Report on St. John's Model United Nations XXXI

Saturday, October 20, 2017, 9 AM to 4 PM.

St. John’s High School, Home of the Pioneers

378 Main Street, Shrewsbury, Ma. 01545

Faculty Moderator: Mr. Charles Abdella

Secretary General: Tom Pickering, SJHS Class of 2019

The thirty-first session of the St. John's Model United Nations Conference provided student delegates with an opportunity to debate and resolve a wide range of topics that reflected the continuing trend at model UN conferences of confronting a diverse set of issues. Contemporary topics under debate reflected current issues including net neutrality, the BREXIT, food security, Health inequality in Latin America, the rights of reporters and journalists in the middle east, gun-control in the United States through a Senate simulation, The safe management and decontamination of nuclear waste, the protection of indigenous minorities, and the restriction of worldwide nuclear testing. United Nations Security Council focused on the situation in North Korea. Historical topics were covered by two committees interacting during the American Revolution-one featuring George Washington's advisers and the other featuring Gen. William Howe’s advisors. A committee on the peaceful use of outer space to the space race in 1961. Finally, a committee dealing entirely different universe dealt with the Avengers: Infinity War crisis.

The conference opened with two films emphasizing the need for cooperation and conflict resolution in a world being driven by fractious politics both at home and abroad. Secretary-General Thomas Pickering followed the films with an impassioned speech that recounted so many of the negatives that dominated the timeline of events over the past year at the expense of so much that is actually going on outside the public eye that is positive. After the secretary general speech, students are invited to proceed right into committees to begin debate. Despite the large number of students that attended the conference, committee sizes were just the right size to allow delegates of every level of ability to effectively participate. Committee moderators successfully kept student delegates on task through the entire day, with debate after lunch carrying through roughly the time the committee sessions were supposed end. Moderators were supported by a staff of five students led by Secretary General Pickering and Executive Officer Ryan Rivard, SJ Class of ’19, who introduce crises and handle any other special affairs or bureaucratic support for each committee. The SJ staff also had support from SJ model UN alumni Brendan Mahoney, ’14, and Austin Parente, ’18-something that is always appreciated when running a conference. All in all, the conference ran smoothly-a credit to Mr. Charles Abdella, the Faculty Moderator, his assistants Mr. Kevin Browne and Mr. Steve Favulli, Secretary-General Pickering, their colleagues and classmates, and St. John's High School as a whole.

Conference Notes:

1. This year, SJMUN dispensed with a keynote speaker. Not only did this allow delegates more time for debate, it increased the impact of Sec. Pickering speech opening the conference. Secretary Pickering’s superb speech, an impassioned call for delegates to make a difference, was well received, making a deeper impression on student delegates as a result. It also allowed the SJ crew to emphasize the importance of student leadership at the conference by having the student as the standard bearer for the conference’s mission.

2. The Lunch Schedule began earlier, with two lunch waves starting at 11 AM and finishing by 12:30 pm. This had a positive impact on the afternoon session. Students had the opportunity to establish positions and perspectives on their topic in the morning, and then they had plenty of time to debate resolutions in the afternoon. There was little discernible afternoon slump in committees as a result, making for a more enjoyable day for both delegates in committees, and faculty moderators making the rounds.

3. Smaller team handling administration support for the conference allowed the SJMUN to successfully operate 14 committees. This follows a trend toward smaller administrative staff's developing over the past two years. The staff was helped by the fact that it did not have to process awards. The structure at a positive impact on student leadership in committees. With more emphasis on committee chairs is the key to running the conference, committee chairs had more responsibility, and rose to the occasion as a result.

4. SJMUN provided space and time for Faculty Moderators to meet and discuss issues important to model UN for the coming year. Faculty moderators were provided with four possible spaces to work in, with a main area where they could talk, and adjoining quiet rooms where they could focus on work.

5. The resolution writing guide was tremendous, offering tips to students about writing the guide and making sure that credit is given where credit is due when it comes to sponsorship of resolutions. Reflecting the spirit of SJMUN as a conference that gets everyone’s model UN feet on the ground, the resolution writing guide advised delegates to be prepared for a more competitive environment should they attend conferences offered by colleges and universities, and how that competition would show itself in resolution writing.

6. Anyone hosting a conference know that when you can build along term relationship with a food vendor, the conference day runs smoother. SJMUN once again had the services of Eric’s Patisserie, and that helped make lunch a pleasure for everyone.

7. The SJMUN staff prepare and deliver a Press Bulletin to the SJ Community detailing the events of the day. It’s three paragraphs that clearly and concisely presents the events of the day, notes who was involved, as well as the outcome and benefits of the conference for the school. It’s a great model for anyone reporting on their activities, and a copy is attached.

"Press Release.

SJHS Model United Nations--by Tom Bitar '20, SJMUN Director of Communications Contact: Mr. Chuck Abdella '92, St. John’s High School Email: cabdella@stjohnshigh.org

A Successful 31st St. John’s Model United Nations Conference

A Hectic Month for One Smooth Day [SHREWSBURY, MASSACHUSETTS, October 20---]

After an extended amount of time for preparation, workshops, and supply procurement, over three hundred delegates from many regional schools gathered at Saint John’s High School for SJMUNC XXXI, the school’s annual Model United Nations conference. The committees, chaired by members of the St. John’s Model UN club, included the UN Human Rights Council, the Social, Cultural, and Humanitarian Committee, and the UN Security Council. The topics ranged from reporters in the Middle East to Net Neutrality to Gun Control. Opening Ceremonies began shortly after 8 A.M, following a breakfast that offered bagels, muffins, coffee, and more, to all delegates participating in the conference. Committee ran straight until 11 A.M, when a half-hour break took place and lunch was provided. The Conference offered a sizable variety of sandwiches, salads, cookies, and beverages to all those taking part in SJMUNC XXXI, thanks to Eric's Patisserie and Mr. Eric Jasmin P'12, who has been our long-time caterer. Model U.N. alumni Brendan Mahoney '14 and Austin Parente '18 stopped by to support our current student-leaders, notably Secretary General Tom Pickering '19 and Executive Officer Ryan Rivard '19. SJMUN is grateful to the faculty moderators from 26 New England schools as well as our own faculty advisors, Mr. Chuck Abdella '92, Mr. Kevin Browne, and Mr. Steve Favulli. All in all, the conference appeared to be widely successful and certainly lived up to the high bar that the school set for itself. SJMUN heads to Brown University in November. Please follow our exploits on Twitter @SJMUN. @SJMUN.MUN If you’d like more information about SJMUNC, contact Charles Abdella at cabdella@stjohnshigh.org.

