City court welcomes close to 100 C.E. Byrd students to its courtroom Monday
On Monday, Feb. 27, C.E. Byrd High School students got to participate in the inaugural Kids in the Courtroom.
Kids in the Courtroom is a new program started by City Court Judge Emily Merckle. This program's goal is to familiarize Caddo students with the court process and allows them to see how the judicial branch works on a daily basis.
90 Byrd High School students sat in the audience while live traffic arraignments were being issued. These students also got to participate in a casual mock trial setting that incorporated their school zone and speeding.
During these mock trials students got to see two different scenarios that were played out by authentic prosecutors and defense attorneys. Jackson Candler a freshman at Byrd High School said, "it's interesting to watch how it works and all the people."
Feb. 27, was this program's inaugural day and Merkle said, "I hope many more students will participate in the future."
Monica Speyrer, Byrd AP Human Geography and Civics teacher said, "this is my very first time to bring kids on a trip like this and I'm really hoping to continue. The students are very excited, and they had a lot of questions."
Merkle said if you are an educator and wish to take part in this program, contact her office at 318-673-5862.
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Makenzie Boucher is a reporter with the Shreveport Times. Contact her at mboucher@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: City court welcomes close to 100 C.E. Byrd students to its courtroom Monday
