Reunited Judge, Teacher Preside at O.C. Graduation

When Toni Grotsky received a summons for jury duty six years ago, she was not pleased. The timing was all wrong.

“When you’re teaching kindergarten students, it’s hard to say you won’t be there,” said the teacher of 37 years. “You can’t fall off the face of the earth. That’s such a molding year for them.”

Her 20 pupils at Rancho Canada Elementary School in Lake Forest didn’t want to lose her either, especially after just a few months of class. So they followed procedure and submitted 20 petitions -- complete with photos of themselves -- to the judge, asking for her release from civic duty.

The effort failed. But Superior Court Judge Francisco F. Firmat was so touched by the gesture that he invited the class to tour his Santa Ana courtroom. There they could learn just what Grotsky would be doing during her leave.

The students never forgot the experience. So six years later, they played host to Firmat on their own turf, where he delivered the commencement speech at their sixth-grade graduation Friday.

“What a wonderful return of the circle,” he said. “I invited them years ago and they invited me here today.”

The fieldtrip gave the children a hands-on lesson in the judicial system.

They got to sit in the jury box, which became their teacher’s workspace for six months. Cody Lee shared the bench with the judge for a few nervous minutes. His friend Devin Cotton checked out the judge’s chambers, asking whether Firmat had read all of those dusty law books lining the walls. (He had not, but he did use them for reference.)

They even treated the judge, his staff and the lawyers to a rendition of “God Bless America” -- a song they had practiced for a week.

While many students had fuzzy memories of their visit, they did recall one rewarding moment. “I remember being really happy because we got these big cookie things,” Jenny Formica said.

The children’s visit offered Firmat more than a reprieve from the accounting fraud civil case that Grotsky heard. It gave the judge guidance for the next chapter in his 20-year career: family law court.

A terracotta pot on a file cabinet near his desk displays photos of the faces of the 20 kindergartners who once toured his courtroom. The planter, which Firmat brought to the graduation ceremony, was a gift from Grotsky six years ago.

“Every day before I go on the bench I see these pictures, and I’m reminded of the importance of the work we do in family law, that what we do is for the benefit of the children,” Firmat said in his speech.

Grotsky’s former students flocked to the judge after the ceremony, eager to have photos taken with him. “It’s really weird because it’s been so long,” Katelyn Purcell said. “I was almost crying.”