More 40 BH-BL High School students who participate in Model United Nations (UN) recently competed at the 42nd annual Central New York Model UN Conference at Syracuse University.
The students competed against 800 other student delegates from 38 different high schools.
The students were led by Model UN advisors Rene Tolan and Jeff Reynolds, who said “we are very proud of the commitment and dedication of all our students. They represented BH-BL with true professionalism.”
Congratulations to following students who did outstanding delegate work and took home awards:
- Mile Bechtel, senior. He received the recognition of Honorable Mention for representing the country of Iraq in the UN Development Programme. This committee addressed two topics: promoting the wellbeing of Kurdish peoples and developing strategies to prevent child labor practices in Southeast Asia
- Jaxson Dannible, senior. He received the Creative Visionary Award for his portrayal of Kelly Ortberg, CEO of Boeing, in the US Labor Summit. The summit addressed the issues of unfair working conditions and the immigrant workforce.
- Max Mackey, sophomore. He received the recognition of Best New Delegate for representing the country of Peru in the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs. The committee addressed two topics: Leveraging technology for enhanced border security and drug trafficking prevention and examining the effectiveness of criminalization versus rehabilitation of illicit drug use. This was Max’s first Model UN conference. This distinguished award is the highest recognition a new delegate can receive.
- Brenna McBride, sophomore. She received the recognition of Best Delegate for her portrayal of Dianne Criswell, FEMA Administrator, in the US Federal Emergency Management Agency Committee. The committee addressed responses to supermassive coronal mass ejection including the subtopics of detection and prevention, coronal mass ejection effects, post-impact response and long term recovery plan. This distinguished award is the highest recognition a delegate can receive.
- Brady Scianna, junior. He received the Award for Rhetorical Excellence for his portrayal of Kazuya Hara, Director of Cabinet Intelligence in the Japanese Cabinet. The Cabinet addressed topic of alleviating the tensions of Japan’s territorial disputes including the subtopics of settling the Japan-China sovereignty clash over Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands; resolving the Northern Territories conflict and revitalizing the diplomatic relationship between Russia and Japan; addressing the nationalist tensions between South Korea and Japan over the Liancourt Rocks; and addressing the Senkaku/Diaoyutai conflict with Taiwan.
- Ethan Swift, senior. He received the Award for Rhetorical Excellence for representing the country of Switzerland in the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. The committee addressed two topics: tackling the issue of firearms and weapons trafficking and assessing the use of capital punishment as a means of criminal justice.
- Mia Weisman, junior. She received the Award for Rhetorical Excellence for representing the country of Ukraine on the UN Women Committee. The committee addressed two issues: increasing access to feminine hygiene products in developing nations and methods to combat rape and sexual violence.
- Ryan Weygant, junior. He received the Creative Visionary Award for his representation of Iraq in the League of Arab States. The League addressed two topics: coordinating efforts to encourage stability in the Israel-Palestine Region and alleviating the humanitarian crises of the ongoing Yemeni Civil War.
What is Model United Nations?
Model UN is an educational simulation centered around the activities of the United Nations with the goals of furthering understanding about the United Nations, educating students about international relations and world issues, and promoting peace and the work of the UN through cooperation and diplomacy. BH-BL students in Model UN must do extensive preparation for each conference including background research on country and committee topics, writing a research paper following Chicago style formatting, and actively understand the rules and procedures of Harvard style debate.