Catholic Memorial Model United Nations

In collaboration with Ursuline Academy

Saturday, November 17th, 2018

9 am-4pm

Catholic Memorial School

Faculty Moderators: Mr. Vincent Bradley, Catholic Memorial School

Mr. Michael Noyes, Ursuline Academy

Secretaries General: Paul Fantozzi, Patrick Lyons,

Jason Zeng, CM; Eleanor O’Connell, Ursuline Academy

The seventh annual Catholic Memorial Model United Nations presented on Saturday, November 17th, 2018 hosted approximately 200 hundred students from 14 schools for a day of debate range from historical topics beginning with debate between the Catholic Church and Enlightenment Scholars over education, to a future history committee dealing with global responses to terrorism in the year 3000. CM Director of External Affairs Michael Martins opened the conference with a rousing “good morning” that helped delegates get into a conference coming on the heels of everyone’s first experience with a winter storm and the case of the post storm blahs that often follow. Welcomes from CM school Principal Thomas Beatty, CM '68, as well as the student leadership of the conference challenged students to develop leadership through collaboration. Principal Beatty spoke to how collaboration, compromise, civility and communication were the keys to optimism about the future. Secretary General Jason Zeng, CM '19 spoke about the cultural burdens of the information overload and how independent thinking could conquer it-and must, paving the way for the development of a an “ark” of ideas that could help deal with future challenges. Ursuline Academy Under Secretary General Kendra Miller, UA '19 spoke to the necessity of being different and how collaboration could harness difference into accomplishing solutions to problems. President of the Conference William Dashe, CM '19 developed the idea that vision added to the power compromise was the key to successful leadership, And Secretary General Eleanor O’Conner, UA '19 promoted the idea that humility and confidence, if balanced, were the keys to success in a contentious world. The Keynote speaker, MIT Police chief and State Police veteran John De Fava, CM ‘69, spoke about the renewed need for better recruitment, training, and accountability for police forces, noting that continuing the great tradition of law enforcement in the United States depended on being able to hold something you love to account for its shortcomings.

The combined effect of the speeches emphasized collaboration and debate as tools for the kind of leadership that can effect change. The CM/UA staff certainly created a conference providing every delegate an opportunity to use these tools. The conference staff included 25 students from Catholic Memorial and 25 students from Ursuline academy, and the cooperation of the two schools allowed for a diversity of topics appealing to students with a wide range of interests. Committees included a Security Council on the Yemeni Civil War, Democrat and Republican committees dealing with the election of 1968, a World Economic Forum in 2019, the Second Continental Congress and the Revolutionary War, an NBA Owners meeting, The Johnson Cabinet and the Vietnam War, A General Assembly on Human Trafficking and a General Assembly on Sea Level Rise, an International Olympic Committee on Russian Doping, and the committees on the Enlightenment vs. the Catholic Church, and Terrorism in the Year 3000. Committee Sizes were between twelve and twenty-five, making all committees a manageable size. Committees were exceptionally well run, and delegate enthusiasm for the topics kept committees operating in most cases right up to the designated time to close business.

Lunch was provided by the Catholic Memorial School's food service division, supported by Catholic Memorial Parents, who, as in previous years, made a great contribution to the conference in the morning when delegates arrived and at lunch time.

Closing ceremonies brought attention to winners of the Best Delegate Award and People's Choice Award, which is voted on by the members of each committee. Honorable mentions were announced in committees, and this allowed conference staff to both recognize student achievement while expediting the awards process involving a large number of committees.

Conference Notes:

1. The Conference guide: The CMMUN conference Guide was published on 8.5 by 11 paper, and included a clearly printed map, Agenda, committee list and committee locations. SJMUN also used a larger format for their conference guide, and the result for both conference was a more user friendly guide than the small guidebook style MUN conferences sometimes use. It’s more paper, but it proves its value, especially when students need to access the preambulatory and operative clause vocabulary they need when writing resolutions

2. Clear presentation of rules concerning resolutions and working papers: With this being the first High School conference for most that offered awards, the CMMUN staff emphasized that all work at the conference had to be organic-working papers had to be written on site and Resolutions had to be typed on site-nothing could be prepared in advance. This was a great message to emphasize, and it made the work of committee chairs that much easier.

3. The speeches that opened the conference were brief, to the point, and allowed the CMMUN VII community to assert a set of values that had a positive effect on the students, all in a very short time span. With the keynote speaker's address concise and to the point, the CMMUN VII staff had an opening ceremony that kept students focused throughout. This was a remarkable accomplishment for any given Saturday conference, CMMUN VII has established a great model for opening ceremonies that may be the right fit for other schools hosting model UN's.

4. Management of a busy day at the school: Saturdays can be busy at schools in the fall, and CMMUN VII routinely takes place when admissions testing for the school takes place. To accommodate the situation, CMMUN VII opened registration at 9 am so it would not interfere with the beginning of testing. This gave everyone coming to the conference a little more time in the morning. Lunch was pushed back to 12.30 am, but given the small number of students at the conference, lunch wrapped up by 1 am, providing students with a full afternoon of debate.

5. Moderating teams: with CMMUN VII drawing staff from two programs to run the conference, moderating tams could include three students, and this allowed for less stress chairing committees, and committees that were consistently well run. This certainly pointed out the strengths of running a conference with the collaboration of two schools. Other strengths of collaboration, including the diversity of topics and even greater enthusiasm for running a conference were clearly in evidence all day long.

6. Moderating teams made sure that all information about number of speakers in moderated caucuses, as well as all motions, were posted on the board for reference. This clearly took the confusion out of motions for types of debate, while demonstrating just how valuable a third member of the committee moderating team could be. Another posting included spots on a list of speakers posted on the board, with the delegate speaking first or last noted accordingly. Moderated caucuses ran very smoothly as a result. These practices paid off with moderated caucuses that remained focused on one question, since committee chairs could focus on keeping delegates on task without having any distractions created by record keeping.

7. Simulated crises and press bulletins were well timed and provided delegates with information they could build into resolutions. This helped committees work in most cases right up to 3.15 pm, when committees wrapped up business.

8. The awards structure at CMMUN continues to provide an excellent balance between recognizing exceptional delegates and recognizing levels of development among delegates in a committee. The depth of skilled delegates at the conference was evident in every committee, and the CMMUN awards system provided students with clear reference points concerning levels of achievement-all the while allowing them to participate in the process of recognizing delegates for one of the awards.

9. The combination of a website established on Weebly and use of Twitter to keep faculty moderators and delegates informed about conference preparations provided everyone easy access to conference topic papers and other information.

Congratulations to Mr. Bradley, Mr. Noyes and the entire CMMUN VII student staff for presenting a great day of debate. Everything ran smoothly at the conference, which is a testament to the preparation and skill of all involved.

St John's Prep Model United Nations XIII, presented in cooperation with the Dana Hall School of Wellesley, Massachusetts.

St. John's Preparatory School, 72 Spring St, Danvers, MA 01923

Exceptional student leadership: Secretary General: Zach Jaromin '19, Under-Sercretary General for Internal Affairs: Pat Conlan '19, Under-Secretaries General for External Affairs: Will Boemer '21 and Will Dubow '21, Director General: Gerald Hinch '19, SJP MUN Club President: Conner Goodwin '19

Faculty Moderator: Ms. Pamela Bronder-Giroux, Mr. David Edson; St. John’s Prep, Heather Panahi, Dana Hall School.

