Good Hope Country Day School-Champions Tsehai Alfred, Wyatt Bracy with coaches Rhea Lawrence and Jennifer Koockogey-Lajoie Photo Credit: MOOT COURT PLANNING COMMITTEE.
A delayed announcement officially celebrating the winners of the Virgin Islands Bar Association’s 29th annual High School Moot Court Competition was for the best of reasons: to ensure more scholarships for high-performing participants.
That's according to the organizers, who announced the winners via press release on Monday.
District rounds took place on April 18, 2023 – at the District Court in Golden Rock on St. Croix, and the Supreme Court’s courthouse in Crown Bay for the St. Thomas/St. John district. The Gifft Hill School on St. John joined the competition for the first time in several years. The championship round was held virtually on April 19. In total, 9 schools entered 21 squads for a total of 42 students and 3 alternates, up from last year's 17 squads from 9 schools.
Antilles School emerged as the St. Thomas/St. John District champions with Appellees Angeline Nairns and Aisha Khemani, who also won Best Oralist, on the squad. The squad of Apellees from Charlotte Amalie High School, Shayne`e Cherival and Kemiah Solomon, placed second, and Sts. Peter & Paul Appellants Pierre Joseph and Ethan Farrell ended the day in third place.
On St. Croix, the squad from Good Hope Country Day School, led by Appellees Tsehai Alfred and Wyatt Bracy, clinched the championship title. St. Croix Central Appellants Bry’Nice Berley and Una Alexander were in second place, while third place went to St. Croix Educational Complex Appellants Alani Arnold and Keanna Alphonse. Bry’Nice Berley was adjudged Best Oralist in the St. Croix District.
The championship round narrowed the field from 21 squads down to 12 - the top six from both districts. Each district initially awarded $5,000 in scholarships, distributed among the top oralists and squads. For the championship, Good Hope Country Day School took home the first place, followed by St. Croix Seventh-Day Adventist School, with Antilles School securing the third position.
However, shortly after the initial scholarship awards were decided, it was noticed that several students who had performed well enough to receive awards in the district competitions came away empty-handed from the championship. That did not sit well with the Moot Court Planning Committee, according to St. Thomas Chair Gregory Thorp, as members felt “students who put in the effort to receive a medal in the district rounds were deserving of a scholarship.” Committee members asked that the Board of Governors approve an additional $10,000 to the $7,500 in awards already allocated, a request that was granted after months of careful consideration – hence the delay in announcing the official results.
The additional funds were distributed evenly between districts.
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