North Shore Shines at Model UN... Again!

A group of 20 students traveled to Montreal, Canada to compete in the Jewish Canadian Youth Model UN conference at the beginning of March. This competition included Jewish students from near and far - including Brazil and Canada! North Shore students diligently developed position papers that represented their country's opinions on prevalent world issues such as female education, energy and commerce, world hunger, and security. Within the competition, students were challenged to debate these topics over a total of 5 committee sessions, lasting almost 3 hours each!

To satisfy every student's interest, there were a wide variety of committees to choose from. I was on the Crisis committee, where instead of assuming the position of a country, I represented a character within the crisis of Henry VIII’s leadership. This provided a new challenge where the topic of debate was always changing, requiring thinking on the spot. Another challenging committee was the Security Council, where certain countries have special Veto roles and the issues are incredibly complex. 

Regardless of the committee, each delegate has the chance to participate in the most prominent activity: resolution writing! While forming a resolution, it is crucial to form alliances with fellow delegates and become chosen to present a solution. Dominating while writing a resolution and leading fellow delegates shows efficient leadership skills that can help earn an award. Many North Students knew that well, as 4 students took home gavels for being the "Best Delegate" in their committees. These gavels were awarded to Mischa Nassimi, Mayah Rosenzweig, Sarah Kate Leibowitz and Elizabeth Mirahroon. Aliza Reiss and Abby Rutta also took home an award for being an "Outstanding Delegate" in their committees and for contributing greatly to each session.

Outstanding job by all of our delegates! I highly recommend joining Model UN, and encourage anyone interested to contact Mrs. Goldschmidt! As awardee Aliza Reiss shared, “It felt very empowering, and it's nice to learn about different cultures and their perspectives.”