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- Teen Court
Saturday, September 23, 2023
When talent meets passion, magical things can happen in the workplace…even when there are unique and sometimes great challenges. Managing programs involving teenagers trying to find their place in the world might be intimidating for most, but for Southlake’s Teen Court Coordinator Dana Kirkland, it’s what she was “meant to do.”
Dana’s love and respect for young people, coupled with meaningful work experience and a quest to get it right, is extraordinary. And the Teen Court program works beautifully as a result.
Dana was a teacher in New Mexico for 26 years before retiring. She taught 4th and 5th grade in general subjects and 6th and 7th grade in Math. In 2016, Dana relocated to the DFW area. She happened to see the job posting for Teen Court Coordinator and immediately pursued and got the job.
She has brought her classroom management, public speaking, and conflict mediation skills to her daily work. Dana is creative and determined and gets the job done, even when circumstances have required her to regroup.
“During the Covid-19 pandemic, Dana went above and beyond to find ways for teens to participate and fulfill their obligations while still learning from their experience. Where a lot of teen courts failed during that time and are no longer functioning, she was able to manage the program and make it successful,” said Kristin McGrail, Municipal Court Manager.
Writing essays was one option for teens to complete service hours. The topics were varied and always thought-provoking, all with the intention of getting the teens to reflect on their choices. Dana has read hundreds of papers in the past two years and has provided valuable feedback to the teens regarding their papers.
Dana does everything she can to make the teen court experience meaningful and enjoyable for everyone involved. Whether cultivating new community service work sites, coordinating training for teen attorneys, or organizing a professional conference, Dana uses her considerable skills to support adolescents as they prepare for adulthood.
For bringing a lifelong passion for education to the job and quietly working each day to make a difference with local teens, Dana Kirkland has been identified as one of the City of Southlake’s Unsung Heroes.
By using a little ingenuity, Metroport Teen Court is still in session despite changes associated with COVID-19.
Teen Court is a voluntary program funded by the cities of Colleyville, Grapevine, Keller, and Southlake that allows teens in middle school or high school the opportunity to keep Class C Misdemeanors off their permanent record. Teen defendants go through a trial before a jury of their peers who then assess community service hours and jury terms for them to complete.
Holding trials for defendants ordered to complete Teen Court by judges from four cities often results in gatherings of over a hundred people at the Southlake Municipal Court building on Tuesday evenings. But now, two challenges are facing Teen Court: how to hold Teen Court trials when gatherings are limited in size and moving existing cases through the program when teens aren’t able to complete traditional community service hours.
With approval from the cities’ respective judges, Dana Falk, the Teen Court Clerk, and Colleen Anson, Office Assistant, have developed some smart ways in which teens can enroll, have their trials heard, and even complete community service at a distance.
Teen Court Changes
The first thing to figure out was how to move forward on current Teen Court cases where sentencing is still required. Instead of performing external community service, teens can now complete essays or poster boards (digital or physical) and submit those items electronically. Additionally, teens can complete online driver safety, anger management, or alcohol and drug courses, in place of performing community service hours. After trial, defendants are also asked to serve on e-juries to fulfill their assigned jury terms.
New Cases
For new cases coming into Teen Court, teens can now complete an enrollment over the phone with Teen Court staff. After being enrolled, the teen’s trial will consist of an emailed questionnaire comprised of questions typically asked by the jury. Their teen’s answers are then submitted to a jury panel of pre-selected teens to review the defendant’s responses. The jurors will then sentence the teen defendant to community service hours based on those answers.
“We are looking forward to the day that Metroport Teen Court can again be held in person,” said Kristin McGrail, Southlake’s Municipal Court Manager. “But until then, Teen Court will continue to serve our community and our partner cities in the best ways possible.”
For the most up to date information regarding Teen Court, please visit www.metroport-teencourt.org. Or you can contact us by calling 817-748-8346 or emailing at teen.court@ci.southlake.tx.us.
The City of Southlake hosted a presentation and awards ceremony on Monday, April 29 in Town Hall to recognize teens and adults for their service and commitment to the Metroport Teen Court program. Metroport Teen Court is a voluntary program and is funded by the cities of Colleyville, Grapevine, Keller and Southlake.
This year, eight individuals received awards for giving their time and expertise to run Teen Court. Two teens who served as teen attorneys for about three years received $1,500 each in scholarships.
Metroport Teen Court allows juvenile, Class C misdemeanor offenders an alternative way to serve community service hours and participate in the judicial process.
The teens will go through a trial before their own peers and will be sentenced with community service hours and jury service to complete.
Metroport Teen Court is not just about judge and jury trials, it is also about learning how the judicial system works and giving back to your community. Other roles teen volunteers serve in Metroport Teen Court are jurors, bailiffs and teen attorneys. The adult volunteers assist with check-in and check-out of volunteers. Adults also serve as courtroom monitors; and with very special training, run master jury rooms or jury deliberation rooms.
“Teen Court is important for a multitude of reasons,” said Teen Court Clerk Dana Falk, “We offer teens an alternative to the regular juvenile court process, where they risk formal prosecution and possible adjudication; it allows teens to make restitution to the community for their violation by way of performing community service. It enables teens to take responsibility for their citation instead of parents paying the fine, and it allows juvenile offenders to better understand our judicial process.”
Upon completion of the program, a teen’s citation is dismissed and they avoid what might have been a stain on their legal record.
“It’s like a second chance for first offenders, and it also teaches kids responsibility,” said Falk. According to Falk, some defendants enjoy the process so much that they come back to volunteer on their own time as jurors or to train as teen attorneys and volunteer that way.
