Johnston High School Mock Trial Teams Argue Their Way to State

Johnston High School students have a knack for going to trial.

Eight teams represented the high school during the district mock trial competition on Feb. 29 and March 1.

Five of the Johnston teams advanced to the finals at the district level.

Millie Varley received the rare honor of being selected for both outstanding witness and attorney awards.

Team Res Ipso Loquitur and Team GOBA will represent Johnston, along with 30 other teams, at the state competition on March 28-30 in downtown Des Moines.

JHS Mock Trial Teams:
Team Res Ipsa Loquitur
Coaches: Loraine Wallace and Gordy Allen
McDonald, Grant
Pierce, Anna*
Sparland, Sam*
Peterson, Alex*
Lagerblade, Helen
Aldrich, Kaitlyn
Wallace, Chase
Tubbs, Andrew*
Mithelman, Taylor
Gebard,Erika*

Team G.O.B.A
Attorney Coaches: Joel and Rachele Hjelmaas and Jeff Margolin.
Margolin, Sarah*
Landy, Katie*
Hjelmaas, Josh*
Dockum, Abby*
Paszkiewicz, Melinda*
Vaden, Paige*
Koopal, John*
Sinclair,Lydia*
Varley, Millie**
Gagne, Monica*

Team Justice League
Coaches: Susie Berregaard
Huang, Jiahui*
Thomas, Shianne
Iqbal, Fatiha*
Rissler, Sydney
Zhu, Zea*
Williams, Breanna*
Willes, Hannah*
Katz, Jonny
Holland, Nick*
Fenton, Tyler
Wu, Kevin

Team Do Not Pass Go
Coaches: RaeAnn Guns
Norelius, Courtney
Boge, Andrew*
VanderPloeg, Natalie
Guns, Olivia*
Crist, Carly*
Carley, Jeff
Dinakar,Aditi
Koduvalli, Sanjay
Lewis, Sarah

Team Res Ipso Loquitur II  
Coaches: Loraine Wallace and Gordy Allen.
Johanson, Adam*
Wallace, Ellie
Joens, Taylor
Vajgrt, Carmen*
Caracci, Jeremy
Snyder, Stanzy
Hanson, Emily
Westlake, Connor
Caracci, Jonathan*
Pierotti, Bailey

Team Big Red Fire Trucks 
Coaches: Brian Scieszinski and Mike Mock
Scieszinski, Laura
Mills, Andrew
Gibbons, Megan
Mills, Elizabeth
Chen, Karen*
Deutsch, Riley*
Nihart, Amy
Berger, Hannah*
Bujimalla, Pratyusha
Clark, Alex

Team Bankruptcy
Coach: George Carroll
Miller, Marcus*
Toebben, Meredith*
Fischer, Tommy
Carroll, Georgia
Askew, Autumn
Walter, EmmaGrace
Burgess, Shane
Boge, Jordan*
Galang, Jacqui
Ikeda, Troy

Team Justice
Coach: Jeff Noble
Judas, Amanda*
Dolde, Jack
Casten, Alex
Somisetty, Swathi
Simpson, Alize
Noble, Riley*
Dalby, Jake
Ledesma, Gabrielle
Varma, Simrita
Han, Amy

Names with a * received recognition as outstanding witness or attorney at the district level.