Congratulations to my alma mater, Redlands High School, for winning the San Bernardino County Mock Trial competition again.
Last month’s victory – their 18th! – made back-to-back wins for the Terriers.
In between wins, I called RHS coach Allison Cobb to chat about it. She had taken over this program five years ago from Donna St. George, who was Cobb’s RHS mock trial coach in the ‘90s.
This year they beat crosstown rivals the Redlands East Valley Wildcats (my children’s alma mater), and in last year’s finals, the RHS Terriers beat the RHS Terriers.
Yeah.
Out of 26 teams from across the county, the final two teams were RHS varsity versus RHS junior varsity.
“I didn’t realize how much the older kids would help train the younger kids,” Cobb said. And it made them all strong. “Our JV team just kept eking out a win.”
The challenge was switching from support to rivalry. The teams shared a room; they all knew each other’s stuff, she said.
In the end, varsity went on to compete at the state level in Los Angeles. The county finals represented JV’s only loss of the season.
Cobb praised San Bernardino Superior Presiding Judge Lisa Rogan, who served as judge for both years’ competitions.
“She got the kids to think about real world realities,” Cobb said. “She was a great judge and devoted a whole day to these kids.”
Cobb’s enthusiasm for the program is clear.
Kids’ getting grilled by judges for hours a day, having to do public speaking, having to think on their feet, having people watching them – “that humbling experience benefited me as a person” – she said of her own high school years.
When she was in mock trial, they won county their first year. And “they” includes the teammate she married, James Cobb. Now their son is on the team.
Many of the attorneys and judges I’ve interviewed have mentioned volunteering with mock trial programs, specifically to say some of the students they mentored are now colleagues.
Cobb said she was inspired by the experience, but went into teaching instead.
Lauren Reiter is one of her students, and is one of the back-to-back winning team members.
“Mrs. Cobb, I’ve admired her since my sophomore year when she taught AP Euro(peon history),” Reiter said. “The amount of time she puts in to help the team and individual players is astonishing. She works incredibly hard.”
Reiter, a senior this year, is likely going to be one of those students who goes into law for a career.
“Law was always definitely a possibility for me, because my parents are lawyers, but I think joining mock trial really cemented it that this is something I want to do later in life,” she said. “Being in the actual courtroom was such an interesting experience because you get a taste of what it will be like.”
Reiter spent the last half of seventh grade and all of eighth grade in remote learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her high-school years are chock full of in-person experiences. Over the summer she spent a day in the San Bernardino District Attorney’s Office, and when I chatted with her she was eager about some time she had scheduled with Rogan.
“She’s so girl boss,” Reiter said. “She’s so strong. She cares about using the courts to serve, to help people.”
I loved hearing that these are the things she seeks in a role model. I’m looking forward to following her success in law. She, meanwhile, is ready to reflect on the present.
“I will be able to look back on this time and say I truly loved what I was doing,” she said.