The 13th annual St John's Prep Model United Nations Conference held on December 8^th, 2018 offered over 600 delegates from 47 schools the opportunity to debate a range of topics that brought specific attention issues of international concern, as well as issues drawn from current events in the United States. This year, the Saint John's Prep staff was joined by students from The Dana Hall School, who served as chairs or co-chairs onfifteen committees, helping to widen the focus of the conference. It also allowed the St. John staff effectively run 20 committees presenting16 topics. These topics included a middle school committee of the United Nations Environmental Program addressing the issue of pollution from plastics; a UNICEF committee dealing with the problem of defining an acceptable standard age for child marriage, a committee of the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees focused on the goal of ending statelessness by the year 2024; a special task force of the United States House of Representatives investigating the possibility of Puerto Rican statehood; a European Union simulation addressing the Brexit, as well as the issue of nationalism and centralization of government in Europe; a United Nations Environmental Program dealing with the reliance of less developed countries on developed countries for water supplies; a World Trade Organization simulation addressing the impact of the developing conflict over tariffs; a committee of the General Assembly addressing the challenges posed by cyber warfare to the Geneva Convention’s rules on warfare; a United States Senate simulation on gun control; an Economic and Social Council committee on Automation and how it affects developing countries; Disarmament and Security committees dealing with the Iran nuclear treaty in the wake of its rejection by the United States; Security Councils addressing the issue of chemical weapons in the Syrian Civil War; joint crisis committees involving NFL owners and players addressing the issue of player protests during Games; and a School of Athens committee dealing with climate change. The School of Athens committee was unique-its members included Margaret Cavendish, John Muir, Sara Palin, Elizabeth 1st, Scott Pruitt, Henry David Thoreau, Rene Ngongo, Mohammed Barkindo, Aristotle, Indira Gandhi, Rex Tillerson, Jane Goodall, Robert E. Murray, Mother Teresa, Lao Tzu, Milton Friedman, Dorothy Day, Moses, John Stuart Mill, Immanuel Kant, Thomas Malthus, Friedrich Engels, Nelson Mandela, Angela Merkel, FriedrichNietzsche, Vladimir Lenin, Mohandas K. Ghandi, Upton Sinclair, John Keynes, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Rosa Luxemburg, Pope Francis, Dalai Lama, Rachel Carson, Wangari Maathai, Confucius, and Ayn Rand. All had to wrestle with the scientific and moral issues posed by the topic.

Opening ceremonies, held in Memorial Gymnasium, focused on the open students would use the day to break down barriers. St. John’s Prep Headmaster Edward P. Hardiman opened the conference emphasizing that this effort involves small steps where students demonstrate patience and persistence in building bridges instead of walls between people, and making connections between communities rather than strengthening the emerging tribal orientation of American society. Secretary-General Zach Jaromin, SJP ‘19 followed this appeal by calling students to take advantage of the day to work on a set of skills necessary to create connections that can solve problems. The passion of the opening remarks of both Mr. Hardiman and SG remarks was matched buy a video featuring keynote speaker Mike Niconchuk SJP class of 2007. Mr. Niconchuk spoke to the students about the changes that he had gone through since being a Model United Nations delegate, reflecting on how his experience working with refugees could be instructive for students at the conference. He introduced students to the idea that how you learn to listen differently, how you learn to deal with the moment in front of you, and how you learn to heal are important to dealing with the real world when you are faced with a challenge in an international environment. He introduced students to the idea that the power of their literacy, their ability to cooperate, their ability to understand change, their willingness to identify problems in government systems, and recognizing that despite their imperfections, governments often offer the best way to build a path to solving the problems we face. You can hear watch his speech at https://vimeo.com/305776818, and see a recap of the day at https://vimeo.com/305773157, both videos courtesy of the talented Gerald Hinch '19.

After the opening ceremonies, delegates moved to Xavier Hall where all the committee rooms were located. With over 600 delegates involved in the conference, the St. John's Model UN Secretariat made sure the day went smoothly from registration in the Ryken Center, through to the dismissal of students from committees in the afternoon. Awards were handed out in committees making the process of ending the day much easier for both the St. John's staff and their guests. With clear weather to add to the day, the conference went smoothly from start to finish.

Our congratulations to St. John’s Prep MUN Secretary General Zach Jaromin ’19; President Conner Goodwin ’19; Vice President Patrick Conlan ’19; Committee Chairs Gerald Hinch ’19, Brendan O’Friel ’21, Jack Dubow SJP ’21, Michael Villani ’21, Nick DeMarco ’21, Max McAuliffe ’20, Brett Butler ’21, William Boemer ’21; Dana Hall Chairs Sophia Miettinen-Garrett, Bink Vijitkasemkij, and Lily Rashes; Joint Chairs Nicole Taylor and Lindsey Gilfeather. Secretariat led by Zach Jaromin and their faculty moderators Pam Bronder-Giroux, Dave Edson, and Heather Panahi.

Conference Notes:

1. The cooperation between Saint John's Prep and Dana Hall made the day a great success. There were committees chaired exclusively by St John's students and committees chaired exclusively by Dana Hall students, but there are also committees chaired by a mixture of both. All committees were well run and conducted business late into the afternoon session. The cooperation between SJP and Dana Hall continues a trend of seeing conferences presented by two schools, much to the benefit of the programs as well as the delegates who attend.

2. The Opening Ceremonies followed a trend of passionate remarks about the vital role of Model UN in developing skills that can have an impact on the world as students go on into later life. The video featuring keynote speaker Mike Niconchuk made a deep impression on both faculty moderators and students, and will be made available for schools who could not attend.

3. All the Committees were in one building, and this helped faculty moderators see all 20 committees were in operation. The rooms of Xavier Hall are impressive, and even in committees that had a larger number of students, faculty moderators had complete access to each committee room, and this allowed them to see their students in action very easily.

4. The administration of a conference was efficient from start to finish. SJP staff helped out at registration and as monitors in the computer lab and the building entrance, while parents helped during lunch. For such a large conference, lunch went off beautifully with three staggered lunches to accommodate the 600 plus students at the conference.

5. A December conference usually sees faculty moderators using the time to get a lot of grading done before the vacation, and the SJP staff had four rooms available as work spaces for faculty moderators to work. This meant the thirty faculty moderators never felt crowded as they went about their business. This was deeply appreciated.

6. The topics for debate demonstrated the trend in a wide range of topics for students with a wide range of Interests, as well as focusing on current issues involving the United States, Europe, and the trend in Rising nationalism. The development issues debated in some of the committees opened doors for future conferences to build on these topics-some of which are only now just getting consideration in the International Community ( the impact of automation on development and the impact of cyber technology on past agreements concerning war and conflict resolution). The Maputo Protocol committee offered delegates a chance to take social development issues such as women's rights and focus on how the issue affected just one region. The School of Athens committee offers a model future conferences could use to look at current issues through the lens are people from the past, as well as flipping of the script to have current leaders thrown into situations in the past. Finally, involving Middle School committees and environmental issues is always a great way to get these delegates involved involve you in for the first time. Middle School committees have been largely successful among the schools that we work with, and part of this involves continuing to introduce challenging choices topics that match Middle School delegates’ skill set.

Warrior Model United Nations IV

Seekonk High School

Saturday,January 12th, 2019

261 Arcade Ave, Seekonk, MA 02771

Faculty Moderators: Suzanne Larson, Jennifer Borden

Secretary-General: William Ott

Crisis Director: Madeline Whalen, Warrior MUN President

On Saturday, January 12, 2019, Seekonk High School hosted the fourth Annual Warrior Model United Nations Conference, featuring four committees: a United Nations Human Rights Council dealing with the refugee crisis in Yemen, a British Parliament House of Commons session in crisis over the BREXIT, an NHL Owners meeting addressing with a wide range of topics from concussions and CTA to domestic abuse, and a French Revolution committee dealing with the repercussions of the reign of terror. 63 delegates from five high schools-Boston College High School, Duxbury High School, Notre Dame Academy, Tabor Academy, and Westwood High School were hosted by the WarriorMUNC IV staff which included 30 students. The small size of the conference allowed for a conference scheduled to open its doors at at 8 AM, conclude opening ceremonies by 9 AM, and then offer 2 1/2 hours of committee sessions in the morning and afternoon. Closing ceremonies wrapped up the conference at 3 PM.

