Annual Palermo Mentorship Program is underway
ST. THOMAS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW’S Honorable Peter R. Palermo Mentorship Program held its annual fall kickoff event with students from the Law Magnet Program at Miami Carol City Sr. High School, overseen by Asiah Wolfolk-Manning. The Palermo Program is a community partnership launched in 2013 between STU Law and MCCSHS where law students visit MCCSHS to teach topics ranging from constitutional law to U.S. government and history. The inspiration for the program was Judge Palermo’s belief that the leaders of tomorrow in any profession must know about the U.S. Constitution, civics, and the law. For the kickoff event, the Palermo Program’s board members created debate topics based on the 1st, 2nd, and 4th amendments. The board conducted short presentations teaching the students about each amendment. The Palermo Program volunteer mentors assisted the high school students with understanding the law, applying the law to the facts, and developing legal arguments. The law magnet students debated their legal arguments before their classmates, STU Law mentors, as well as before the panel speakers. Loreal Arscott, president of Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr., Bar Association; Ashley Gantt, president-elect for the T.J. Reddick Bar Association; and George Odom, a former president of the T.J. Reddick Bar each served as panel speakers for the event. The panel members spoke to the law magnet students and STU Law Palermo Volunteer Mentors about successfully overcoming any obstacles in order to achieve their goals.
