On February 17th the Cranston West mock trial team reached the state quarterfinals against 2 time finalist East Greenwich in a close trial and came up short despite some outstanding performances including lead prosecution attorney Jamie DeWetter.

Throughout the season, multiple team members received top performance scores of 10/10, including Dean Lauro, Ny-Leiha McCants, Angelina Fontana, Sarah Kane, and Amy Zhang.

The West Mock Trial team paused due to COVID; however, advisor Ms. Paige McClatchy reinstated the club this year. Ms.McClatchy stated, “I was very excited to start up the Mock Trial team again at West. Mr. Fontaine and Mrs. Chapman were very helpful to me in terms of getting the team registered.”

Despite going against an experienced East Greenwich team of students who all knew how to play mock trial, Cranston West was able to put up a close game with only an eleven-point difference. Ms. McClatchy went on to state, “I wouldn't say it was difficult. Our team fared really well this season and gave the current champions a true challenge in court. I think my experience of being a Mock Trial person in high school helped a lot.”

In previous rounds Cranston West's prosecution team took the lead against St.Raphael’s, Ne. Academy of Torah, and West Warwick. Going into this was nerve racking for many but Amy Zhang who played the lead investigator stated “It was difficult knowing that they've done this before and had more experience on how to format and ask questions, as well as knowing that they've done this many times before, regardless, it was fun.”

Despite her fear of going into such an intense role of a top lawyer in the prosecution trial, Jamie DeWetter stated, “I really enjoyed this club and the people in it. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to go to these trials. It showed me that I might want a career in Law.”

The Cranston West mock trial team plans to take on the challenge and take that well earned spot of champions in the following year.