Noor-Ul-Iman School Wins Mock Trial Competition

MONMOUTH JUNCTION, NJ - Students from the Noor-Ul-Iman School, an Islamic school in Monmouth Junction, won the 2017 Middlesex County High School Mock Trial Competition this week, beating schools such as West Windsor-Plainsboro, Princeton Day School and Colts Neck High School. They will now head to the regional final competition.

The competition began Monday, January 30 and concluded this past Wednesday. The Middlesex County High School Mock Trial Competition is sponsored by the New Jersey State Bar Foundation. Teams from high schools all over Middlesex County competed and the four teams with the highest scores advanced to the next round. The two semifinal winners, Noor-Ul-Iman School and West Windsor High School, went head to head in the final county championship. After an intense trial, Noor-Ul-Iman emerged as the winners and advanced to the Regional Semi-Finals.

Then this past Wednesday, Feb. 1 Noor-Ul-Iman School won two trials at the Regional semi-finals held at the New Jersey Law Center in New Brunswick. In the first round, Noor-Ul-Iman’s team competed against Colt’s Neck High School and won with the Plaintiff side and again competed in a second round with the Plaintiff side, winning against Princeton Day School’s Defense.

The team will compete in Regional Finals on February 28 at the New Jersey Law Center.

The Noor-Ul-Iman School team’s teacher coach is Suzy Ismail, the attorney coach is Jenee Ciccarelli, and the alumni assistants are Noor Rostoum and Aysha Azmat. The team captains are Meryem Turan and Isra Thange. The team is composed of the following students: Plaintiff side; Meryem Turan- Attorney, Faizan Ahmed- Attorney, Zeynab Kwara- Witness, Jannah Rostoum- Witness, Layla Sakr- Witness. On the Defense side; Isra Thange- Attorney, Uthman Qureshi- Attorney, Maryam Mairaj- Witness, Aya Mansour- Witness, Alyan Usmani- Witness. The team backups are Nora Asker, Ranya Essafi, Hana Memon, Safiyyah Mosaad, and Afraah Shaik.

“At a time when many Muslim youth are questioning their identities and the role they play in government and society at large, it is crucial that we continue to promote opportunities and avenues that empower our high school students and help them better understand the importance of civic engagement," said Ismail. "It is through activities like mock trial that we are building the next generation of American leaders.”