All Rise! Miss Vollmer’s English II students just finished reading A Separate Peace by John Knowles. The book is set in 1940s New England and delves into the lives of Gene Forrester and his best friend Phineas at the dawn of their adulthood and their impending service in WWII. To finish their deep dive into the novel, Miss Vollmer created a mock trial! Students had to work in teams to build an argument, find textual evidence to support their claims, think critically to anticipate the opposing team’s claims, and communicate clearly to the judges present. They built truly impressive cases in just a few days of classwork. Celebrity judges were invited in to help with proceedings, and objections were provided to make sure that things were staying by the book. Based on the following testimony, we rest our case that this experience was indeed a success!