Nine students earned awards at this year’s Model UN session. The Region 7 Model UN session was held on Feb. 4-5 at the Henderson Civic Center.
“My favorite thing about Model UN this year was the impromptu resolution topic of AI’s effect on the environment, and I enjoyed making friends with people in my committee,” junior Lilah Abbott said. “My favorite thing about how different it was this year was how there were more people, and they were passionate about their topics.”
Junior Lauryn Hok placed second in HRC, or Human Rights Commission. Hok was the only one in her country, Brazil, to place.
“The moment I heard my name called out for second place for my committee, I felt a pang of relief followed by feelings of pride and excitement,” Hok said. “My hard work paid off in the end, and now I get to enjoy the rewards. Countless late nights and weekends were filled to the brim with preparation for MUN. Conducting tons of research and writing my resolution, pros and cons speeches and rebuttals took up the majority of my time, along with other school work and extracurricular activities.”
Algeria, composed of senior Molly Quine, junior Angel Martinez and sophomores AnnaFaith Parrish and Eli Young, left with four awards. Parrish placed first in UNODC, or United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, Quine placed second in WHO, or World Health Organization, Young received the Outstanding Individual Award in Security Council and the country as a whole placed third in collage, first in map and second best delegation overall.
“My favorite thing about this year’s MUN was my group that I got to work with, AnnaFaith, Angel, Molly and Julie, as well as getting to learn more about other countries,” Young said. “It felt great to place. MUN has such a wonderful place in my heart, and just being able to be a part of and contribute to my delegation as a whole.”
China, composed of junior Ella Kent, and sophomores Eli Rominger, Bailey Glasgow, Hayden Carlisle and Blayden Gardner, placed second for their collage, second place for their impromptu resolution and Gardener won first place in HRC.
“Honestly, my favorite thing about this year’s MUN was the way it went,” Gardner said. “I’m very happy with everyone’s accomplishments, including my own, and I am most definitely looking forward to next year’s MUN. Take this as a sign to join Model UN, it’s worth the hard work and it pays off immensely. However, the higher you shoot, the harder you have to work.”
Quine has competed in Model UN since seventh grade. She has placed every year she has competed. She has placed first in FAO, or Food and Agriculture Organization, twice, second in FAO once, third in FAO once, second in WHO once, won third place best delegation three times, second place best delegation once and second place best impromptu resolution writing once.
“The thing I will miss most about Model UN is debating in general,” Quine said. “The debates were so much fun, and proving my point with research to back me up was just so invigorating! This competition was such a niche activity to participate in, and I will probably never do anything like it again. My biggest takeaway from Model UN is that I have a voice and my voice matters. This event is not just about speaking up in a debate; it is about recognizing that my perspective can contribute to real-world discussions and solutions. Model UN taught me that when I care enough to listen, learn, and speak up, I really can make a difference.”
In total, there were 29 students participating in eight countries and five committees. The countries were Algeria, Brazil (juniors Hok, Lizbeth Anaya, Adriana San Juan and Evelyn Contreras), China, Fiji (freshmen Hana Vega, Stefani Guerrero and Airy Grajales), Iran (senior McKayla Holland, junior Paitlyn Glaze and sophomore Greggory Autrey), Japan (sophomore Damien Strachen and freshmen Kerrington Bell and Elena Govea), Mongolia (freshman Alan Anaya) and Slovenia (juniors Briana Tucker, Lawson Anderson, Lilah Abbott, Bella Villagomez and sophomore Kyler Ramirez).
“My favorite thing about MUN this year was getting to compete with my friends and learn more about issues going on around the world,” Bell said. “This year was my first high school competition, so getting to see seniors that have been doing MUN for nearly six years was a great experience. I was able to take notes and learn things to use next year to do even better.”
Model UN is coached by history teachers Joshua Carlisle and Allison Shaw. They both judged at this year’s session.
“My favorite thing about coaching Model UN is watching the students compete,” Shaw said. “You get to see how confident they are and excited they are when they go up and compete against other schools. Watching them win the awards for the work they have done is rewarding.”