photo by Elizabeth Tessi
After a three day conference in the Hershey Lodge In Pennsylvania, the students of Scotch Plains-Fanwood High school proved that their months of preparation paid off with a plethora of awards.
Model United Nations, otherwise known as MUN, is a program for high school students that replicates the actual United Nations. Students, referred to as delegates, represent a country and then write resolutions with other countries to resolve issues within their respective committees.
“Model UN is basically mimicking the real United Nations.” said Chair of the Security Council, senior Kaavya Krishna-Kumar. “Just like in the United Nations where there are different committees like the General Assembly, the Security Council, things like that, we have something very similar in our YMCA Model UN.”
Before the three day conference, delegates had to prepare for several months. Preparation included attending meetings, writing a research paper about their respective countries, and participating in SPF’s annual mock-session.
Once at conference, delegates have a brief lunch and then are thrown into the busy weekend.
“It was kind of overwhelming actually to walk into the Great Big Hall and see 2000 kids running around,” said newly-elected chair of the International Court of Justice junior Allison Zimmerman Zimmerman. “It was intimidating, but it was really great after that.”
Over the three days, delegates spent a majority of their time in their committee rooms. Depending on the committee, delegates would debate and resolve issues from the nuclear bombing to censorship and free speech.
Junior and successor of Krishna-Kumar’s position of Chair of the Security Council Henry Lewand shared one of his favorite moments from conference. “My favorite memory would be when we were in Security Council and the Secretary General came in for crisis commission,” said Lewand. “I debated the makers of the resolution, one being the United Nations who is a powerful country obviously. I took over their bill and it passed.”
Once three days elapsed, the conference came to a close and the awards were given out. The awards were delivered as follows:
- Internation Court of Justice- Allison Zimmerman
- Security Council Premier Delegate- Henry Lewand
- Security Council Chair- Henry Lewand
- Legal Chair- Deblina Mukherjee
- Association of Southeastern Asian Nations Premiere Delegate- Sarah Barash
- Outstanding First Year of the Nation Building Committee- Caitlyn Mannino
- Press Outstanding Research Paper- Ava Steele
- Group of 20 Outstanding Research Paper- Danielle Glickstein
- Outstanding Youth Secretariat- Sarah Barash
- CONA Alternates- Eva Issacs and Rebecca Ames
- CONA Delegate; Kaavya Krishna-Kumar
“Model UN has really changed my life. Freshman year, I was really shy, I did not speak much,” said Krishna-Kumar. “This year, I gave a speech in front of 2000 people and that is just a testament to show what MUN is all about and it is not just about the United Nations but it is really about growing.”
