Mock Trial
Adviser: Marisa Blachy

Mock Trial continues to grow in popularity amongst the student body as a challenging and competitive elective program. One of 76 schools in Los Angeles County that participates annually in the National Constitutional Rights Foundation Mock Trial program, PVHS has almost always reached the elite eight. Individual accolades have been constant as well, with PVHS taking home numerous individual awards, including Defense Attorney of the Year, awarded to only one student who exemplifies the skills, demeanor and disposition of a criminal defense attorney.

Model United Nations
Adviser: Anna Driver

Model United Nations is a signature program at Palos Verdes High School that allows students to engage in diplomatic exchange about current and past global issues. This is done by participating in simulations and conferences through mock United Nations committees. PVHS students have the opportunity to participate in both high school and college conferences, including UCLA. Model United Nations counts as social studies elective credit and a class.

Model United Nations allows students to learn important life skills such as research, public speaking, critical thinking, collaboration, and compromise. The program teaches students to plan out solutions in the perspective of the country they are representing, not their own, therefore giving them the skill of multiple perspectives. These skills will help students in college and beyond. MUN also plans out their own conference committees and learns how to prepare their own topics and background research, as well as running the actual conference and committees. Students in MUN have gone forward into many careers and majors.

Speech and Debate
Adviser: Allyson Klabe

The speech and debate program is unique because it a team atmosphere that must operate in a classroom setting. Specifically, speech is an individual event that allows the students to dig deep into a topic of their interest and share their passion. Debate forces the students to look at and argue for both sides of a current issue, and therefore they must research and propose means of improvement. The Forensics Team as a whole provides a platform for the students to speak their mind, advocate for social improvement, and persuade others’ perspectives. Through this program, the students: expand their research abilities, develop deeper analysis for topics, learn how to express their ideas in an organized manner, understand the necessity to adapt their message to their audience, establish a delivery style that conveys their personality while growing their professionalism, strengthen their listening skills and evolve their aptitude to immediately respond in a debate, gain confidence to speak in front of others, and apply critical life skills that go beyond the classroom. Despite living in such a progressive world, students are being taught less and less the importance of engaging with others who think differently that they do. This program prevents individuals from surrounding themselves with only likeminded people and allows for them to have tough conversation about the hard hitting questions. Through the Forensics Team, we can truly come to agree on a resolution to these concerns and ultimately change our worldview and the world itself.