Learning the Law: Courtroom Field Trips Sponsored by Abrams Landau
At Rachel Carson Middle School, civics isn’t just taught in textbooks, it’s experienced firsthand.
Since 1995, the Fairfax Law Foundation has sponsored the Court Tour Program for eighth grade students in Fairfax County, allowing students the unique opportunity to learn about the legal system right from the courtroom. However, due to budget cuts, this program has become dependent on the generosity of sponsors to continue.
That’s why ABRAMS LANDAU is proud to sponsor Rachel Carson Middle School as part of the Foundation’s Adopt-A-School program. This sponsorship enables an entire class of eighth graders to participate in this longstanding civic education experience, a key component of Virginia’s Standards of Learning and an essential element in the eighth-grade Civics curriculum.
But ABRAMS LANDAU’s support doesn’t stop at financial sponsorship.
Attorney Doug Landau, who has long been passionate about civic education, has played an active role in this initiative for years. Not only has he personally led middle school students on these courthouse tours, explaining courtroom procedure and answering students’ many questions, he also volunteered for seven years as an instructor in the Fairfax County Public Schools “We the People” Constitutional Law & Civics education program. His teaching ended when the program was stopped during COVID, but his involvement with local education has continued.
During one particularly memorable court tour, the students from two different groups on consecutive days had the rare opportunity to watch an actual jury trial in front of Circuit Court Judge John Tran. The experience was both exciting and educational, and the students were left on a cliffhanger, as they had to return to school before the jury returned its verdict. Judge Tran later wrote the class a letter to share the outcome of the case, and even took time between breaks during the trial to explain the courtroom process to the students.
Programs like these help to create lasting memories that deepen students’ understanding of law and justice. Doug Landau states, “If our young citizens do not understand how our government and system of laws works, how can they be productive members of society or participate meaningfully in our electoral process? I wish that I had had the opportunity to study Constitutional Law & Civic in Junior High school. I did not learn much about these subjects until I got to Law School. There, I had to play “catch up” with students who had studied these subjects in middle and high school, or who had been Political Science majors in college!”
ABRAMS LANDAU is proud to make these moments possible for Rachel Carson Middle School and remains committed to empowering and informing the next generation.
For more photos or information about our involvement with the Adopt-A-School program, feel free to reach out at frontdesk@landaulawshop.com or call/text us at (703) 796-9555.