(Image via BCPS)
From Baltimore County Public Schools: Three graduates of Franklin High School are members of the UMBC Mock Trial team that has qualified for one of 48 slots in the American Mock Trial Association’s National Championship.
The Franklin High grads are Sydney Gaskins, a UMBC sophomore and recruitment chair for the school’s mock trial program; Ethan Hudson, a UMBC junior and president of the program; and Thomas Kiley, a UMBC sophomore and the program’s treasurer. All three of them are ‘double-sided’ competitors, meaning they compete as attorneys or witnesses for both the plaintiff and the defense.
Out of more than 700 college teams across the nation, only 48 advance to the mock trial national championship. The National Championship Tournament will be held April 4 – 7 in Philadelphia. UMBC’s A Team qualified by its performance at the national semifinals hosted by the University of Richmond, March 16 – 17.
“Literally half of my top team is comprised of Franklin High grads,” said Benjamin Garmoe, Esq., head coach of the UMBC Mock Trial Team, adjunct instructor at UMBC, and staff counsel at Vernon & Fanshaw. Garmoe said that he goes to Franklin High scrimmages when he can and that he is “blown away” by the work the students are doing at the high school level.
“If I could recruit all the Franklin High School ‘mockers’ to come to UMBC, I would,” he said.