Mock Trial is an activity in which students learn the principles of trial advocacy and then apply those principles as they try a fictitious case. Students that are involved in Mock Trial foster an increased self-confidence, improved analytical and speaking skills, and the ability to work well with others.

 

Students learn how vital teamwork is as they compete against teams from California, other high schools from every state in the US, and six foreign countries, in tournaments held in real Superior and Federal courthouses.

 

Mock Trial students practice in a dedicated space. Named for the revered founder of the groundbreaking La Reina Mock Trial program, the Eileen DeBruno Mock Trial Courtroom is the only dedicated mock trial courtroom in any high school in all of Ventura County and is one of the finest such facilities in the country.

 

Winning Tradition

• 21 County Championships
• 4 State Championships
• 2 National Championships
• 2 World Championships

 

The La Reina Speech & Debate team is designed to develop communications, leadership, and important public speaking skills in an entertaining, fun environment. Members of the Speech & Debate team prepare interpretive, improvisational, creative, and debate-based events and compete with other students from around the state and country.

 

Students earn points for participating on the Speech & Debate team and can earn the special ruby graduation cord for reaching the level of “Distinction” after competing in 30 rounds of competition. Many of our students attain the highly revered award of Academic All-American by attaining the level of Superior Distinction and maintaining a high GPA. In 2017, the NSDA (National Speech and Debate Association) recognized La Reina as being among the top 1% of all high school programs in the country, Emily Aguilar '19 and Elleora Svoboda '19 were named NSDA All-Americans, and Alanna Cronk '19 won the State Championship in Oratory as a sophomore.

 

La Reina High School’s Speech and Debate team is ranked by the National Forensics League among the top 5% of all high school Forensics programs in America.

 

La Reina's Robotics Team engages in academically challenging competitions which are styled to encourage the enthusiasm and exhilaration of sporting events. The students design, build, and program all the machines that they enter into competition. The team competes in four or more local Vex Robotics tournaments with robot designs that fulfill the requirements of the current game. These events are very inclusive, encouraging teams to help each other and share their expertise while enjoying the competitions. Teams that succeed in the local tournaments are eligible for state or national competitions.

 

This activity provides real-world experience as the girls are developing spatial and mathematical skills. Most schoolwork is in text and 2-D, so seeing our girls deploy a 6-bar arm or an IF-THEN loop is exciting. Our students quickly learn how to use various sensors and apply that data to the robot's response. We offer a 7th period elective class to provide an introduction to both the mechanics and the programming needed to design machines.

 

La Reina's Roboregents reached the Southern California State competition in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019, and qualified for the World Competition in 2016 and 2017.

After restarting the program in 2016, La Reina qualified for Nationals representing California in 2018, placing 2nd in the Online Nationals for Medium-sized schools.

 

Jenna Matus '18 finished 1st overall at Nationals (five gold medals) and four other Regents medaled in the competition.

 

In the Ventura County Championships, La Reina placed in the Top three in 10 events, earning 1st place in Speech, 1st place in Literature, 2nd place in Super Quiz and Economics, and 3rd place in Essay, Art, Math, Science, and Social Science. Individually, every member of earned at least one medal.