During the Goleta City Council meeting on April 4, 2023, the council took time out of their meeting to proclaim their recognition of the accomplishments of both the DP Mock Trial and DPNews programs.

A cohort of students from mock trial and DPNews attended the meeting. Some of the first items of the meeting were reading an official certificate of recognition from the Goleta City Council to each of the programs.

DPNews has been broadcasting live news coverage for the school community since 2004. DPNews competed at the STN (Student Television Network) convention, where it was ranked in the Top 20 Best News Shows. The Goodland Podcast was deemed the 2nd best podcast out of all the high schools in the country.

DPNews functions as a daily news show, using professional camera and audio equipment to create original content. There are usually three groups working simultaneously in DPNews: video and audio, graphics, and sports recaps. Outside of class, people work on their own projects to enrich the variety of coverage.

Senior Logan Surber, a content producer at DPNews explained his teaching process.

“It’s kind of like a chain going down. Since I’m a senior and since I’m going away, I kind of have to squeeze out all my knowledge on how to run the show,” he said.

DPNews also won first place in Sports Highlight Editing and second place in Tell The Story News Editing. In the Vertical Nat Package (a category where videos are vertically filmed with no voiceover and natural themes) they came in third place, and they earned an honorable mention in a Public Service Announcement competition.

At the meeting, principal Bill Woodard talked about how DPNews is a vital part of the DP community.

“Especially coming out of covid, they were the glue that held us all together,” he said.

Councilmember James Kyriaco initially brought the accomplishments of DP’s mock trial team to the city council’s attention and later presented the certificate at the meeting.

Among the reasons for their recognition were their triumphs at the Santa Barbara County Mock Trial County Competitions, from which they moved on to the California Mock Trial Competition. In their most recent state competition in March 2023, the team came in second.

Charlotte Choi, a junior and 3 year mock trial veteran was grateful for this opportunity.

“We put in so much work this season…not just my teammates, but also our coaches and all the families, because this was the first time that we got to the state finals since 2016,” she said.

DPMock Trial has made a record number of appearances in the final round at the state championships, and won two state championships in 1984 and 1987. Including its most recent placement of second, it now has 5 second-place finishes.

When asked what makes DP Mock Trial so great, Charlotte responded that the community is one of the team’s core strengths.

“Especially this year, all our teammates had such a strong bond with one another. Any team can be good. Anyone can be a good attorney, a good witness. But I think the chemistry that we have together makes it so much more of a supportive, almost…family-like environment.”