JJHS Students See Justice Served Firsthand

From the Katonah-Lewisboro schools

John Jay High School Business Law teacher Michael Cohen offered his students the opportunity to witness the legal process.

“Part of my philosophy as a business teacher is to use our community as a classroom, and it happens that ‘The People’s Court’ is taped in nearby Stamford,” said Cohen.

All 25 students in last year’s class, ranging from grades 10 to 12, expressed a desire to attend and after several calls, they secured tickets to appear in the audience.

“We were in the audience for seven cases, and I could see the students light up whenever they knew aspects of the law that were being applied,” Cohen said. “Upon our debrief, I learned many students reached the same decisions as the arbitrators.”

So far, two episodes featuring JJHS students in the audience have aired on FOX.

This year, Cohen is teaching an additional section of Business Law and hopes to repeat the trips to “The People’s Court.”

“The plan is to go once in the fall as the students are learning the foundations of the law and we can reflect on the cases we saw as we learn throughout the semester,” he said.

“In the spring, we will go again, apply the law, keep a record of how each student would arbitrate each case and compare it with the arbitrator of the show.”

Episodes featuring John Jay students aired on FOX on Nov. 25 and two to-be-determined dates in December at 3 p.m.

Photo Courtesy of the Katonah-Lewisboro School District