Civic Learning Award: Frontier High School

Frontier High School

Oxnard Union High School District
County of: Ventura
Civic Learning Award of: Merit
Recognized for: Mock Trial

School Website

Civic Learning Description

As a continuation school, Frontier High School’s students are often 11th and 12th graders who are at-risk for not graduating. Yet Frontier students find success when they participate in the school’s Mock Trial Team. Students prepare for the county-wide mock trial competition by working with a staff advisor and local volunteer attorneys. Students learn about Supreme Court decisions and constitutional issues for pretrial arguments, prepare to deliver opening and closing arguments, and learn to question witnesses. Students on the team also teach foster youth in a county facility about the legal system through a drama production. The school has found that students who participate are not only successful in the competition but their grades and self-confidence improve as well.

 

Research-Based Civic Education Practices

This school demonstrates the following research-based best practices in civic education. For more information on research-based best practices, visit the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools website.

• Discuss current local, national and international issues and events in the classroom, particularly those that young people view as important to their lives.
• Conduct community service that is linked to the formal curriculum and classroom (Service-learning)
• Offer extracurricular activities that provide opportunities for young people to get involved in their schools or communities.
• Encourage students’ participation in simulations of democratic process and procedures such as voting, trials, legislative deliberation, and diplomacy.

Contact Information

Kim Dallape
545 Airport Way
Camarillo, California 93010
805-216-3701