Update, 2/15/18:This segment of Classroom Close-up will air on
NJTV on Feb. 18 and March 25 at 7:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Check your local listings.
An accomplished marathoner’s drug test comes back positive for performance-enhancing drugs. He says his water was tampered with. Were the race organizers liable for damage to the athlete’s reputation?
That was the original case presented by students from Bloomfield Middle School to nearly 80 educators who attended a workshop on the New Jersey State Bar Foundation’s Law Fair and Law Adventure programs at the Law Center on Oct. 17.
Adding to the excitement was a camera crew and producers from Classroom Close-up NJ, which taped a segment of its Emmy-winning program focused on innovative programs taking place in public school classrooms throughout the state. The show airs on NJTV and the segment on Law Adventure will air in February.
The free workshop for third through eighth grade teachers also featured the elements of a mock trial, how to prepare Law Fair and Law Adventure cases, and a conversation with competition judges.
Among the attendees was Bridget Charles, a teacher from Luis Muñoz Marin School for Social Justice in Newark. Her school participated for the first time last year.
“It builds their self-confidence,” she said. “They really get to know the law.” She said she submits cases from her younger students in the Law Fair program, while the seventh and eighth graders participate in Law Adventure.
Entries for Law Fair and Law Adventure must be received by January 31. There is no charge to enter. For more information on the programs, and to download the rules booklet, see the New Jersey State Bar Foundation website at
www.njsbf.org.