“On any given Tuesday night, we have around five adult volunteers and between 10-30 teen volunteers helping us to run the program,” said Falk,
“Four of the ladies who received recognition come without fail every Tuesday night and either run our master jury rooms or help with check-in at the desk,” She continues. “The Teen Court judge who was recognized has led all of our teen attorney training sessions this year, as well as serving as mentor to one of our competition teams.”
Senior teen attorneys Parker Churns and Cameron Waltz were recognized for their consistency. “We will be sad to lose their expertise after the summer when they go off to school,” said Falk.
The North Richland Hills Animal Adoption and Rescue Center was also recognized for giving teen defendants more hours of community service than any other organization this year.
“We could not provide the current level of service we maintain without these volunteers,” said Falk.
If interested in being a part of the Metroport Teen Court program, please email volunteer@ci.southlake.tx.us
| Award Recipients |
| Adult Volunteers |
| Kara Carreras – Judge of the Year, led all training sessions for teen attorneys, mentored a competition team and served as our Advisory Board Chair |
| Linda Lucart – Logged the Most Hours |
| Teen Volunteers |
| Paityn Main – Logged the Most Hours |
| Scholarship Recipients, Considered to be lead teen attorney and represented Metroport Teen Court on the State Competition Team |
| Parker Churns –$1500 |
| Cameron Waltz – $1500 |
| Superior Service Award |
| Patty Bradshaw |
| Exceptional Service Award |
| Heather Main |
| Outstanding Service Award |
| Rebecca Waltz |
| Work Site of the Year |
| NRH Animal Adoption & Rescue Center, gave most hours to defendants |
At the April 16 City Council meeting, the City of Southlake presented service awards to 40 volunteers from Volunteer Southlake for their outstanding service. Their contributions include working in the library, teen court and at the senior activity center. Volunteers exemplify why Southlake is such an outstanding community.
“Volunteers play a vital role in the City’s success,” stated Volunteer Coordinator Lindy Calzada. “Their presence is felt throughout Southlake. Many volunteers serving our Department of Public Safety have contributed their time to this important work for many years. Additionally, the City’s special events such as Stars and Stripes and Home for the Holidays would not be possible without the help of volunteers.”
The City’s Boards and Commissions also rely on the work and support of our volunteers. The volunteers provide feedback and serve as focus groups to help the City engage with citizens. The volunteers’ time and effort help make this process a cost-savings solution for the City.
From April 1, 2018, to March of 2019, more than 2,000 volunteers provided 26,157 hours of service to the City which is valued at $665,172. This is equivalent to almost 13 full-time employees.
The awards were presented in three categories: The Junior and Adult Service Awards, the Milestone Service Awards and the Presidential Service Awards.
The Junior Service Award and the Adult Service Award were presented to the junior and adult volunteers who have served the most hours in the last 12 months.
The Milestone Service Award is presented in 500-hour increments to our dedicated volunteers who have contributed so much of their time in service to Southlake. The Presidential Service Awards are awarded to qualified volunteers who have achieved the required number of hours of service over a 12-month time period. These awards are broken down in three categories: Bronze, Silver and Gold.
“Our volunteers work very hard to make Southlake great,” said Calzada, “They are dedicated and committed individuals offering their diverse skills and knowledge to help the City be successful.”
Want to volunteer with the City? Find out how by visiting the Volunteer Southlake or contact Volunteer Coordinator, Lindy Calzada at 817-748-8035 or volunteer@ci.southlake.tx.us
Award Recipients
| Junior Service Award | Adult Service Award |
| Sophia Polisetty | Ken Stewart |
Milestone Service Awards
| Marge Kyle – 1,000 Hours of Service Gary Davidson – 1,500 Hours of service Tom Moore – 1,500 Hours of Service |
Ken Stewart – 1,500 Hours of Service Wayne Berryman – 2,000 Hours of Service Pamela Muller – 2,000 Hours of Service |
| Presidential Awards | Bronze Level |
| Wayne Berryman Patricia Brayton Alaina Dang Gary Davidson Marie Doran Eric Eaton Ed Grondahl Hunter Haack Lauren Olivia Hall Joan Houle |
Marge Kyle Jamie Lim Karen Mertz Tom Moore Anh Nguyen Sophia Polisetty Iris Schmeder James Shirey Ken Stone Nikoletta Shockley |
| Presidential Awards | Silver Level |
| Medha Mageswaran Paityn Main Amita Manjunath Leroy McCall Pamela Muller |
Jeffrey Ng Sophie Pacheco Reza Saffarian Likhitha Veerapalli |
| Presidential Awards | Gold Level |
| Helen Keller Andrew Price |
Ken Stewart Caleb Yeager |
Colton Williams turned a minor mistake into a major opportunity.
In August 2016, the Southlake resident and student received a traffic citation for speeding. After completing the Teen Court program for the citation, Williams began volunteering every week with Teen Court. He served as a jury member, a bailiff and a teen attorney, and also served with teen attorney mentor program.
During his volunteer service, Williams applies for the Teen Court Scholarship, and won $3,000 for his college education.
At the award ceremony last month, the Teen Court Advisory Board awarded Williams the $3,000 check, which he will use toward his studies at the University of Alabama in the fall. Williams, an Eagle Scout and active member of SASO (Student Athletes Serving Others) has also won a U.S. Congressional Silver Medal for his 250 hours of community service, and has recently delved into entrepreneurship.
Williams owns and operates Dragon Fence Staining, and is passionate about robotics, scuba diving, playing the piano, and the soccer and basketball teams at Carroll Senior High. He plans to continue his community service efforts at his new home in Tuscaloosa.