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October 11, 2006
Legal Partners
Texas Tech and Estacado High School team up to expand legal program.
Written by Michael Castellon
From left: Rashonda Johnson; Debridrick Henderson; Paul Frazier, EHS principal; Josh Rodriquez; Walt Huffman, School of Law dean; Patrick Martinez and Sarah Mendoza.
While the cultural and economic background of Texas is changing at a rapid rate, the demographics making up Texans who attend law school is alarmingly stagnant.
But thanks to a partnership with the Texas Tech University School of Law, Lubbock Estacado High School students wishing to pursue a career in law have an extra resource available to them to do just that.
The new five-year partnership between the School of Law and the Estacado High School Law and Justice Magnet Program intends to provide additional educational resources and help guide students toward their goals of attending law school.
“Our goal is to make sure there is a track available early on in a student’s career that will allow them to pursue a career in law,” says School of Law Dean Walter Huffman. “Many times, students are finding that preparing for law school is something that needs to begin long before college.”
Beginning this year, Texas Tech law faculty and students will help prepare Estacado High students for competition in mock trials and other scholarly competitions by converting the high school’s current law magnet classroom into a courtroom and library space.
In addition, retired volumes of legal publications will be turned over to the high school.
Estacado High School Principal Paul Frazier says the partnership is expected to dramatically increase the exposure students have to School of Law faculty, staff and students.
“It’s important that our students become familiar with what is expected of them in college and in law school,” he says. “There is no better way to prepare them for this than to expose them to lessons, mock trials, publications and experts as early on as possible. It makes the idea far less daunting if they already have a relationship with the experience and with the school.”
Amy Jarmon, assistant dean of the School of Law, helped coordinate the partnership.
“We have found that there are a number of students in the Lubbock area who have demonstrated an early interest in pursuing careers in law, and their tenure in high school is a critical time for our faculty and staff to reach out to them and make sure they have the resources and expertise available to achieve this,” says Amy Jarmon, assistant dean for Academic Success Programs of the Texas Tech University School of Law.
Program Contacts
Amy Jarmon, assistant dean, Texas Tech University School of Law, (806) 742-3791, or amy.jarmon@ttu.edu.
Stacy Caviel-Watson, magnet specialist, Estacado High School, (806) 766–1400, or swatson@lubbockisd.org.
Paul Frazier, principal, Estacado High School, (806) 766–1400, or pfrazier@lubbockisd.org.
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Story produced by the Office of Communications and Marketing, 806-742-2136
Photography by Artie Limmer
Web layout by Lisa Low