Everything about the conference modeled they dynamics of small conferences, and how delegates could benefit from the experience. The conference opened with welcoming remarks from Warrior Mall you and President Madeline Whelan, who discussed her experience with and passion for model UN, and how she and the Secretary General, William Ott had to come to an agreement about how each of their skill sets would be applied to running the conference. Their ability to compromise made the conference possible, and delegates had a reminder about the importance of cooperation to achieve success. President Whelen put her efforts into crisis direction, allowing her the privilege of introducing William Ott as the Secretary General. William Ott inspired students to look at the leadership aspect of the topics with an eye toward trying to do better than the leaders in the world real world were doing.

The leadership of the conference helped the whole day run flawlessly. The conference ran flawlessly as moderating teams and Crisis committee members kept delegates on task and well informed about crises or any changes in the agenda for a topic. All the while, Faculty moderators Suzanne Larsen and Jennifer Borden took a true hands off approach in allowing their student staff to completely run the program, and only intervened when necessary-and then only to suggest that their students work at any issues before going to their faculty moderators to do this. Otherwise, Ms. Larsen and Ms Borden had the opportunity to work with a superb parent volunteers that helped coordinate breakfast and lunch, as well as see to the needs of the faculty moderators who supervising their delegates.

Moderating teams and the crisis committee staff deserve praise for the choice of topics, quality of the topic papers, and the skills with me with which they managed committees that we’re dealing with highly specialized topics. The NHL, Brexit, and French revolution committees number between 12 and 14 delegates, providing more skilled all of us with an opportunity to both be heard and part participate fully in debate. The Human Rights Committee was focused on developing the skills of new delegates, and under the leadership their chairs, I observed delegates make great progress, especially as many were likely speaking for the first time.

The day concluded with awards with awards for Best Delegate and Outstanding delegate, with skill based awards recognized in committee. The winners included:

Best Delegate

UN Human Rights: Luke Donovan - BC High School; NHL: Ruby Fyffe - Westwood High School; Brexit: Danny Shannon - Tabor Academy; French Revolution: Kenneth Dao - BC High School

Outstanding Delegate

UN Human Rights: Jane Ellen Burnham -Duxbury High School; NHL: Alex Pinarchick -BC High School; Brexit: Abigail Chase - Duxbury High School; French Revolution: Kira Hobson - Westwood High School

Overall, WarriorMUNC IV demonstrated all the characteristics that can make a small conference and invaluable experience for both novice and experience delegates alike. With four years under its belt WArrior MUNC has established a blueprint for running a the kind of small conference that allows delegates to build skills in a setting where they can stand out.

Notes:

1. WarriorMUNC IV established a structure where each committee was supported by four staff members, two chairs and two students working laptops. Each committee was tied to its own expert in the crisis committee who could advise them about press bulletins, The status of directives and resolutions that were submitted to the crisis committee for their approval, as well as answers to any questions about specific information, were made available in a timely manner with this structure-which was clearly possible to run given the small size of the conference.

2. Following a practice I have observed at all Model UNs this year, committee chairs during moderate caucuses posted the names of nations onto the classroom screen to have a record of who spoke. Also, motions were posted on the screen, helping staff remember them as they went through the process of addressing each one, as well as make sure of the details about each motion were accurate.

3. Another practice I have seen of all over the past two years is making sure delegates stay focused during a moderated caucus on questions they are supposed to address. Motions for moderated caucus included very specific topics students were to debate, making a committee hair’s job easier when it came to managing delegates.

4. WarriorMUNC IV continued the current practice of offering a wide range of topics for delegates with a wide range of interests. BREXIT and the committee on Yemen have been popular with conferences this year, and the WarriorMUNC IV staff making sure debate of each was as current as possible. The NHL committee stretched its agenda to include a discussion of NHL players and domestic abuse-an area that is not often discussed given the importance of the issue of concussions. The French Revolution committee was totally unique. By dealing with the aftermath of the Reign of Terror, the committee constantly challenged delegates with a changing political landscape in Europe as they grappled with trying to build a new government in the wake of the fall of the convention. The committee chair is it an expert job of putting decisions about how to proceed and set the agenda in the hands of the committee members reflecting the realities of forming a new government.

5. Committees reflected the challenge level WarriorMUNC IV staff designed for them-The Yemeni Civil War-Beginner Level, Brexit-Beginner/Intermediate Level, NHL Owners Meeting-Intermediate Level, and The French Revolution-Advanced Level. The Topic paper reflected the challenge level as well, with the Yemen paper just providing the basics in a way that would allow novice delegates a chance to understand the topic without being overwhelmed, while the French Revolution paper laid out much more detail-something it had to do.

6. The crisis topics were designed in a way that got the maximum participation out of the delegates in a committee. This is partly due to the small size of the committees, but it certainly reflective some careful planning and thinking about what kind of actions could constitute a crisis.

7. The WarriorMUNC staff used a single sheet for rules and resolution guide in a single sheet for the conference guide, making for a great saving in funds, time and energy in preparing for the conference. The conference guide included staff credits which highlighted of the work time done by members of the WarriorMUNC IV staff over the course of the day.

8. The use of Poll Everywhere to allow delegates to evaluate the conference provided instant feedback on how based on the topics, food, and how students rated the committees. The WarriorMUNC staff conducted the surveys will committee chairs were absent form the room.

9. WarriorMUNC staff made great use of Seekonk High School. This year, all committees were in rooms on the 1st and 2nd floor, but still in close proximity to the library, which this year served as the base for Faculty Moderators.

10. The parent volunteers helped make breakfast and lunch go smoothly-their support was deeply appreciated. Members of the Seekonk Schools administration, including Principal Chris Whatley, Superintendent Richard Drolet and School Committee member Kim Sluter were able to stop by and observe the committees, creating a wonderful opportunity for them to see MUN “in action” and support the program.

Duxbury Model United Nations I

Saturday, February 2nd, 2019

Duxbury High School

71 Alden Street, Duxbury, MA 02332

Faculty Moderator: Michael Bagshaw

Secretaries General: Elizabeth Linsdell, Melissa Linsdell

The First Annual Duxbury Model United Nations presented on Saturday, February 2, 2019 provided eighty-five delegates from The Montrose School, Fontbonne Academy, Notre Dame Academy, Whitman Hanson Regional High School, Sandwich High School, Seekonk High School, Braintree High School and host Duxbury High School with a day of debate on topics representing the variety of challenges we now see at model United Nations. Everything about the organization of the conference allowed delegates of every ability level an opportunity to develop their skills, and the host Duxbury staff to handle the challenge of running a model United Nations for the first time. The Duxbury staff, under the leadership of Secretaries General and Faculty Moderator Michael Bagshaw passed this first test with flying colors by presenting four topics in five committees that reflected the maximum diversity possible. The United Nations was represented in the General Assembly on the South African Water Crisis, while historical situations were addressed through two topics-the Berlin Airlift of 1949, which featured interaction between separate committees for the Eastern Bloc and the Western Bloc, and A Mock Trial on the Salem Witchcraft Trial, which had firey implications only matched by the Harry Potter Special Council on the Legality of Dragons in the Wizarding World.

