This week, Josh Brewer learned court systems are a lot more complicated than he thought.

Brewer, a Campbell Junior High School eighth-grader, learned all about the judicial system this week during Campbell’s first-ever HEART Congressional Academy.

The HEART Congressional Academy is a Kentucky Educational Development Corporation-funded five-day history program for students.

The program is free for students; instead, each student in the program receives $200 for their full participation.

Grace Barker, a Campbell teacher and one of the main organizers of the academy, said each student applied to be in the program. About 58 students enrolled.

“We did pick some young kids we knew were going to be able to work hard, and would be willing to participate with everything,” Barker said.

Campbell teachers Tony Mann and Elizabeth Willoughby also helped run the academy.

Barker said Campbell teachers received the HEART grant in the past, but this is the first year Campbell hosted a Congressional Academy.

Throughout the week, students visited the courthouse, the Muhammad Ali Center, County Attorney William Elkins and more.

Students also worked on capstone projects focused on a specific Supreme Court case.

“They’re researching one specific court case,” Barker said. “There are some different ones that are not, but a lot of the ones are related to students. So, for example, we have some groups that are doing Tinker v. Des Moines, which is about the students that wore the Vietnam armband … “They’re focusing on those cases. They’re looking at the outcomes and also the opinions of the judges. They’re looking at what the U.S. was like during that particular time in history.” Students even had the opportunity to Skype with Mary Beth Tinker, one of the students in the case, Thursday.

Barker said the academy has been good for the teachers because they are learning different teaching practices and strategies.

The judicial branch can be exciting and fun, Barker said, but students often miss the depth of the subject during the school year, which can make the topic seem boring.

“During a normal school year, we don’t have that time to spend 40 hours on the judicial system,” she said.

Ainsley Yates, an eighth-grader participating in the academy, said she learned a lot throughout the week, especially about the Supreme Court.

“Normally, they can’t do every single case that goes up because there are so many cases that go up, but the strong, important cases are always very prominent,” Yates said. “And there are two different sides of the story. And I’ve also learned a lot with what the judges do, like how hard it is to make the decision.”

Brewer said he especially enjoyed learning about Kentucky’s judicial system. He said he learned Madison County has more crime, but the criminals in Clark County aren’t smart.

“Our criminals are not that smart,” Brewer said. “One guy stole a tractor in the middle of winter. And when [police] pulled up at his house and knocked on the door, they asked him if he stole the tractor, and he said, ‘how do you know?’ And they pointed to the tracks in the snow.”

Throughout the week, Barker said students are also getting different perspectives on the judicial system and various Supreme Court cases.

“They’re getting really into depth in these cases,” Barker said. “We have chosen cases that impact them … I think they’re seeing this big government does impact them. I think that’s an important thing because these kids are going to be voting in our county in the next few years.”