When Gianna Reyes first joined OPRF’s Mock Trial team, she wasn’t sure she belonged.
“The first couple of meetings were rough,” she said. “Everyone already knew each other, so I was just kind of awkward.”
Just a year later, that same student leads the Mock Trial. Her mission is simple: make Mock Trial a place where not just future law students can enjoy it, but anyone can show up.
“I really wanted to put my focus into this club,” Reyes said. “There were so many things I knew we could improve on. The leaders before me were amazing, but I felt like there was so much more we could do to make it better.”
That attitude is what drew history teacher and Mock Trial sponsor Samantha Stearns to her.
“She’s very much a people person,” Stearns said. “She can talk and have a conversation with anyone. For a club that’s so academically rooted, Reyes brings fun and levity. She makes sure it’s not just work, work, work.”
Reyes first learned about Mock Trial in Newscene during her sophomore year. “I was already looking for something to do because I was on track and I was just really bored,” she said. “I already knew I wanted to be a lawyer. When I heard them talking about mock trials, I thought, ‘Oh my god, this sounds amazing.’”
That curiosity quickly turned into commitment. After briefly focusing on lacrosse, she came back in her junior year ready to be part of the club. “I just stayed,” she said. “Now I’m president.”
As president, Reyes has pushed to make the club more interactive and more inclusive. She and her co-president, senior Charlotte Crosby, have organized team-bonding activities and found mentors from Loyola University and even local judges to work with students. “That was one of the most amazing moments,” Reyes said. “We had a Zoom meeting with them, and now we’re actually in contact with two judges who help us with our directors. It’s really awesome.”
Stearns said those kinds of actions have transformed the Mock Trial group. “One of the things that’s different this year is that they’re doing more group-based things,” she said. “They took a picture together at homecoming, they hung out as a team […] Reyes and Crosby wanted a mock trial to feel like a family.”
Crosby said that the feeling of community comes directly from Reyes’s leadership style. “She really likes teaching people,” she said. “When we joined, we weren’t getting taught a lot. She took that and really tried to fix it.”
Crosby added that Reyes’s goal has always been to make the program last beyond their time at OPRF. “She doesn’t want it just to be good this year when we’re here,” she said. “She wants it to be good in the years to come.”
Stearns called her an “empathetic leader.” “She can read the room and make adjustments on the fly,” she said. “She doesn’t just focus on the problem […] she looks for solutions. People don’t feel intimidated by her; they trust her.”
That trust is visible at every meeting, where Reyes’s energy sets the tone. “All the kids who show up seem so dedicated,” Reyes said. “It makes me feel like we’re doing something right.”
Beyond Mock Trial, Reyes manages the varsity lacrosse team and has competed in track, but she says nothing compares to the courtroom energy of Mock Trial. “It’s definitely what I love most,” she said.
Her motivation, she added, comes from her family. “Probably my dad has impacted me the most,” she said. “He’s always made sure that if I fell down, I got back up. Even when I didn’t like it, he pushed me to do more, and I’m grateful for that.”
For Reyes, leadership isn’t about the attention. It’s about building something that lasts. “When I was a sophomore and junior, there weren’t that many kids who were that into it,” she said. “Now they keep showing up. That makes me really happy.”
And if you ask her what mock trial means to her now, she doesn’t hesitate: “If you want a safe space to just come and enjoy yourself, come to Mock Trial,” she said. “We try to provide that as much as we can.”
Stearns summed it up by saying, “She’s a wonderful human being and a great asset to the school. She’s really helped us turn the Mock Trial into something special.”
