A good turnout of TJSL students came to see what the CLIMB Program is all about on Friday, September 30. There were more than 35 of them at the organizational.
CLIMB is the Crawford Legal Institute & Mentorship Bond Program, created by TJSL professors Maurice Dyson and Bill Slomanson for the Crawford High School Legal Academy. CLIMB helps to develop the students’ critical thinking skills and expose them to the legal profession. The Crawford students came to the law school as well to meet the TJSL students, many of whom are signing up to work with the Crawford kids. There are quite a few opportunities for TJSL students with the program, including marketing and programming positions as well as participating in the teen court.
With CLIMB in its second year, TJSL professors and law students are a weekly presence on the Crawford campus as lecturers, speakers and mentors.
“We had a good outcome for our first meeting,” said Diana Vasquez, who is the CLIMB Marketing Coordinator at TJSL. “Our second meeting has to be even more impacting—I know this is possible.”
The CLIMB program coordinator is 2L Clinton Minus, who stresses that there is much to benefit from the program for both law students and high school students.
“Our program allows teens to be fully immersed in legal education from a practical perspective,” says Minus. “CLIMB also gives law students a great opportunity to fuse their legal education with real world experience. TJSL students have an opportunity to work with our mock trial, teen court, mentorship, and guest speaker programs at Crawford High School. CLIMB is both professionally and personally fulfilling for all participants.”
Ruweda Ali, a 16 year-old sophomore at Crawford High School spoke at the meeting, expressing her gratitude for CLIMB program:
“Being in Crawford Law Academy is the way for me and I thank you guys at Thomas Jefferson School of Law for giving my fellow classmates and I an opportunity to do what we want to succeed in life. I can also see myself strutting around a court room or having a good debate.”