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"I spend most of my time working with kids that are either being abused or committing crimes," Harrington said. "This has made me see that the old saying 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure' is very accurate. If we as a community don't invest in our young people now, we will be rewarded with a lot more crime and other problems a few years down the road. Working with the mock trial team is one small way that I can do that."
Harrington began volunteering in Eddyville-Blakesburg schools in September 2006.
"When I first moved to Ottumwa, I was looking for a way to get involved in the community," he said. "I heard that a nearby school district was looking for someone to coach mock trial. It sounded like a great way to meet people and keep certain skills sharp that I might not use as much at work."
Mock trial is an academic competition that introduces students to the legal system while developing a wide variety of skills needed for everyday life, such as speech, research and good teamwork. Harrington works with both the high school and middle school teams.
Exposure to the legal system is beneficial he said because youth who become lawyers "will already have exposure to skills such as case-building, witness preparation, cross examination and argument. Those who don't become lawyers should still have some understanding of our Constitution and legal system, because this is essential for good citizenship."
There are other benefits, too. "Someone who plays a witness in mock trial has to research their role, so if they play a police officer, they learn about police work. If they play a bridge engineer, they learn about bridge building.
"More generally, mock trial develops certain skills that everyone needs in real life such as speaking with confidence in front of people, developing a plan and sticking with it, even in the face of opposition, and looking at the facts from different angles," he says. "Mock Trial is an exercise in things that we all have to do, such as working with people that you might not always like, pleasing authority figures, even when they're dead wrong, and facing, hopefully overcoming, the fact that life isn't fair.
"Participation in mock trial is also something that appeals to colleges and scholarship boards," he adds.
A case he was working on with the high school team concerned a feud between two college professors, "both of whom are quite full of themselves," he says. "One claimed to have newly discovered historical evidence which would have called the other's theories into question, until someone broke into his/her study and stole the documents in question. But was it his/her rival, or did s/he fake the whole thing to get attention?
"The case is a lot of fun," he said, "just because of the animosity that exists between many of the characters."
Harrington really enjoys working with area youth. The kids in the Eddyville-Blakesburg school district "are suprisingly dedicated and mature for their ages," he said. "Every season I have seen them spur each other toward victory and support the team members that had a harder time with the material."
He said that teacher/coach Donna Bohlman "has demonstrated a compassion for and an interest in her students that goes far above and beyond the call of duty for a teacher. She seems to double as a mother, a social worker, and probably a few things that I've forgotten. I couldn't run the team if she wasn't there for the team members.
"The best part is watching the kids grow ... and use the techniques that I've taught them. I love to see it when they go into court and destroy their opposition," he said.
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