Thousands of students in third-grade classrooms across the county participated in this year’s Constitution Day mock trial to learn about civics, but the event got its start in Olathe.

They sat in classroom desks instead of the jury box, but thousands of third-graders in Olathe and across the country came to a verdict in the Johnson County district court.

Olathe Public Schools and the Kansas 10th Judicial District Cour t have hosted a mock trial on Constitution Day for the last decade to teach students about civics. This year’s student defendant was accused of breaking a — fictitious — statute that prohibited running in school hallways.

Natalie Galbrecht, a third grader at Green Springs Elementary School, said she wasn’t convinced the student committed the “crime.”

“It was not g

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