The Business Law class traveled to Worcester to see an assault trial, preliminary hearings, and meet with judges this past month, to gain experience in a real court house.

Applied arts and technology teacher Christine Ferreira has included the trip to the courthouse in her curriculum for over 10 years.

“This year it seemed extra special because I was communicating with two judges and an attorney that set up the whole thing,” Ferreira said.

The group gathered in the morning on December 9 to hop on the bus and drive into Worcester to meet with Judges Daniel Wrenn and James Lemire.

“One of the judges is the brother of our late music director Dennis Wrenn,” Ferreira said. “He was more than happy to continue the Algonquin tradition in honor of his brother.”

The group spent time watching the cases, and spent time with the judges in a question and answer session.

“Judge Daniel Wrenn and Judge James Lemire: both are judges in the Superior Court,” Ferreira said. “They allowed us to come into their courtroom, as well as spending some time with the students, talking to them and answering questions.”

In the trial they watched, a police officer was being charged with indecent assault against a family member.

“We got to see witnesses  being questioned by both the prosecuting and defending attorneys,” Ferreira said.

“We then went to another court room where we watched a discovery hearing for a manslaughter case,” Ferreira said. “One of the defending attorneys, Attorney Ed Ryan, came into our classroom a week later as a guest speaker.”

Attorney Ed Ryan has spent time in Ferreira’s classroom in past years speaking to the students about his experiences as a lawyer.

“Students knew him from before, and he arranged for us to go and watch the proceedings,” Ferreira said.

“[The case] just proved how important it is to have a good lawyer like Attorney Ryan working on your side; he is a real fighter,” junior Bella Alex said. “The field trip also went through court processes that people watch on TV but don’t really understand.”

“Attorney Ryan is so inspiring,” Alex said. “Even though he admitted he doesn’t always win, anyone can tell he’s a real force in the courthouse to be beat.”

“We ended our day with Judge Lemire, watching bail hearings,” Ferreira said. “The court officer took the students in to see one of the holding cells outside the courtroom.”

The group went to lunch afterwards at an Uno restaurant in Worcester.

“As an end note, the defendant accused of indecent assault to a minor was found guilty and sentenced to one to two years in state prison,” Ferreira said.

According to Alex, the trip was very beneficial to her education.

“I thought this field trip was critical to what we have been learning in class: it displayed how quick some cases are, and how slow,” Alex said.