The session opened with a welcome from Principal James Donovan, who emphasized the work and commitment of the both students and the Faculty Moderators involved, beginning with Mr. Bagshaw, highlighting how the program provided both opportunities to learn and distinction to the school and its students as a whole. Secretaries General

Melissa and Elizabeth Linsdell made brief welcoming remarks thanking their colleagues and faculty moderator for making the day possible, and then sent students off to committee so they could dive into the model UN day. After opening ceremonies, Principal Donovan provide faculty moderators with a tour of the school that was deeply appreciated-a special thank you to Principal Donovan for taking the time to do this.

The five committees were held on two floors used by the History and Social Science Department, with committee rooms close to each other to allow both Duxbury MUN staff and faculty moderators the opportunity to move quickly between them. The Duxbury MUN secretariat established its headquarters in open concept room that allowed Mr. Bagshaw, and any Faculty Moderator who had a question, easy access to the staff.

Each committee included two committee chairs that manages all the administrative duties of the committee very smoothly. They were helped by the manageable size of the committees, which range from ten in the Eastern Bloc committee to twenty in the special counsel on the legality of dragons. For a staff running a conference for the first time, committee sizes were about as close to perfect as you could get. Communication between the Secretariat and committees was facilitated by the phone system in the school, and the crisis committee staff made a liberal use of the each phone speakers to deliver messages and press bulletins.

The committee chairs and the committee staff had enormous success with the topics they designed, so much so that the committees were able to run remain in section up to the closing minutes of the conference. This was a remarkable achievement for a staff running a conference for the first time.

The conference finished the day with awards that included a recognition of a best delegate who represented a contribution that was germane to the subject of the committee. A unique feature of the conference was it like gavels that were provided to students were made by the Duxbury High School Industrial and Fine Arts Department.

Lunch it was provided by Roche Brothers, which is always a good day at the beach!

Notes:

1. The committee chairs demonstrated great skill in handling their committees, especially when it came to all the small questions that come up concerning parliamentary procedure. This was critical. There were may novice delegates at the conference, and and they can be thrown off by confusion over rules very easily. There was no confusion over rules as far as I knew, and this is was a credit to the Duxbury staff-especially since this was their first conference.
2. As mentioned, the topics ran late into the afternoon, largely because any crises were timed perfectly and designed to have the right impact at the right time. Conferences are doing so much better with organizing simulations that get the most out of the hours of the day, and Duxbury MUN was another example.
3. The use of the speaker phones enhanced the conference by allowing the secretariat to be a voice in each room without having to rush around the building to support committee activities. The Secretariat certainly visited committee rooms, but the phones allowed them to conserve energy over the course of what was certainly a nerve wracking day given the fact that this was their first conference.
4. Involving a great number of Duxbury delegates in committees helped build the Duxbury program. This is sometimes difficult to do as schools running conferences usually need all students working behind the scenes. The basic structure of the conference secretariat freed up students to fill key roles on committees, and the Duxbury program will certainly benefit from this over the long haul.
5. The conference was attended by many novice to mid range experience delegates, providing both the opportunity to play major roles in each committee. This gave them invaluable experience going into their next year of model UN.
6. The Mock Trial format was a great choice for the Salem Witchcraft Trials committee. This is always a challenging topic to undertake at a model UN, but the choice of format made it easy to run.
7. The awards were specialized for each committee, providing committee chairs to make the work in each committee more unique.

Boston College High School Model United Nations Conference XXVII

Saturday, March 16th, 2019

8 am to 4 pm

150 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, MA 02125

Faculty Moderator: Mr. Nicholas Argento

Secretary General: Kevin Kenneally, BCHS ’19

BC High Model UN Secretariat:

Jack Gallagher ‘19, deputy secretary general; George Zharkov ‘19, Under Secretary General; Charlie McMahon‘ 19 Director of External Affairs; Rocco Patel‘ 19 Conference Chairman; Brendan King‘ 19 Chef du Cabinet; Ian Robertson‘ 19, Webmaster; Frankie Marchione‘ 19 Ministre to Delegues; Ryan Golemme‘ 19, Rapporteur; Kenny Dao ‘19, Liaison Officer; Justin Giffee ‘19 Parliamentarian; Carter Ford ‘19, Crises Director; Yixin Hu ‘ 20, Charge D’Affairs.

This year’s 28th annual Boston College high school model United Nations conference brought together 25 schools and 400 students from all over New England for a day of debate across a broad range of topics that took students back to the days of Julius Caesar and brought them all the way forward to the Current crisis in Yemen. The committees, and the questions they addressed, included

1. a middle school committee on Child Soldiers (How can the UN curb the use and growth of child soldiers? What can be done to reintegrate former child soldiers back into civilian life?);
2. a Hollywood Blacklist committee from the Cold War era (In this meeting of Hollywood actors and studio executives, how will you negotiate in order to restore jobs to the blacklisted actors? Is Communism even a threat to the entertainment industry? What might happen in the future if nothing is done to combat these prejudices and biases?);
3. an NCAA committee on Recruiting (How can the NCAA maintain competitive sports leagues while curbing illegal scouting? What can be done to retain or dismiss coaches without excessive bribery?);
4. a Boston Marathon Bombing Crisis (Is this an act of terrorism? Is there a threat to other American cities? Is Boston still in danger? What steps should the city take in order to secure the safety of the people?);
5. a Security Council on Yemen (How do civilians feel during the civil war? Do they want a revolution or do they prefer peace? How do foreign nations intervene without being overbearing?);
6. a Berlin Blockade Crisis (How can the blockade be resolved without escalating into a major conflict? What can be done to quell the rising conflicts between capitalist America and the communist USSR? How will Germany or the rest of Europe be shaped by these two superpowers?);
7. a US Senate committee debating a Semiautomatic Assault Rifle Ban (Is there a constructive balance between safety and the right to bear arms. Is the Second Amendment even relevant today?);
8. two committees representing Iran and Iraq in 1980 as the two nations went to war (Is it possible to pursue peace between these two large nations, or is all-out war inevitable? Will the new Islamic Republic survive? Can the Ba'ath dictatorship maintain their control over Iraq as insurgencies begin to mount?);
9. a Roman Senate debating how to deal with affairs in Rome after the assassination of Julius Caesar (Who will succeed Caesar? How will we prevent civil unrest and war? How must we alter our government structure lest political instability of this manner reoccurs?);
10. a committee debating the status and prospects for LGBTQ Rights (How or will countries stand for LGBTQ rights, what can be done across the world to ensure equality?);
11. a UN Disarmament and Security Committee debating the The Weaponization of Social Media (how can DISEC combat countries from interfering in others’ elections? How can destabilizing fake news be countered without compromising core freedoms? What is the line where social media content can be deemed criminal?;
12. an interpol Committee dealing with Organized Crime (What areas of crime should be prioritized for Interpol? What is the best way to partner with countries and bring down crime rackets? Or, should INTERPOL continue attacking individuals and large groups rather than targeting the organized crime market as a whole?);
13. and a UN General Assembly on Working Conditions-(Should there be a worldwide minimum wage? How can governments enforce better working conditions and rights for their citizens? Should big corporations be privately controlled when it comes to workers and their rights, wages, and working conditions?)

