Friendly Competition

Competition. The word conjures up sports, doesn't it? The pride of winning, or, the sadness of defeat. As a former teacher, I know that competition based on more than physical skills can be just as intense for high school students. Case in point: the students who participated in this year’s We the People competition.

High school students from all over the state who spent months pouring over our country’s founding documents, news articles, and text books, came to the Ohio Statehouse on January 23 ready to demonstrate their comprehension of constitutional issues to a panel of judges. They were prepared, poised, and professional in their presentations and during the follow-up questions from the judges.

I was especially glad to see students from the Law and Leadership Institute (LLI) program participating in We the People for the first time. LLI was started by the Ohio Supreme Court to prepare students from underserved communities for post-secondary and professional success.

Congratulations to all the students – and their teachers – for a great day of competition!

You can see more about the competition and what’s next for the winning team in this video from Court News Ohio.

Law & Leadership Institute Student’s Perspective

In the summer of 2008, the Ohio Supreme Court started a pilot program to help increase the number of young people from underserved communities in the legal profession. Today, more than 400 students are involved in the Law and Leadership Institute (LLI) program that has spread to eight law school campuses in Ohio.

Athena Williams has been involved in LLI for two years. Athena will be a high school tenth grader this year, and she is already getting a taste of what it’s like to be a lawyer. She is a very engaging young lady, and I’m sure she will succeed in whatever career path she chooses.

Athena gives a report about her LLI experience this summer in this video story.

A visit with some Glass City scholars

I had the privilege of meeting with and speaking to about 20 Toledo high school students enrolled in the Law and Leadership Institute (LLI) at the University of Toledo College of Law on Wednesday.

Toledo is my hometown and I’m glad to say that this group was just as impressive as the students I’ve visited with the previous three years.

Through the LLI program, a diverse group of students from underserved schools learn skills that will help them become lawyers or leaders in their communities. LLI enriches high school instruction through a four-year academic program in law, leadership, analytical thinking, problem solving, writing skills and professionalism.

I talked about the Supreme Court and the importance of listening, reading, thinking, writing and speaking – all necessary skills for any field of work. From their response and great questions, I know that these students will be successful in whatever paths they choose in their lives.

A different kind of summer school

I can’t wait to meet this year’s group of students participating in a statewide program that seeks to improve diversity in the legal profession.

It’s called the Law and Leadership Institute, and the program identifies promising youth from urban neighborhoods and grooms them to be future leaders in the legal profession by offering them a chance to study law during the summer at an Ohio law school. Students entering the ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th grades will begin their studies on June 27 at eight host law schools in six cities: Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Toledo.

I had fun traveling around to the different sites last summer. I expect to be equally impressed by the caliber of students this summer, especially when I stop by the Toledo session on June 28.

For more information on the Law and Leadership program, visit:
http://www.lawandleadership.org/

Special Award for Court’s Diversity Program

Remember the Ohio Law and Leadership program we mentioned last summer? The American Bar Association honored the Ohio Law and Leadership Institute for establishing a pipeline program for those intending to complete college and enter the legal profession. Interested youngsters from urban neighborhoods receive a chance to study law during the summer at an Ohio law school.

For the second year I spoke to students enrolled in this program – this time in Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo. I hope to do the same this summer. Let me tell you, these students work so hard and their stories are inspiring.

This year’s group will be the first class to attend all four years. I can’t wait to hear where they will attend college.

You can read more about the Law and Leadership program by visiting the website, http://www.lawandleadership.org/.

Columbus Law and Leadership Students Know Their Stuff

The calendar says July, but two classes of students were in mid-school year form Thursday learning about the law and legal concepts.

I had the pleasure of joining Columbus students enrolled in the Law and Leadership program and serving as a guest speaker. The program seeks to improve diversity in the legal profession by offering promising youth from urban neighborhoods a chance to study law during the summer at an Ohio law school. I visited with students at Capital University Law School in the morning and students at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law in the afternoon.

We spent the time talking about our state court system and what it is like to be a Supreme Court Justice. The students asked plenty of great questions about our state's legal system and the judicial branch. They deserve congratulations on being selected to participate in this wonderful program. Who knows -- if they continue to study hard and finish high school, college and law school, they could be attorneys someday or even judges themselves!

300 Dedicated Ohio High School Students Spend Summer Studying the Law

As we get into the dog days of summer, there is a group of dedicated young people with an  interest in the law who are forgoing days at the swimming pool for some serious summer studies.

More than 300 students from six Ohio cities started this year's  Law and Leadership Institute on July 6. The Institute is a statewide program that seeks to improve diversity in the legal profession by identifying promising youth from urban neighborhoods and grooming them to be future leaders in the legal profession.

The students study law over the summer at an Ohio law school. Students entering the ninth, 10th and 11th grades are participating this year in Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Toledo.


I commend these students on their choice to keep working through the summer, and I hope to bring you updates on their activities here on the Justice Judy Blog. 

The institute began in 2008 in Cleveland and Columbus and expanded to the four additional cities last year. The original sites will house all three grades this summer and involve two law schools in each city while the four expansion cities will have two grades at each city’s law school.

“The whole idea behind this program is to enhance students’ critical thinking, writing and research skills, their analytic ability and to expose students to a professional work environment,” said Carl D. Smallwood, president of the Law and Leadership Institute, LLC. “Many of these students come from underserved communities and from families less aware of the steps necessary to prepare for college admission.”

He said the program is much more than simply “job shadowing,” in that ninth-grade summer students are in class for five weeks concluding with a mock trial; 10th-grade students sit for three weeks of classroom instruction and conclude with a one-week internship at a law firm or corporation; and 11th-grade students take ACT/SAT preparation courses to boost their college readiness, go on campus visits, and are paired with lawyer mentors on a research and writing assignment.

He noted that the program stays with the participating students as they move through high school and next year will grow again to include all four high school grades.

Partners for the 2010 institute include the Supreme Court of Ohio, the Ohio Center for Law Related Education, the Ohio State Bar Association, Ohio’s metropolitan bar associations, city school districts and Ohio’s nine law schools: the University of Akron School of Law, Capital University Law School, Case Western Reserve University School of Law, the University of Cincinnati College of Law, Cleveland State University’s Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, the University of Dayton School of Law, Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law, The Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law and the University of Toledo College of Law.

The Law and Leadership Institute is supported, in part, by grants from the Ohio State Bar Foundation and the Law School Admissions Council.