Throughout the month of November, our Valley Torah boys team advanced through the mock trial competition. In the second round, our prosecution team went up against another local Jewish high school, Shalhevet, who featured some great lawyers and witnesses. This matchup was intense, with Moshe Kerendian, Yonatan Shafigi, Betsalel Shafa, and Joseph Elbaz as attorneys. The witness roles were filled by Aaron Pezeshki, Shamai Perez, Adar Perez, and Jonah Halpern. Lastly, Liam Kogman filled the position of clerk, Eli Sahimi as bailiff, and Oren Kakoli as Journalist. Mr. Jennings, our coach, led us further in the competition than in many years prior. After the pretrial and a strong opening statement by Moshe Kerendian, our witnesses performed well due to their self-practice and team chemistry with the attorneys. When the opposing team’s witnesses performed, our attorneys cross–examined them strongly, with many witnesses from the other team making mistakes, allowing us to ultimately win the closely-matched battle. Wrapping it up, Yonatan Shafigi delivered an amazing closing argument that turned the scorers in our favor. With all of this, our team won the verdict of guilty and had beaten Shalhevet on points. This round has let us advance to the playoffs in the L.A. County competition for the first time in a while for Valley Torah. We would like to thank all of the students and Mr. Jennings for their time and effort in practicing and executing a wonderful performance.