Trumbull High’s Model UN Club Hosts an Invitational with Area Schools

Trumbull High’s Model UN Club Hosts an Invitational with Area Schools

By Brandon Capece, THS ‘13

On May 12, 2012, Trumbull High School’s Model United Nations Team hosted their second annual Model UN Conference at Trumbull High School. A total of 8 different schools attended (Bethel High School, Community Learning Project, Connecticut River Academy,  Madison Middle School, Newtown High School, Smithfield High School, Suffield High School,  and Trumbull High School) and over 60 students competed in this full day event.

With the help of the Trumbull Academic Challenge for Excellence Foundation (ACE), this year’s TMUNI (Trumbull Model United Nations Invitational) was able to include two different committees that delegates participated in. The majority of delegates participated in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) which was the main committee for new delegates that wanted to participate in Model UN in a learning environment. The UNHRC debated the issue of human trafficking around the world and tried to find ways to end the practice of human trafficking as well as find a way to help the victims of this pressing international problem. In this committee, delegates were treated to surprise visits by Senior Jenn Bont who was acting as the Non-Government Organization Coordinator for the committee as well as Director General for the conference. The committee was chaired by UCONN student and THS graduate Emily Block and Trumbull High Senior Kathleen Hickey. Winners of awards for the UNHRC were Burkina Faso (Best Delegate – Nathan Walker, Bethel HS), Indonesia (Outstanding Delegate – Gulrukh Haroon, Trumbull) and Libya (Honorable Mention – Ben Gee, Suffield HS) alongside North Korea (Honorable Mention – Ryan McEniry, Trumbull).

TMUNI was also home to the smaller United Nations Security Council composed of 20 delegates. These delegates debated the issue of nuclear proliferation in international water territories which was chosen as the topic of debate to the many different aspects of the issue that would lead to an increased level of debate. Being the Security Council, delegates had to quickly come up with solutions to various crises brought to their intention by Junior Brandon Capece who served as Crisis Director for the UNSC and Secretary General for TMUNI. During committee, North Korea played an active role alongside Iran to spread nuclear weapons to many countries who then proceeded to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The UNSC was chaired by Stony Brook University student and THS graduate Brett Rosen and Senior Michael McGuigan. Awards were given to South Africa (Best Delegate – Nicole Wittstein, Trumbull), the United Kingdom (Outstanding Delegate – Caroline McArdle, Community Learning Project MUN), China (Honorable Mention – Chris LaBosco, Trumbull) and Pakistan (Honorable Mention – Lucien Formichella, Community Learning Project MUN). When asked about it, Wittstein responded, “Since it was my first conference, I really had no idea what to expect. But it ended up being unbelievably fun! Now I can’t wait for next year!”

Other student comments from Madison Middle School included, “After speaking once, I was much more confident. I am really glad I came” and “The Security Council was cool because we got to argue about real world stuff.” Madison advisor Mr. Stec commented afterwards that “It is because of the success of the TMUNI Conference that the middle school team members continue to research and debate international issues, even though the conference is over.” Secretary General Brandon Capece remarked that, “It was really great to finally have TMUNI. The Secretariat spent months organizing the various aspects of TMUNI whether it was organizing the committee rooms, writing the background guide, or even refreshing parliamentary procedure. I can’t thank John Sakakini, our club founder, enough for his remarks as our keynote speaker and Ms. Boland for all the hard work she put into making this conference what I was. I really look forward to seeing how TMUNI expands as we spark the interest of even more students next year.” Trumbull High School plans on hosting their third annual conference in Spring of 2013.