May 5, 2025 – The 2024-2025 Courtroom to Classroom season has concluded! Over the past nine months, the Cobb County Courthouse hosted over 250 fourth and fifth-grade students from across Cobb County. The field trip to the Courthouse, which consists of a scripted, mock jury trial involving an accused bicycle thief and demonstrations from the Sheriff’s deputies, gives students hands-on experiences designed to instill a sense of civic responsibility.

Chief Judge Ann Harris, who presided over the last trial with Riverside Elementary students, told students that “Benjamin Franklin once said, ‘Tell me, and I forget. Show me, and I remember. Involve me, and I learn.’” In that spirit, during the mock trial, students got to be the jury, prosecution and defense attorneys, witnesses, and defendant. Involving students in every part of a trial enriches their experience and fosters learning far greater than could be done by learning solely in a classroom. “It was a joy to have these fifth graders with us, and I hope there were some future lawyers and judges among them,” said Harris.

Students were also treated to visits from deputies from the Cobb Sherriff’s Office’s Community Engagement Unit, including the K-9 deputies. “The students learn a lot from the mock trial, but meeting the dogs is just as exciting for them,” said Judge Marbutt, a frequent judge in the bicycle thief case. The deputies show off the dog’s skills and some of their more high-tech crime-fighting tools to the students. The goal is for the students to leave with a new understanding of what it takes to keep their community safe. Marbutt commented, “As a former teacher, I can tell you, the impact that these types of programs have on students is invaluable.”

The mock trial program is hosted by Cobb County’s Law Library and is appropriate for fourth and fifth-graders. The program is offered throughout the school year as courtroom space allows. Email Erin.Mendez@cobbcounty.gov for information about opportunities during the 2025-2026 school year.