St. Thomas Law mentorship program reaches 75 Miami Carol City Senior High School students
Mentors and student participants gather at the Palermo Spring Mock Trial competition, held May 5 at the Benjamin L. Crump Center for Social Justice at St. Thomas University College of Law in Miami Gardens. The event marked the culmination of the annual mentorship partnership between STU College of Law and Miami Carol City Senior High School’s Law Magnet Program. Recognized for outstanding performances were Khalil McSwain, Marcus Fortune, Johnathan Laguerre, Brianna Jefferson, Nadesha Reid, and Ky’ene Wimberly.
The Palermo Spring Mock Trial competition at the Benjamin L. Crump Center for Social Justice at St. Thomas University College of Law in Miami Gardens on May 5 was the culmination of this year’s events for the annual mentoring program partnership between St. Thomas University College of Law and Miami Carol City Senior High School.
The winners were:
- Khalil McSwain – Best Overall State Attorney
- Marcus Fortune – Best Overall Defense Attorney
- Johnathan Laguerre – Best Defense Witness
- Brianna Jefferson – Best State Witness
- Nadesha Reid – Best Opening
- Ky’ene Wimberly – Best Closing
Associate Dean Jeffrey D. Veitch welcomed students, guests, and families on behalf of STU. Judge Chiaka Ihekwaba of the 11th Circuit, the volunteering attorneys, and program partners Kubicki Draper, Allstate legal department, TJ Reddick Bar Association, and Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr., Bar Association, were recognized as making the event possible.
Third-year law student Sylvester K. Bailey, Jr., president of the STU Palermo Mentorship Program, described the experience as “truly humbling” and the event as “an inspiring showcase of aspiring legal minds presenting their arguments with exceptional confidence and poise.”
Under the guidance of the high school’s Law Magnet Program Director Asiah Wolfolk-Manning, 75 high school students participated in The Honorable Peter R. Palermo Mentorship Program this year, which included activities throughout the year leading up to the competition, such as hands-on workshops and classroom “teach-backs” – a method of learning confirmation in which students explain the information in their own words, receive feedback and any misunderstandings are clarified.
The mentorship program, which provides legal education and mentorship to high school students delivered by law student-volunteers, is in its second decade of partnership between the STU College of Law and the Law Magnet Program at Miami Carol City Senior High School. The program plans to expand classroom engagement and add new partnership opportunities to support its ongoing efforts to strengthen civic education and career readiness among high school students.
Established in 2013, the mentorship program was inspired by the late Judge Peter R. Palermo, a federal magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, who envisioned that all leaders, regardless of profession, should understand the foundational principles of the U.S. Constitution and civic life. Judge Palermo served as a federal magistrate judge for over 40 years. He passed away in 2015 at the age of 97.
