Homeschoolers Stage Mock Trial

November 24, 2009 - Costumed as John Adams, John Hancock, King George III, and various other historic figures, several Outlook Academy students participated in a mock trial of the British government during their history class at the Academy Days Homeschool Co-op recently. Pictured left, British captain Whitney Johnston, 17, lays down the law to colonist Jake Dunn, 16, as Nathan Calvert, 17, looks on and spectators cheer in the background. Wearing cotton-ball wigs and charcoal beards, the two homeschoolers and their fellow high schoolers participated in the living history simulation as Captain Thomas Preston, John Hancock, and other British and colonists of the American Revolution. During the living history simulation, all 15 high schoolers in the co-op acted as British and colonial notables or jurists, with students in grades 5 through 8 and their parents serving as spectators. Pictured right, acting as a British defense attorney, Kayla Ottinger, 17, consults with her “client” King George III, Garrett Herring, 15, during the proceedings. Despite a historically accurate defense by the two homeschoolers and their “witnesses,” the prosecution, led by Abby Bartlett, convinced the jury to return a guilty verdict for the British government's role in the American Revolution. The high schoolers in U.S. History class also participated in a mock 1832 Presidential Election during fall semester. Plans for spring semester include at least two historical simulations. The Academy Days Co-op, held weekly during the school year at Grace Community Church in Millbrook, is designed for preschool through high school students to learn subjects difficult to teach at home or best taught in group settings, such as P.E., drama, art, music, and science labs.