Weston High School Mock Trial Team Donates To Coronavirus Relief

News Release Submitted by Weston High School

The Weston High School Mock Trial program had a successful year with two of their three teams advancing past the qualifying rounds. Weston’s B team went to the Quarter-Finals, and the A team won the State Semi-finals, resulting in being named co-State Champions along with Kingswood-Oxford High School. As students Lindsey Greenberg, Knox Watson, and Ash Rajesh helped plan the virtual banquet with advisor Laura Del Savio, they discussed the surplus money in the account given the cancellation of the banquet. They all agreed that in honor of the dedication of their coaches and as a parting gift to graduating seniors, the best use of the funds would be to provide assistance to 4-CT so that local relief could be provided where it was most needed.

Due to the pandemic, the competition was called to a halt before the final Championship round could take place at the Connecticut Supreme Court, but the team is proud to know they were one of the last two standing.

4-CT is a foundation that connects philanthropy to where it’s needed through a wide range of joint programs. 100 ercent of Weston’s donation will go to initiatives providing reading materials to 185,000 students with Scholastic, providing food to nearly 270,000 food-insecure Connecticut residents with Food Rescue U.S., or providing PPE and ICU buildout for hospitals with Nuvance Health. In total, there are over 15 programs funded by 4-CT, which is why Governor Ned Lamont called it a "vital tool to help provide much needed outside investment to keep our programs and services stable during this tenuous time."

Weston Public Schools Superintendent, Dr. William McKersie stated, "All of Weston is proud of the rigor and dedication demonstrated by the Mock Trial team, and their generous compassion for the well-being of fellow Connecticut residents."

The donation is being made in the names of coaches Kathleen C. Moore, Carl Bernstein, Marcia Hamelin, Lauren Zirn, Annalise Ferrara, and Nadine Mbu who provide weekly coaching to the teams. “Our coaches spend countless hours both at team meetings and reviewing documents at home to support the accomplishment of this talented group of students,” said Del Savio. "On top of the funds we had in reserve, one of our coaches donated an additional $250 to help make this donation to 4-CT so robust."

The team is saying goodbye to a number of valuable students this year including seniors Chelsea Greenberg, Daniel Ielusic Julia Kelly, Charlotte Chen, Alexander Zita, Morgan Burns-Min, Jolie Jeffrey-Craft, Christopher Mbwa-Mboma, and Michael Hayes. Despite the large number of graduating seniors, the team is excited about the next season and is confident that they are poised for another very successful year competing in Civics First’s Connecticut Mock Trial program.

For more information and to donate to 4-CT visit: https://www.4-ct.org/