Beaumont's Anna Hause' s Legal Hawks try Jack for killing the Giant

And so it went, back and forth, until the case was given to the jury. After less than 30 minutes of deliberations, the group decided Jack was not guilty of murder.

Although the trial and story were fakes, what Debbie Walker's students took away from the experience was real. Walker, a third-grade teacher at Anna M. Hause Elementary School and a former attorney, runs the Legal Hawks program at the school on a volunteer basis.

"The Legal Hawks program is an after school activity that began in October of 2008," she said. "I developed the program four years ago at my prior school district [West Covina]. We study each part of the Constitution, then do some persuasive writing and oral arguments.

"Next, I taught the students about the courtroom and courtroom procedure. We visited Judge Cynthia Ludvigsen's courtroom in Redlands. The students then indicated to me what roles they wanted to play in our mock trial of Jack in "Jack and the Beanstalk." I then taught the students about crimes and defenses, evidence and trial procedure.

"With the help of my husband, Jerry Walker, who is a Juvenile Court Hearing Officer [in San Bernardino], we directed the students and they came up with their questions and answers for the mock trial. We then developed opening statements and closing arguments."

Debbie said that those in the program, which is for fourth- and fifth-graders, improve their persuasive writing skills and exposes them to a career possibility.

"We taught them that to prove a crime, you have the show every element or you don't have a case," she said. "It teaches them that there are laws and there are consequences. And I emphasized that your behavior is your choice."

As a participant, students had to dress formally, as if they were in a real courtroom, not the school's multi-purpose room. They also learned court decorum, including the rule that no one enters the well, or the part of the courtroom in front of the judge's bench and the witness stand.

But the trial did have its lighter moments. When an attorney asked someone on the stand how the Hen laid golden eggs, the answer was, "All you have to do is say 'Lay me a golden egg,' which the hen did right there in the courtroom. At this point, the judge asked the bailiff to retrieve the egg. Each time this happened, the judge seemed a bit more frustrated at the delay, and the audience broke into laughter.

After the third time, the judge asked the lawyers to never ask the question again.

The way the fairy tale tells it, Jack and his mom were very poor, so she told him to take their cow to town to sell it so they could buy food. Instead, Jack traded it for some magic beans, which upset his mother, who through the beans out the window where they magically grew into the beanstalk. At the end of the story, Jack, who had the hen but was free of the Giant, and his mother had plenty of food and lived happily ever after.

But this is 2009. Instead of buying food, Jack told the jury, he went out and bought a 2009 Cadillac Escalade and a big-screen TV.

On a personal level, Debbie said she missed the law, in which she was involved for 15 years before she became a teacher, and the Legal Hawks lets her get back into it. "I love seeing their progress," she said. "Kids are so confident, so self-sufficient that they can handle anything. A couple of them told me they want to be lawyers now."

Taylor Crow, a fourth-grader who played one of the seven prosecutors, enjoyed the program. "I think it's fun," she said. "You get to learn about the courts and the law. The most fun was the field trip [to the courtroom]. I might want to be a lawyer someday."

Debbie said the 32 students in the Legal Hawks did not see a trial when they visited the courtroom. But they did get to talk to the judge, who explained procedures and the roles of officials in the courtroom. After that, they each decided what part they wanted to play.

"It was fun," said Miguel Duenas, a fifth-grader who played a defense attorney. "I learned about the court clerk, the bailiff, the judge and the court reporter. It was a good experience."

After the trial was over, Miguel said he was nervous, "but it was a good feeling. Now I've got the acting bug."

Jerry Walker said the kids were "excellent. I was very pleased. I thought they were going to send [Jack] down the river. I thought they might find him guilty of murder. That was the sense I got, but juries are always surprising judges."

He called the Legal Hawks program unique. "There is no other program like this. I work with kids who violate the law. To be able to work with kids who may want to be lawyers, doctors, teachers is great."

Wilson Cuellar, Anna Hause Principal, was impressed. "This totally went beyond my expectations," he said. "These students have learned above and beyond what they normally do for their age. They found out that what happens in real life doesn't match what's on TV."

Corey Sizemore, a fourth-grader who played a defense attorney, said that in trying to decide what roles to play, each student wrote down three choices. He wrote defense attorney, bailiff and juror and got his first choice. "It was fun to learn about the law," said Sizemore, who wants to work for NASA and either build rockets or ride them into space as an astronaut.

Other students also commented:
• Faith Tanner/Ms. Harp - "I had the chance to experience a real courtroom." She "might" want to be a lawyer.
• Aaliyah Washington/Prosecutor - "I know Jack's guilty." She said she learned a lot and may want to become a doctor.
• Gavin Johnson/Jack - What he liked best was "going to a real court." He said the judge in Redlands picked him to be Jack.
• Breanna Murguia/Ms. Hen - "The trip was very exciting. This is the first time knowing about the law. My aunt is a lawyer and she thinks I'm very good at it."
• Karah Romero/Prosecutor - "I'll probably be a lawyer. I know you have to go to school for a long time. ...The courtroom was cool."

The Trial of People vs. Jack Cast
Jurors
Pamela Fonseca
Alexandra Hernandez
America Hernandez
Keith Macaranas
Dalton North
Isabella Patino
Alyssa Shaw
Myra Silos

Dr. Barry Kayrell, Superintendent
(951) 845-1631 (Ext. 309)
bkayrell@beaumontusd.k.12.ca.us
http://www.beaumontusd.k12.ca.us/home.htm