Street Law Receives High Turn Out

The first Street Law meeting for the semester was held Jan. 27, with over 30 students attending. Street Law, led by the Minority Law Students Association (MLSA), is a program where students from the Boyd School of Law go to Valley High School and teach about different law topics. However, the program is trying to expand its reaches to other local high schools, according to Frank Durand, Dean for Student Advancement.

"Kids really enjoy it," Amy Yonesawa, president of MLSA, said. "Once you get them talking they get really interested."

Students that choose to volunteer for the program put a lesson plan together from the textbook, "Street Law: A Course in Practical Law", and then teach it to students at the at-risk high school. "I think sometimes we can change lives," Professor Robert Correales said.

Topics in the past have included arrest rights, housing laws and credit cards. "The kids really had a lot of questions," Jenny Lee, treasurer of MLSA, said. Last year as an activity Yonesawa brought employees from Wells Fargo to talk about credit cards to the students. Students can also volunteer for the end of the semester mock court trial competition.

Boyd Students Amy Yonesawa and Jenny Lee discuss Street Law at the Boyd School of Law

"Some kids say they didn't know they wanted to attend college until they participated in the program," Correales said.

It's up to the volunteering student on how much time they would like to put forth. Students can teach one lesson, which lasts about 50 minutes, or they can teach more than four. Two Street Law class times are available for students to pick from, compared to three from last year. More importantly, Street Law is to help students understand the system and putting public service first.

"It's a really big payoff for not a lot of work," Yonesawa said. "A lot of the information is very basic for us [as law students], but not for them."