On Feb. 13 the Model United Nations club will be traveling to Washington D.C to participate in the North American Invitational Model United Nations, a series of competitions over four days hosted by Georgetown University.
Klinger has selected a team of eight from the Model UN club to participate in the competition. Senior treasurer Gordon Schneider, has been a part of Model UN since the second semester of his Freshman year.
Schneider will be representing Turkey in a debate revolving around AI, and another about gender roles in STEM, both applicable to Turkey and its practices and resources.
“I always look forward to seeing what resources I have and where they can get me,” said Schneider, “Each country, each person in a crisis is going to have certain things that can be used to reach their goals and help other people get their goals. It’s a game of how I can use my resources to help me and others.”
The selected students created position papers in which they did extensive research on the figures and topics they will be debating as.
While most students are debating modern subjects, some of the topics at the NAIMUN are historical. Club president, junior Cecilia Morse will be representing a figure in 1403 China. Morse is a part of the crisis committee and will be representing a character rather than country. Being on this type of committee grants more freedom and Morse can work at individual goals.
“I’m representing a military leader who killed his dad,” said Morse, “ I’m probably going to be a pretty big target. This is the beginning of the travels of Zheng He and his ships. It’s mostly just furthering my opinion and the opinion of generals, what they would think during that time and reacting to the developments and other countries. It’s a lot of negotiation.”
Along with the conference, the club will be sightseeing, visiting malls, famous buildings and landmarks. Perhaps the most impressive thing they will be doing is visiting the Polish Embassy.
Club supervisor, Jason Klinger has been planning this trip since October. Each student is going for roughly $780 per person. Counselor Kimberly Kowalski is also attending as a chaperone.
Students are held to high standards when meeting delegates, western business attire is required for this part of the trip as well as the conference. This opportunity to learn and ask questions is rare and valuable to these students as some may be interested in a future in diplomacy or international relations.
“My biggest hope is that our kids gain an even broader perspective on the world, both through meeting students from around the world, as well as from our visits to museums and the Polish Embassy.” said Klinger, “If we win an award, that would a be tremendous validation for the years of effort they’ve put into becoming stronger delegates. I care more about growth than about gavels”