinity Pacific Christian School
- Ventura High School
- Westlake High School