When walking down the halls, students wave and high-five West High teacher Michael Mettenburg. Some might recognize him as their AP Human Geography or World History instructor—others as their Success Center educator. However, few know him as the advisor of Mock Trial, a club that started last year at West.

West Side Story: Why did you want to start a Mock Trial club at West?

Michael Mettenburg: I coached it in Chicago at my old school, so I have experience with it. Mostly, I thought that it was such a great opportunity for kids to flex their speaking and writing. [The students] are also able to use critical thinking skills by synthesizing things and taking random stuff, like witness statements, and bringing them together and creating a coherent argument using relevant evidence. The skills we use in Mock Trial translate to life, and no matter what job you have, you’re going to be expected to do that. That’s why it’s is a great experience. It puts you in those positions where you’re expected to speak and you’re having to come up with things [on the spot]. I just love it for all those reasons.

WSS: What is something unique about Mock Trial?

MM: Something unique is that there’s a little something for everybody. You don’t have to just be good at speaking or arguing or reading. If you want to get involved and you’re good at acting, you can be a witness because witnesses get points based on how well they portray [their character].  So Mock Trial is a club that has a diverse group of people participating in it because we need all different types of people to be a solid team. You need a team that has a little bit of everything. One year, we needed a witness who acted very shy and there are shy people out there who don’t want to get involved in clubs and stuff. Well, we needed that person on our team,so everybody has a place on our team. 

WSS: What is your review of last year’s season?

MM: [Last year’s season] exceeded my expectations and so did the amount of help that I had from a law student at the University of Iowa, Samantha. She was meeting with kids on zoom at night. She was giving feedback on their statements, stuff that I can’t do because I don’t have that law background. That coupled with the effort that all the kids put in just blew me away because when kids effort aligns with support from an adult, it volcanoes out and erupts. We went into the regional tournament, and I think we did really, really good. I have a growth mindset so I’m happy if I see growth, not necessarily if we went to state. From where we started, where people didn’t even know what a cross examination was, at the start of the season, to where we ended, I was blown away. I was really, really happy. And that’s why this year, we already know where we’re at. So if we grow the way I think we will grow, we’re gonna go to state.

WSS: As a relatively new club, what is something Mock Trial wants to improve?

MM: Aside from all the learning that we still have to do, we need better fundraising which I’m trying to get set up so we can build team spirit. We can get some T-shirts and we can pay for hotel rooms and state when we go to the tournament. So we need to get some fundraising going if we want to be taken more seriously.  

What are your future goals for the club?

MM: I would love for Mock Trial to become a perennial powerhouse at West and I’m not going to do it alone, so I’m looking for any people with a law background or degrees, any practicing attorneys who want to join. And for the next 15 years, we could build something here that looks like City High where they have five teams or they have multiple teams that go to state every year. That’s what I want to have, but I can’t do it alone. I’m going to need a lawyer’s help. Smart people help with these roles.

If you would like to join Mock Trial, please contact Michael Mettenburg at [email protected].