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Home > Blogs > Springfield Schools News and Issues > Archives > 2009 > February > 23
Monday, February 23, 2009
Class speaker brings courtroom drama to life
Northwestern High School students in Sandy Kachurek’s English class have spent recent weeks reading Monster.
Walter Dean Myers’ story — written for young adults — tells the tale of a 16-year-old boy on trial for murder after he is accused of acting as lookout for an armed robbery turned deadly in his Harlem neighborhood.
The courtroom proceedings and ethical questions raised by Myers’ book came to life Monday morning as students had the chance to talk to a local court official about the book.
Clark County Common Pleas Court Judge Douglas M. Rastatter spoke to the students about local cases, specifications under Ohio law and what the details of Myers’ story could mean for its young protagonist in an Ohio court room.
“Watching Law and Order is totally different from (Rastatter) explaining, so now I can go back to the book and relate to it and know what it means,” said junior Seth Kohut.
For Kohut — who asked the judge intricate questions based on the book and episodes of crime dramas — Monster combined two loves, the law and English.
He and his classmates peppered Rastatter with questions about juvenile vs. adult court, crimes against pregnant women, double jeopardy and jury deliberations.
Rastatter, a Springfield North High School grad, praised the teens for their “good questions.”
“I know when I was in high school, I didn’t really follow that stuff, I wasn’t too interested in it,” he told them.
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