The day’s activities began by with a welcome from Conference Chairman Rocco Patel ‘19 who thanked the delegates for coming to a conference that had to be re-scheduled due to weather. Chairman Patel then introduced Secretary General Kevin Kenneally. Secretary Kenneally’s address focused on his own experience as a model United Nations delegate, and how participation in the activity helped him deal with the challenges of an illness that forced him to change his priorities in high school. All present were provided with an opportunity to see the value of participation among the United Nations in a whole new light, given both the passion and determination demonstrated by Secretary Kennealy during his tenure with model UN at Boston College High School. Secretary Kenneally made a special presentation of flowers to his parents, thanking them for their support.

Chairman Patel then introduced Boston College High School Vice Principal. Vice Principal Hollis Brooks related the experience of having a mother who, as a model UN delegate, demonstrated the kind of passion for the activity the students before him possessed. This made the students a reassuring sight, and he was also grateful Boston College High School had the opportunity to host a program where students could develop skills for problem solving that are sorely needed in the world today. Finally, he gave a note of thanks to all the Faculty Moderators, and singled out BC High Faculty Moderator Nicholas Argento for his tireless commitment to model UN-something deeply appreciated by all.

Following Vice Principal Hollis Brooks, keynote speaker Quanuquanei A. Karmue, Director of an Organization called Save More Kids, Inc. provided students with an opportunity to to understand the issue of Child soldiers from the perspective of a family that had survived a Civil War in Liberia that saw heavy involvement of child soldiers in the fighting. Know to all as “Q”, Mr. Karmue witnessed all the horrors involved with child soldiers, and translated his experience into a determination to work for children in Liberia, providing them with the opportunity to make their own way in life, and control their own destiny without ever having to resort to violence. A short film introduced Q’s organization, and then Q, speaking to students from by Skype from Liberia described his experiences growing up in the middle of conflict. Responding to a question about how students could get involved, Q provided a welcome piece of advice-start early. The road to change can be long, but the sooner you know how to handle it, the quicker your impact can be. Q’s message and presentation received a rousing response from everyone present.

Following Q’s presentation, UnderSecretary General George Zarkhov presented a short film describing the do’s and don’ts of model UN delegate. It was not to be missed-the cell phone scenarios were priceless.

As the conference began, the BC high staff had to cope with two challenges-dealing with all the bureaucratic issues that come with a rescheduled conference, and a fire alarm early that morning which close down one wing of the building. The BCH MUN staff had to adjust just what rooms could be used, and then inform faculty moderators about the changes. Despite the obvious pressures involved, the BC High staff carried out these changes with ease, and the conference proceeded smoothly from there.

Awards closed the day, with winners of the Austin Martin ‘95 Distinguished Delegate Award, Benjamin J. Maher ‘11 Position Paper award, and the Chris Gidopoulos ’95 People’s Choice Awards asked to stand and be recognized. Delegates received awards in committees before each adjourned for the day.

Special thanks to Christian Padavina’20 for playing piano at lunch. Lunch was provided by Rebecca’s Cafe.

Notes:

1. The speakers during opening ceremonies built on a theme we have seen all year that promoted participation in model United Nations programs on both a developmental level, a level that spoke to the importance of service, and a level that spoke to personal fulfillment. Secretary Kenneally’s speech wove all these together around the experience having to adjust his goals around an illness, and his discovery of model UN as way to define his identity and develop a sense of accomplishment and service, while Mr. Smith’s speech spoke to how such an experience is as valid today as it was forty years ago. Mr. Karume’s presentation-supported by the film that showed him at work-showed delegates that they could make a difference if they committed to getting involved. These were powerful statements inspiring both students and faculty moderators as they approach defining the importance of their programs.
2. Given all the challenges of a rescheduled conference, the BC High crew succeeded by sticking to the basics and their original game plan. Committee sizes were naturally smaller, but it can be argued that this actually facilitated more debate. Some committees included only twelve delegates, but they were able to conduct their business successfully with a large percentage of delegates participating in many of the committees.
3. The registration materials described each committee and introduced the key questions delegates would debate. This allowed faculty moderators and students an opportunity to see what each committee would actually be focused on. This level of information helped with assigning delegates to committees with topics they know they will understand.
4. There has been a superb mix of crisis committees, dual committees interacting on a topic, and human rights committees this year, and BCHMUN XXVII offered some great ones. The Iran Iraq War committees focused on the outbreak of the war, while the Berlin Blockade Crisis wrestled had nations wrestling with superpower behavior. Human rights topic spoke to a wide range of interests, while two historical committees-Roman Senate after the Death of Caesar and Hollywood Blacklist looked at the consequences of political action and their impact on political culture. The Hollywood Blacklist committee was unique, and reflected concerns that always crop up in society when issues of free speech are a major part of current events.
5. Awards included some additions that added to the experience for all delegates. Books were handed out to recipients as part of the Benjamin Maher best position paper award, and the BCHMUN XXVII staff adopted the People’s Choice Award developed by the Catholic Memorial School Model United Nations Conference. The books demonstrated the conference’s appreciation for students getting involved with a position paper writing award program, while the People’s Choice Award allowed all delegates to be part of the awards process-a tremendous way to build a students appreciation for leadership in a committee.
6. Topic papers fit the subject and the difficulty level of the committee while continuing a trend of directing students to sources rather than long narratives. Specific papers addressed conditions and procedures unique to committees in a clear and concise manner. The Berlin Blockade topic paper was a great example of this. It provided an excellent model for introducing the concept of a committee governed by directives rather than by more common procedures.
7. The Round Table Caucus used in the Berlin Blockade Committee offered a unique way to provide delegates. As explained by the paper, “The Round Table Caucus is unmoderated, meaning that the chair does not control who speaks, but is distinguished in three ways. First, during a Round Table Caucus, all delegates must remain at their seats, and debate is carried on across the entire room in an egalitarian fashion. Delegates may not break off into smaller groups. Second, only non-politicians may motion for a Round Table Caucus. Third, for such a motion to pass, it requires either a majority of the committee to vote in favor, as with other caucuses, or 3⁄4 of non-politicians to vote in favor. In this way, the Round Table Caucus could be used to voice otherwise unheeded concerns of the people.”
8. The LGBT Rights paper provided excellent cues, via the presentation of its information, for anyone interested in using a topic as the foundation for civic action. It presented the topic from the perspective of every level of government that deals with it, and accounted for recent efforts to bring changes in a way that automatically allows students to analyze what has been done to address the issue and what still needs to be done to address the issue.
9. The Weaponization of Social Media has enormous potential for future expansion. It looks at social media on a truly international scale, and prompts delegates to think about how this issue is reflected in situations around the world that do often come up for consideration.
10. Thanks to the BC HIgh crew for their persistence in maintaining their original agenda despite the issues involved with rescheduling the conference. Having Mr. Karume as the keynote speaker-along with Secretary Kenneally’s remarks and Vice Principal Brooks’ remarks, were the right thing at the right time of the year.
11. Our congratulations To Dave Edson, SJP Faculty Moderator, who will be moving on from model UN at the end of this year to tackle new endeavors. Your work was deeply appreciated by all and your presence will be sorely missed.
12. Our congratulations to Roy Schmaling Of Xavier High School in Middletown, Connecticut. Roy will be retiring at the end of this year. His presence around model UN was deeply appreciated and will be missed given his commitment to the Xavier program and the dedication of the delegates he helped guide and coach. We wish the best of luck as you step off into a life where you have more moments of your own to enjoy! All the best!

