Wednesday, February 27, 2002
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Wednesday, February 27, 2002 |
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Model UN team wins highest honors
The United States' future generation of ambassadors and country leaders might be members of Sandy Creek High School's Model United Nations Team. During the Model UN Conference at Georgia State University, Sandy Creek's 30-member team was awarded nine Outstanding Delegate awards, the most individual awards given to any one school participating in the 2001 event. It was also the best performance in the history of the team. Students receiving individual awards were Matt Bufford, Arif Noorani, Julia Otwell, Samuel Lee, Courtney Leech, Lindsey Thompson, Melissa Wilbur, Tyler Campbell and Chase Wilson. Model UN is an academic extracurricular activity open to all high school students. Its goal is to give students an in-depth look at current world issues as well as an opportunity to expand their speaking and writing skills and develop collaborative social skills. At the Model UN conference, almost all of the resolution debate, amending and caucusing is impromptu, making it necessary for students to be able to think fast on their feet while applying diplomatic communication skills and being culturally sensitive. In preparation for the conference, team members personally researched their assigned nations and the four topics to be covered in their specific committees as well as prepared UN-formatted original resolutions. Samples of topics covered within committees included combating terrorism, specific political situations in East Timor, Macedonia and the Central African Republic, illicit arms trading, nuclear non-proliferation and the establishment of a world court. Nations represented by the students included Colombia, Costa Rica, Argentina and Cuba. In order to perform successfully as a delegate at the conference, students must have a broad range of knowledge of both their nation and topics. Students also must be willing to defend their proposals in lengthy sessions and work for consensus with delegates from other nations. Public and private schools throughout the metro Atlanta area participated in the 2001 UN conference, which lasted for two days.
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