December is Law & Public Safety month for the Boys & Girls Club of Central Minnesota’s CareerSTART program. The Southside Boys & Girls Club is hosting a mock trial on December 13th at 6 p.m. to expose youth to career paths in this area. The kids have been preparing for the trial by learning the proceedings of a courtroom case and how to defend.
The criminal case mock trial will be held in the Sullivan room of the Southside Club (1205 6th Avenue South, St. Cloud), which will be transformed into a courtroom. Participants in the trial will be Commander Brett Mushatt, a judge, an attorney, and a number of volunteers who will play key witnesses. The judge attending will act as the judge in the case, and the attorneys will give advice on courtroom conduct and help the youth develop their defense.
“This mock trial program opens up a whole new window of career opportunities for youth,” said Southside’s Academic Success Coordinator Faisa Omar. “As we’ve been preparing for the trial, many of our youth have become more interested in the legal field as a career choice.”
“It’s beneficial for our kids to explore the different options that are out there,” said CareerSTART Manager Brady DeGagne. “Being a lawyer isn’t something that you get every day experience with. This is a way youth can figure out if they’d like to pursue this avenue down the road.”
Boys & Girls Club staff plan to coordinate CareerSTART events like the youth mock trial on a quarterly basis. For more information about the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Minnesota or the CareerSTART program, visit us at www.bgcmn.org.
About Career START:
CareerSTART is a locally developed program by Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Minnesota, is designed to provide exploration, development and application of career paths for youth in grades K-12, to develop employability skills & apply core competencies, which will empower them to start their great future in the career of their choice.