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New Mock Court Room Putting Students Into Legal Role-Play

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Even the best legal minds had to get their start somewhere, and in Brooklyn, middle schoolers are starting that path early.

Inside the Mark Twain School for the Gifted and Talented in Coney Island, students are learning all about how to become a lawyer or a judge thanks to a new mock court room.

Students use scripts to act out fictional trials, like the boy who cried wolf and the trial of Rumpelstiltskin. There is even a jury box and a podium for a judge.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, legal work is expected to grow by 8 percent through 2026.

"It shows me how to argue, how to formulate an educated opinion," said eighth-grader Victor Schacher.

"It's giving them the basic building blocks, the basic vocabulary, showing them the process," said sixth grade law and justice teacher Darren Kessler.

Councilman Mark Treyger, who represents the area, is one who secured the more than $179,000 to build the court room.

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