They sat in classroom desks instead of the jury box, but thousands of third-graders in Olathe and across the country came to a verdict in the Johnson County district court.
Olathe Public Schools and the Kansas 10th Judicial District Court have hosted a mock trial on Constitution Day for the last decade to teach students about civics. This year’s student defendant was accused of breaking a — fictitious — statute that prohibited running in school hallways.
Natalie Galbrecht, a third grader at Green Springs Elementary School, said she wasn’t convinced the student committed the “crime.”
“It was not guilty because, like, the teachers didn't really see her face, so you don't actually know if it's her or not,” Galbrecht said.
More than 15,000 students in third-grade classrooms across 13 states participated in this year’s trial, but the event started much smaller, in just Olathe.
Johnson County District Judge Robert Wonnell said the program was inspired by third graders who visited his courtroom on Constitution Day more than a decade ago. Students sat in the jury box and weighed in on whether Goldilocks trespassed when she entered the three bears’ home in the classic fairy tale.
“They had a lot of fun, he said. “It prompted me to look into it a little deeper, and what's beautiful about this is we're actually following the law when we do it.”
Wonnell then discovered there's a federal statute urging civil and educational authorities to educate citizens on their constitutional rights and responsibilities, and he was excited to follow it.
For the first few years, his courtroom staff held the mock trial at local classrooms with students serving as the attorneys. But when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down both classrooms and courtrooms, Wonnell and his team had to pivot.
Like many actual court services during the pandemic, the mock trial went virtual and students tuned in on Zoom.
“We creatively thought, ‘Well, what if? What if each class was a jury? What if they got to observe the trial, hear the evidence, and then decide if the defendant was guilty or not guilty?” Wonnell said.
The new format worked so well that Olathe Public Schools wanted to expand it.
Julie Fishburn, the school district’s coordinator, created a curriculum for teachers to use ahead of the event that incorporated the third grade learning standards by including community and civic duties.
The program first expanded to all of the third graders at one elementary school, and then the entire district.
“It just makes the actual event that much more meaningful and relevant,” said Fishburn. ”They understand it more so that when they play the jury, they really understand the whole process.”
Fishburn said students learn ahead of time about the different jobs they’ll spot in the virtual courtroom, like a translator or court reporter. Court reporters are a class favorite because of how quickly they can type, but many students are also impressed by the interpreter.
“If somebody speaks Spanish, she could talk to them in that language if they didn't know English,” said Trey Spillman, a third-grader at Green Springs Elementary.
Students also learn about the basics of civics, like why we have laws in the first place.
To illustrate the concept, students try to play a game that doesn’t have rules, and come up with the ways rules come into play when they interact with their community.
“We talk about how you get to school, and if you ride a bus or walk or drive in a car, there are certain rules and laws we follow in terms of walking in a crosswalk so that we're safe,” Fishburn said.
Taking Constitution Day nationwide
After its expansion statewide last year, this Wednesday’s trial marked the first year the curriculum and mock trial was offered nationwide.
The broadcast included special guests recognizable to listeners in Kansas and beyond, including U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Neil Gorsuch, Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer and Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran.
They laid out the three branches of government for students before Judge Wonnell donned his robe — in a very Mister Rogers fashion — and headed to the courtroom.
A familiar cast of characters made up the courtroom players. Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree served as the state’s prosecutor, outlining the case against the student accused of running.
“She is an upperclassman, and she knew for all of her years in school that running in the hallways from 7 to 4 is against the law, and yes, she's nice, and yes, she's kind, and maybe she makes good grades, but today I need you to hold her accountable,” Dupree said.
Students at Green Springs Elementary School hurriedly discussed the evidence for a minute between each witness while their teacher, Lori Werth, wrote down their findings.
The third graders had to field sometimes conflicting evidence to decide whether the defendant ran through the school halls to make it in time to an after-school movie. A teacher claimed he warned the student not to run when she sped out of the classroom after staying late to finish an assignment.
But a school nurse said the student hurt her knee during morning recess and was moving very slowly. Werth’s class narrowly decided the student was innocent, with classmates arguing there wasn’t enough evidence to prove the student running in the hall was the one accused.
“One teacher said that he thinks that he saw a baseball jersey or a soccer jersey, and then another one said that they think that they saw a Chiefs Jersey,” Galbrecht said.
Educators hope their Constitution Day lessons extend into adulthood.
Fishburn, who served in the trial as the school nurse, said anytime students can be an active part of the learning process, it sticks better in the long term. When they get called to jury duty one day, she hopes they’ll remember their mock trial.
Spillman said that’s also why he thinks third graders like him should learn about the constitution.
“It's important for us to learn about it, because if you need to do court when you're older, then you know what to expect and all that,” Spillman.
Wonnell also hopes that watching the trial sparks the same passion he has for public service in students across the country.
“That every third grader could say, ‘I could do that. I could be a judge. I could be a court reporter. I could be an attorney. I could be an interpreter. I could help individuals, if English isn't their primary language, be able to communicate effectively,’” Wonnell said. “‘I could do that and to want to learn more about that, about our Constitution, even if it's not in the courtroom.’”
Galbrecht thinks she’d probably want to be the judge if she ends up in the courtroom because they make the decisions, and the “thing that you smash on the little table thing” — or gavel — is pretty cool.
