Belaire High School Contact: Betty W. Wilkerson Belaire High School 12121 Tams Drive Baton Rouge LA 70815 E-mail: bwilkerson@ebrpss.k12.la.us or bwilkerson10@home.com Belaire High School Annual Law Day Activity Summary: The Belaire High School Law Club conducted its Second Annual Law Day Event on April 12, 2001. The Belaire Law Day is a very interactive, thought provoking day designed to expose students to the legal community. Students from six other local high schools participated in this daylong interactive event. The Honorable Judge Pam Taylor Johnson spoke on the theme - “Protecting the Best Interest of Our Children.” Students participated in several breakout sessions throughout the day with experts from the legal community. The day ended with Southern University Law Center students presenting a powerful interactive skit based on the theme. Activity Narrative: Registration began promptly at 7:30 a.m. People received their nametag, a Law Day program, a grab bag of goodies and a souvenir Belaire Law Day ink pen and bookmark. Teachers from the other schools also received a special Teacher Packet that included copies of the lesson plans used, evaluation forms, meal tickets, materials from the Louisiana Center for Law and Civic Education and certificates for their students. A video about the U.S. Supreme Court was running for viewing during this time. A light breakfast of donuts and orange juice was provided. At 8:00 a.m. the Belaire High School Law Day was officially called to order. The welcome was delivered by the school administration and a law club officer. The Law Day proclamation was read and presented by District 6 City Councilperson on behalf of our mayor. Mr. Cornell Archey, a local attorney, presented an activity he created to help students understand the role of an attorney in the courtroom, using clips from the movie, “My Cousin Vinny.” Mr. Archey led the students into a discussion about the role of the attorney based on their viewing of the clips. Students came away from this activity with a real life approach to the role of attorneys. Next, the keynote address followed. Judge Johnson spoke to the students on a level where they could understand. She stressed how laws protect their best interest. Students were allowed to ask questions at the end of her address. Students had been pre-identified for group division on their nametags. They were given instructions as to where to report. The breakout sessions began. Two breakout sessions ran currently. The break out sessions were: Doctor/Lawyer Partnership in Substance Abuse Prevention - an interactive educational program that demonstrates the legal and medical ramification of substance abuse. The outstanding resource persons were medical doctors and attorneys; Take Back the Park - an interactive role play activity allowing students to understand how local ordinances are decided. The outstanding resource persons were a city councilperson and an attorney; and Police Patrol - an interactive role-play activity that students serve as police officers on the beat. The outstanding resource persons were the Louisiana State Police. We had a thirty-minute lunch break for all participants. Jason Deli catered lunch. The day concluded with the Southern University Law Center students presenting a skit entitled “In the Child’s Best Interest.” The skit was written and presented by these students and it dealt with child custody and mediation. The audience was allowed to ask questions and voice their opinions about the situation. They had to decide who should receive custody of the children. The activities of this day impacted many from the legal, medical and school communities. The legal and medical communities found an avenue to relate to students about what they do, and the school community discovered that these people work hard each and every day just to survive like everyone else. Since Belaire is the only school in our school system that offers a Law Studies Program, this event allowed us to share with others how law-related education is impacting our students. This activity opens the door to many of the resource persons to offer their services to come into the classroom to continue law-related education. The Southern University Law Center has agreed to adopt our law program for the 2001-2002 school year. With this arrangement they will provide services and assistance with projects and activities. This event had great impact on all who attended. Sample Programs Home | By Audience | By Location | By Sponsoring Organization