Third Annual Westwood High School Model United Nations-WestwoodMUNCIII

Saturday, April 27, 2019

Westwood High School

200 Nahatan Street

Westwood, MA 02090

Faculty Moderator: Christopher Hilton, chilton@westwood.k12.ma.us

Secretary General: Jess Muzzi, WHS’19

Undersecretary General, Alex Bloukos (19abloukos@wpsstudents.org)

Will Vaccaro

1980’s Climate Change Chair: Phil Bligh; Co-Chair: Will Vaccaro

2008 Financial Crisis Chair: Kira Hobson; Co-Chairs: Jason Moy, Tory Webb-Johnson

2030 Climate Change Chair: Hannah Shaby

Democratic National Committee 2020 Chair: Olivia Bloukos; Co-Chairs: Maeve Patton

High School Security Council Co-Chairs: Alexandra Lapin, Nehal Nagalla

Middle School Security Council Co-Chairs: Emily Burbo and Katya Vertikova

The Third Annual Westwood High School Model United Nations-WestwoodMUNC III was held on Saturday, April 27, 2019 from 8 am to 3 pm, and provided students the opportunity to debate in a Directive-based crisis format across four topic areas-the crisis in Yemen, the 2008 Financial Crisis, Climate Change both past and future, and the 2020 election seen through the work of the Democratic National Committee. The WestwoodMUNCIII staff, led by Secretary General Jess Muzzi WHS’19 hosted 140 students from twelve schools, including The Montrose School, Catholic Memorial School, Xaverian Brothers High School, Duxbury High School, Plymouth South High School, King Philip Regional High School, Wellesley High School, Nobles and Greenough school, Seekonk High School, Lexington High School, Mansfield High School, and E.W. Thurston Middle School. The conference offered Climate Change committees for both 1980’s and the year 2030, and Yemen Crisis committees for both high school and middle school delegates. The 2008 Financial Crisis committee challenged students to explore the worst financial crisis in the history of the United States since the Depression in impressive detail, while the Democratic National Committee 2020 election session brought prospective Democratic candidates for President under close scrutiny as the DNC mapped out a strategy to win the White House.

The day began with a welcome from UnderSecretary General Alex Bloukos welcomed students and presented an introduction to the rules of the conference and the schedule for the day. He introduced Westwood MUNCIII Secretary General Jess Muzzi who introduced delegates to the idea that a small act can have a large impact when added with others, using the example of changing how she looks at a straw in the big picture of reducing the impact of plastics on the environment. With crisis management the theme of the theme of the conference, Secretary Muzzi was effectively showing students that individual action now can prevent crises in the future.

This idea was reinforced by keynote speaker Keyon Rostamnezhad, who is an alum on Westwood’s Model UN club, and currently a junior at Northeastern University where he received a 2019 UN Millenium Fellowship and leads their collegiate Model UN program. Mr. Rostamnezhad has been able to participate in the last two Chief of Party Talks of the UN Framework Convention of Climate Change in Germany and Poland. He talked about the experiences he had working to deal with the environment at the international level, and he impressed upon students a number of ideas about taking action to solve problems. First of all, that if a students are interested in working at the international level to solve problems, they will find people of all levels of experience, and at every level of the decision making process, who are going to cherish both the time and the effort you put in to solving any international problem. Secondly, this attitude allowed people from every perspective access to the decision making process, increasing their opportunities to have an impact right away. Mr. Rostamnezhad left students with the idea that their work at the conference could help them make an impact, since they were building the kind of skills that could be put to use immediately if they had the passion and determination to do so. Finally, when you develop a clear plan of action, people have a road map to follow and they will more actively rise to the challenge of achieving the goals set by the plan. Plans create their own set of dynamics once they are accepted: people want to see them succeed so they will work hard to achieve them.

Mr. Rostamnezhad’s address was followed by speeches from each of the Committee chairs. These speeches introduced each topic, why the committee chair believed it as important to debate the them and tow the students, and what the benefits of debating the topic would be. These speeches basically outlined not only the objective of the conference, but the mission for each delegate during the day.

Conference committees began business at approximately 9.15 am. WestwoodMUNCIII used a crisis format that was clearly outlined for delegates in each topic paper:

1. “Overview:

Crisis committees are run differently from “normal” Model UN committees. Because they are run at a very fast pace, each committee is run in a perpetual moderated caucus. This means that instead of a Speakers’ List, the chair will set the speaking time and the topic at the beginning of the first committee session. The rest of the committee follows normal parliamentary procedure with a few notable exceptions.

II. Format:

As previously stated, the format of debate differs slightly from a general assembly in a crisis simulation. There is no speakers list and therefore, the default method of debate is the moderated caucus. It is encouraged that the first motion be a round robin so as to ascertain the positions of others in the committee. This will serve as a good jumping off point for seeing who delegates are most likely to work with and who is most likely to get in the way of achieving their goals. After that, delegates will be able to motion for the “traditional” (un)moderated caucuses, round robins, straw polls, moving into voting procedure, etc. In order to make any of these motions, a delegate must be recognized by the chair by raising their placards. Points and motions may be made between speakers.

III. Directives:

Delegates do not work to pass resolutions. Rather, they will pass a series of directives that are binding, take effect immediately and can potentially alter the course of events for the entire crisis simulation. A directive is a specific action that the committee wishes to take.

VI. Personal Directives & Portfolio Powers

Additionally, individual members of the committee may pass personal directives depending on their particular position. These directives can range anywhere from allocating funds for renewable energy to carrying out assassinations.

These actions do not need to be passed by the committee at large and their effectiveness is determined by their feasibility and the crisis staff. It is suggested that delegates refrain from sharing what personal directives they are planning on taking as they should be used to achieve personal objectives that might not always align with the interests of the committee as a whole.

V. Communication:

Communication is an essential part of any crisis simulation. At the beginning of the conference, delegates will be provided with a pen and a pad of paper. They may use the paper to write notes to each other, write up directives, or organize thoughts. Regarding note passing: delegates may pass notes to each other during committee while other members are speaking, but this privilege may be revoked by the chair should it distract from the debate. Specifics about note passing will be addressed at the beginning of the first committee session by the chair.”

Any personal directives students wanted to pass had to be approved of by the WestwoodMUNCIII Crisis staff. Also, delegates were permitted to ask questions about what kinds of powers and personal directives they had at their disposal. These questions and suggestions for directives went to the WestwoodMUNCIII staff for approval. This process ran all day and kept WestwoodMUNCIII staff working hard right up to the close of business, but the work paid off with committees that kept their focus until the close of business at 3 pm. Our compliments to SG Jess Muzzi and USG Alex Bouklos for making it all happen so well.

Awards were handed out in committees to simplify the closing of the conference. Awards included Bst Delegate, Outstanding Delegate, Honorable Mentions, and Best Working Paper, offering a wide range skill levels delegates can be recognized for.

During the conference, Faculty moderators had the opportunity to attend a briefing on researching nation positions presented by Ryan Villanueva of Best Delegate. The presentation focused on how to rapidly use online sources to help delegates get very detailed information about their nation position. Mr. Villaneuva was present at the invitation of the WestwoodMUNCIII.

Notes.

