Michael Yimesgen

HS History, Law Electives

During the 2011/12 school year I will be helping students learn Modern World History (9th Grade), Trial Law & Advocacy (8th Grade and up) and Jurisprudence and Modern Society (HS).

Trial Law is in its 3rd year at ICS while the Jurisprudence and Modern Society course is new this year. Both courses were designed to give students an introduction to the practice of law and an appreciation for the rule of law in shaping society. The Trial Law class prepares students to work in teams as they execute a jury trial – playing the role of attorneys and witnesses. These end-of-semester trials are open to the ICS community and give parents an opportunity to witness first-hand their children’s learning.

Jurisprudence and Modern Society is a seminar-type course that exposes students to high court decisions from the International Court of Justice, the U.S. Supreme Court, the European Court of Justice, and Tribunals in Nuremberg and post-Apartheid South Africa that have impacted our society. This course also culminates with an appellate oral and written argument competition that is open to the ICS community.

The inspiration for these high school law courses and for teaching in general came from my time as an attorney in Portland, Oregon where I volunteered one day a week coaching a high school mock trial team. The experience turned out to be the highlight of my workweek.

In 2006, after 17 years abroad, I left my legal practice and moved back to my birthplace; three years on, in 2009, I began teaching at ICS and discovered this new and most thrilling calling. The two law courses are unique to ICS making us the one of the only international schools to offer this type of real-world curriculum

My other passion is football – real football – that is played with one’s feet, and I have been extremely fortunate to work with some incredibly talented student-athletes as the varsity and jr. coed football coach at ICS.

I look forward to more success both in and outside of the classroom as I continue to do what I love: work with, learn from and help young people fulfill their destiny.

Vitals
High School: Sanford English Community School (Ethiopia) & Santa Barbara High School (California)
Bachelors: University of California, Davis (California)
Juris Doctorate: Willamette University School of Law (Oregon)
Masters: College of New Jersey (expected Jul. ‘12)
Worst nightmare: Eaten alive by a dinosaur (while talking on the phone)
Most embarrassing high school and/or cross cultural interaction: Having received instruction under an English curriculum, mistakenly asking a classmate for a rubber rather than an eraser during my first high school exam in the U.S. and the awkward intervention by my then history teacher, Mr. Van Dynwick.