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A Washington D.C. student thanks his teachers and the Marshall-Brennan Constiutional Literacy Project during the 2012 Karchmer End-of-Year Celebration. |
The William H. Karchmer Competitions
The Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project hosts a variety of academic competitions during the school year. Thanks to the generous gift of the family of William H. Karchmer, local high school students who participate may receive cash prizes for winning in several different categories.
MOOT COURT
Each fall and spring, the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project hosts a program-wide moot court competition for the students in local Marshall-Brennan classes. Students prepare and compete in their classrooms; the winners from each class are invited to compete against each other for a day-long, citywide oral argument contest held either at the Washington College of Law or at the U.S. Courthouse for the District of Columbia. Four winners are chosen in the fall and spring; they receive a cash prize and an invitation to compete in the National High School Moot Court Competition.
What is Moot Court?
A moot court competition features an argument before a three-judge panel, much like real lawyers would make in an appeals court or supreme court. Unlike a mock trial, there are no witnesses or jurors. The advocates must learn the skill of weaving together arguments about the law and the facts of a hypothetical case, and they must be able to handle a series of questions from the judges. The winner is not determined based on how the judges would decide the case but on the effectiveness of the arguments by the lawyers, both for substance and for oral skills. Participants learn not only the law involved in the case but also valuable skills in public speaking, organization and the ability to think on their feet. For a list of past winners, click here.
ANNUAL ESSAY, POETRY, ARTS & T-SHIRT AWARDS
Each year the Marshall-Brennan Project hosts the annual William H. Karchmer End-of-Year Celebration and Awards Ceremony where the high school students demonstrate their intellectual achievement through the presentation of entries about constitutional rights in the form of essays, poetry, art and t-shirt design. The winners in each category receive a cash prize. T-shirts with the winning design are distributed to all Marshall-Brennan participants.
The End-of-Year Celebration often features guest speakers. Mrs. Thurgood Marshall is a regular participant. Mary Beth Tinker has also been present to speak and to help present awards each year. The Mary Beth Tinker Award is presented at the celebration to honor an individual or organization for "unswerving devotion to the rule of law and the rights of America's students."
