Cantiague Elementary School fifth graders participated in a mock trial at the Nassau County Supreme Court last Monday. In a case called 'The State of New York vs. Goldilocks', students assumed the roles of witnesses, prosecutors and defendants under Judge Kenneth S. Diamond, supervising judge of the Nassau County Family Court.

"There is a prosecution and defense, but they also maintained the image of characters from the Goldilocks story," community relations representative Daniel Bagnuola said.

Goldilocks, written in the early 1800s, tells the story of a girl who gets lost in the woods and wanders into a bear's home. Tired and hungry from her journey, Goldilocks breaks several household items before finally fleeing the scene.

The court case picks up where the story left off as Goldilocks is accused of counts of Grand Larceny, burglary in the second degree and trespassing. Cross-examinations, objections and redirects were all fair game under this case as students dressed in the costumes of their assumed identity.

The court case has taken place annually over the past 21 years under the supervision of fifth grade teacher Thomas Kramer.

"It started as a science lesson about heat loss with Goldilocks and the porridge bowls," Kramer said. "The next thing I knew, we were putting Goldilocks on trial. Judge Diamond has been very helpful with this event." Diamond, a Jericho resident, has presided over the case for the past 12 years.

"This is my way of giving something back to the community," Diamond said. "When I became a judge, I thought this would be a great way to work with youngsters and this is a great way for them to learn."

One of the many things the children learn is basic litigation. "When they say something they have to back it up," said Stacy Falk, mother of prosecutor Samantha. "There is a lot behind accusations. They have to go out and find whether it's true or not."

According to Kramer, the lesson extends into higher thought processes and cooperative learning.

When asked as a group if they were having fun, a collective "yes" gave Kramer all the confidence he needed that he had achieved his goals once again.

"I'm definitely having a lot of fun," prosecuting lawyer Carolyn Bordowitz said. "We had meetings and we worked for a few months and read Goldilocks a lot of times."

But Bordowitz may be one of the last students to participate in this event. Kramer announced earlier in the year that he will be leaving the Cantiague school district.

"I hope that there will be another teacher who will follow his excellent work," Diamond said.

Other participants in the trial included: Ariel Adrian, assistant district attorney; Derek Ash, defense attorney; Shelby Bates, Goldilocks; Pamela Bortnick, baby bear; Won Cha, antique dealer; Kevin Cheng, court clerk; Michelle Fusco, Britney Lizzie bird; Benjamin Holtzman, defense attorney; Oliver Horowitz, jury; Michelle Kantor, Brook A. Rat; Jonathan Kerbis, defense attorney; Sahib Lamba, furniture salesman; Shane Liebenthal, defense attorney; Samantha McInerney, jury; Sunmi Oh, jury; Tanya Shimon, assistant DA; Chad Spodek, jury; Koby Telyas, jury and David Weiss, poppa bear.