On Monday, October 20th, I brought the 8th grade class on a field trip to the Federal Courthouse in Burlington to give the students a “real life” taste of the American legal system in action. They recently finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird in Literature class and they have been learning about the United States government in Social Studies.

The case that the 8th grade was able to witness was a true reflection of the American legal system working in a “just” way. The man was facing 15 years in prison and it was reduced to 5 years of probation with several other conditions. Immediately following the sentencing hearing, the students had an opportunity to interview both attorneys and Judge William K. Sessions III. Coincidently, MCS and Rice High School Alumna, Christina Nolan, was the Federal Prosecutor. What fun!

MCS 8th grade student, Ethan Treadwell commented, “It was very interesting to see how a person who made such bad choices in their past, could change so much… and that the court recognized it through reducing his penalty so drastically.”

Mr. Brent Tremblay
Middle School Social Studies Teacher