High School students intern with local lawyers

The Third Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Committee coordinated the annual Madison County Intern Program (MCIP) placing local high school students in area law firms for three weeks to allow students to observe and experience different employment opportunities in the legal field and to better understand how the legal system works.

This year, 14 students were selected to participate in the program.

“This program connects students from around the county with volunteer lawyers who donate the time to acquaint them with the court system and the individual offices," said Circuit Judge Barbara Crowder, chair of the Pro Bono Committee. "The pro bono committee thanks the lawyers who donated their time to make this experience meaningful for the students."

The participating students and their volunteer attorneys were:

Jessica Drewer from Highland High School who worked with Tony Dos Santos; Elizabeth Silva from Edwardsville High School was paired with Jack Cranley; Sabrina Blanco from Alton High School was placed with John Delaney, Jr.; Sofiya Knebel, Alton High School, served with Jo Anna Pollock; Kris Keller of Marquette High School in Alton worked with Brenda Baum; Miranda Mullins from Edwardsville worked with Bob Rowland; Thomas Hart of Marquette High School was paired with Ronald Roth; Isabella Lilley from Edwardsville interned with Katie Wycoff; Alyssa Boulanger from Wesclin High was paired with Jennifer Johnson; Lexi Dreste of Granite City High School worked with Jane Unsell; Brooke Lunn from Edwardsville was placed with Todd Sivia; Catherine Jackich from Granite City interned with Morgan Scroggins; Taylor Rook from Marquette served with Michael Glisson; and Alexander Johnson was assigned to Todd Sivia.

The students went through an application process for selection. They received an orientation about the legal system from Crowder about civil cases and about the criminal system from Circuit Judge Kyle Napp. They also attended sessions about confidentiality, attorney-client relationships, and types of legal cases and careers.

The program has more than doubled in size since it started three years ago. Madison County students interested in applying for 2015 opportunities may do so through their high schools.

The MCIP program sub-committee is chaired by Jo Anna Pollock of the Simmons firm.