Coronado third graders were together in the small gym -they zoomed in for the Mock Trial. Olathe Public Schools has organized this for a couple of years now, but this year they opened it up to anyone in the US. There were quite a few schools from across the nation that participated. The activity began with an Olathe judge speaking about the 3 branches of government. Then they took us into the courtroom where a 4th grader was on trial for running in the halls which is against the law from the hours of 7am-4pm. They had a prosecuting attorney, a defense attorney and even brought in witnesses. Commissioner Watson even played the role of a teacher in the building. Each side presented its case with witnesses and did a closing statement. Then each class voted on whether they thought the student was innocent or guilty. Coronado students cast the vote of not guilty, and overall, national results must have been the same. The judge came on and announced it at the end of the trial. Coronado had also invited Judge Angela Coble from the Kansas Court of Appeals to attend the event. She talked about how court proceedings are held, dressed in her robe and brought her gavel. At the end she stayed for another 30 minutes answering questions.