Six TWS students made Washington, DC their home over February 15th – 18th as they attended the 55th North American Invitational Model United Nations. Hosted by Georgetown University, the NAIMUN conference is the premier Model UN conference. Over 250 Georgetown University undergraduate students challenged the 3,300+ high school delegates with a rigorous educational experience. TWS’s real-world learning model gave an opportunity for TWS delegates to put their critical thinking, public speaking, and collaboration skills to use.
Model UN(MUN) is a geopolitical simulation where students are assigned a role as a delegate of a given country and are tasked with representing that country’s positions and arguments on a topic of global importance.
Representing Moldova, TWS students needed to research the country and prepare position papers. Simulating participation in the General Assembly of the United Nations TWS delegates were assigned to three committees.
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Learn about the committees and the issues students worked to solve here
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Well before their arrival at the at the conference, delegates were given a country topic guide to research and study. Delegates need to study and know their assigned countries very well in order to prepare their country position and opening statements. Delegates are challenged to produce their best work. Position papers are the culmination of the MUN experience and and reflect hours of preparation both before and during the conference. (Curious to know more? Learn the elements of a position paper here.)
“Our students are well-prepared to take on the rigors of a Model UN Conference,” said Jared Magee, Global Dynamics teacher and Model UN advisor. “Our educational model of valuing creativity, innovation, collaboration, and entrepreneurial thinking works well in the environment of a MUN Conference”. Magee continued, “Our students also have the advantage of understanding their status as global citizens because they are at a school working side-by-side with students from twenty-five different countries.”
While the students stepped up to the challenge of the MUN conference, TWS parents appreciated the opportunity as well and summed up the experience like this: “Thank you for taking my child around the world.”
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