On March 10, seniors in the Jones law program took a trip to Northwestern Law School to gauge what law school would be like.

Such trips are part of the plethora of opportunities that comes from Jones hosting a Career and Technical Education (CTE) Pre-Law program.

“Law students and a handful of criminal psychology students had an admissions presentation,” said Emyln Ricketts, the Director of CTE Pre-Law Program. “They got to take a tour of the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and eat lunch with some Northwestern law students.”

For many of the students, this opportunity felt relevant to the career paths they plan on taking.

“Many students in the class obviously have an interest in going to law school eventually,” said Rory Maxwell ’23, a CTE Pre-Law student. “So it’d be nice to see what kind of day-to-day life would be at law school, especially from one of the best in the country.”

Some teachers believe these immersive experiences, like the one to Northwestern, are what make the CTE Pre-Law program special.

“Such trips are very meaningful and impactful opportunities, which I love that we’re able to facilitate,” said Ricketts. “We’re grateful for all of our partners, Northwestern, and all other internship hosts around the city for contributing to our CTE Pre-Law program.”

The Northwestern trip offered an opportunity for students to get first-hand advice from law students.

“The Northwestern law students gave us advice about going into law school, the community itself, and good recommendations on how to approach it,” said Maxwell. “It was nice to ask questions and hear answers from them.”

All in all, the trip provided pragmatic insight for the Pre-Law students.

“From the trip, students were able to decide if they could visualize themselves in law school, which is very important since law school is expensive,” said Ricketts.

The skills learned through the Jones CTE program prepared students for Northwestern and gave them an opportunity to apply themselves.

“The experience was similar to law classes at Jones. We got into scenarios of cases and had to figure out who was at fault and why based on the information given,” said Maxwell.

CTE Pre-Law students also participate in immersive experiences throughout their high school career, such as the internships for seniors.

“My host isn’t a lawyer himself but has worked with a ton, giving me the chance to ask him a ton of questions,” said Maxwell. “I feel like my internship has given me more professional skills as opposed to law-specific skills.”

Senior year internships are of interest to some junior year CTE Pre-Law students.

“I want to get more leadership and social awareness and learn more about potential career paths from the internship,” said Sofia Moreno ’24, a CTE Pre-Law student.

Each year, CTE Pre-Law has different classes of focus that add to students’ knowledge.

“All of the classes in the CTE Pre-Law program build on each other and complement each other in significant ways,” said Ricketts.

The content learned from the CTE program is not only applicable to law but also other classes.

“Right now in my AP Government and Politics class we’re learning about civil liberties, and all the cases we’re talking about I already know from law because they’re interlinked,” said Moreno.

Some teachers have found the CTE Pre-Law program to be beneficial outside of an academic setting.

“You learn how to reason in a really logical way and advocacy skills, for both yourself and for other people,” said Ricketts. “You develop critical thinking skills and how to structure and make an argument.” 

Overall, much can be expected and enjoyed from the CTE Pre-Law program, ranging from building applicable skills to multiple immersive experiences. 

“I think students who come and do the CTE program will be satisfied, and I hope they take it because it’s a very calm and fun course,” said Moreno.