1. The Crisis Directive format was executed superbly by the WestwoodMUNCIII staff. They were certainly helped by a small conference size. There is now question however that they have created a model schools can use for running crisis committees that allow students some individual discretion when it comes to actions they can take, but keeps their focus on the realities of their nation position. The excerpt from the topic paper above describes how it worked in practice, and it is presented as a blueprint faculty moderators can follow when developing them.
2. The agenda of the conference, with its early start and earlier closing time was perfect for the time of year. Compliment to the WestwoodMUNCIII for including a keynote speaker in the format without losing any appreciable time for students to work in committees. Students spoke for roughly 5 minutes apiece, while keynote speaker Keyon Rostamnezhad spoke for roughly fifteen minutes.
3. Keynote speaker Keyon Rostamnezhad was outstanding, and h represented another example of how high school alumni can make great keynote speakers, They bring enormous passion and commitment to the task, and the understand their role from the students perspective-all of which help make a great keynote speech.
4. Topic papers were designed to support the directive/crisis format. Not only did they describe the format well, but they provided the kind of depth and detail necessary to make crisis topics do there work over the course of an entire day.
5. Building the conference agenda around topics that could be easily modified to create committees dealing with different challenges over time (climate change) or different levels of experience (Yemen) helps save with preparation. (WestwoodMUNCIII ran six committees out of four topics.)
6. Like all high schools in the spring, Westwood High School was a busy place on April 27th, but conference staff were able to isolate the conference on one corridor on the first floor of the building away from a dance recital rehearsal. The location of the committees helped faculty moderators visit committees.
7. Thanks to Mr. Villanueva for his session for faculty moderators-it was very helpful and information he provided will be passed along to Faculty moderators soon. His session allowed faculty moderators to informally brainstorm issues and challenges they were facing during the year that will soon be outlined in a future email.
8. The present by the committee chairs at the start of the conference both reinforced the reasons delegates show up on a Saturday morning in April to participate in Model United Nations, but also allowed the chairs to assert their position as authorities on each topic-something always helpful as a committee opens for business.

13th Annual Sandwich High School Model United Nations

SHSMUN XIII

Sandwich High School, 365 Quaker Meeting House Road, East Sandwich, MA 02537

Faculty Moderators: Michael Welch, Rebecca Lewis

Technical Director: John Bishop

Secretary General for SHSMUN: Molly Kent

UnderSecretary General for Public Affairs: Maxine Bouvier

Secretary General for the SHS Model UN Club and UnderSecretary General for Special Affairs: Catherine McGee

Committee Chairs: Maxcine Bouvier, Nina Sundermeyer,United States Senate Debate on Prison Nurseries

Nick Alvarez, Erica Sunder meyerCacao Plantations and Child Labor

Daniella Gil Veras, Jacob Swenson, United Nations General Assembly on Chechnya Gay Concentration Camps

Molly Kent, Kathleen Duryea, 1787 Constitutional Convention

The 13th Annual Sandwich High School Model United Nations featured students forty-eight students from five schools including Taranto Regional High School, Whitman Hansen High School, Ursuline Academy, Upper Cape Vocational Technical School, Sturges Academy, and host Sandwich HIgh School. Students had the opportunity to debate the issue of Child Care in United States Prisons, the issue of child labor on Cocoa plantations in Africa, the challenges to human rights posed by concentration camps in Chechnya designed to incarcerate LGBT, and a simulation of the 1787 Constitutional Convention. Continuing a SHSMUN tradition, registration began at 9 am to allow students a little more time to wake up on a Sunny Saturday in May-a day the weather gods smiled upon at last!.

Opening ceremonies also continued the tradition of forgoing a keynote speaker. SHSMUN XIII Secretary General Molly Kent, SHS ‘20 encouraged delegates to take the unique subjects they were debating and develop unique solutions to the challenges they posed. Each topic was designed to not only broaden a students experience with topics not often debated in a model UN format,, but compel them to think outside the box when it came to solutions. Molly introduced UnderSecretary General of Public Affairs Maxine Bouvier SHS ‘19, who talked about her experience with model UN in this, her fourth year. She discussed how the experience opened her world up beyond a focus simply on art, and inspired her to pursue politics as the main focus of her study at the next level of her education. With many novice delegates present, she was able to emphasize two advantages of model UN those new to the program could embrace. First, that participation built skills in expressing ideas and solving problems that were applicable in every field from diplomacy and law to science, engineering and just about every other career imaginable that has some dealing with the general public. Tied to this is the second advantage-the feeling of accomplishment that comes with contributing even the smallest part of a solution to a problem, demonstrating that a student can have an impact on a solution to a problem. This gives them the confidence that they can affect change down the road in life. She also emphasized that coming to a model UN on a Saturday in May should be a day when they have fun.

The small size of the conference allowed for the SHSMUN staff to take full advantage of the library for opening ceremonies, with conference committees right next door in four rooms in the history and social science department wing. Special affairs and headquarters were in an adjacent room, facilitating quick interaction between the secretariat and each committee.

Lunch was provided by Roche Brothers, and Wacky Desserts were part of the lunch agenda!

The days agenda flowed smoothly, with opening ceremonies lasting approximately 25 minutes, and opening session debate running from 10 am to noon. Afternoon session ran from 1 pm to 3.30 pm.

Awards included Best Delegate, followed by Honorable Mentions fro skill development in the following categories: Representing a Nation, Diplomacy, OratoryAll awards except Best Delegate Award were presented in committees, while the Best Delegate Award was presented in closing ceremonies.

Notes:

1. Unique committee subjects that the SHS program was able to test during its Monday night sessions. The Sandwich program conducted two to three session debates on each topic, a giving them an opportunity to fine tune each topic so it could be effectively presented to delegates
2. This was a great conference for new delegates, owing to the time of year, schools had their younger delegates available to attend. The result was a setting where new delegates were totally exposed and had to speak, and as a consequence, had a chance to advance speaking and negotiating skills over the course of the day. A highlight-near 100 percent participation in unmoderated caucuses as all students were engaged in each committee.
3. The SHSMUN XIII’s short film on rules was both an entertaining and informative way for a conference composed of primary ily new delegates to become grounded in rules of procedure. The file went over the basics of motions and points, this helped new delegates make a rapid transition to active participation in each committee.
4. Committee sizes were perfect for new delegates, numbering ten to thirteen. This put new delegates in a position where they had to participate.
5. The date of the conference actually enhanced debate: students willing to spend a sunny Saturday in May at a model UN were more likely to participate. The level of debate among experienced delegates was exceptional, and among novice delegates was very enthusiastic,helped by the fact that most had dome model UN conferences under their belt.
6. Schedule for the day was perfect for the time of year. The later start time in the spring has always helped students wake up on a Saturday, and their rapid engagement in committees demonstrated the effectiveness of this approach. It also made sense since given the fact that schools sometimes travel a distance of two hours to participate.
7. Topics were designed to facilitate the use of technology in committees. Students were allowed to do research during unmods etc, and this enhanced the quality of debate as the day proceeded.
8. Committee Chairs had the privilege to speak during debate. This created a dynamic where the chairs had to demonstrate complete professionalism in their parliamentary duties, while accurately representing their nations position. The net sum was an opportunity by chairs to personally stimulate debate by getting delegates to respond to points they made, more participation by delegates at the start of the day. In committees, and chairs who demonstrated knowledge of the topic, enhancing their credibility as experts. Finally, the approach allowed chaiers to serve as an extension of special affairs and crisis development.