This is the third year that Mount Madonna School parent Sumana Reddy (Kavi, 10th, Lekha, 5th) has headed MMS’ Model United Nations club. Interest in the club continues to grow, and it couldn’t happen without the strong support and coordination of a dedicated parent leader. Thank you Sumana! The club’s activities got off to a great start earlier this month with their first assembly in Santa Cruz, and several eager new student members. Here is Sumana’s update:
Our first Model U.N. club meet at U.C. Santa Cruz was a success! We have six students this year, including four new participants. They all worked together as delegates to the European Union, dealing with the financial crisis. A very challenging topic that all took on with enthusiasm: listening, debating, and learning how the process works.
Our first time delegates Zoe Kelly (8th), Alyssa Feskanin (8th), Rosino LeGan (9th) and Bryson Smith (10th) seemed to be having an interesting time of it. Afterwards, Rosino commented, “Model U.N. is great because it makes you think about things that are outside of your little corner of the world.” Wow! Having even a single student feel that way certainly makes it all worthwhile!
I watched returning delegate Quincy Mitchell (11th) collaborate and be a consummate diplomat, ultimately co-sponsoring the resolution that passed unanimously! You will have to ask our other returning delegate, my son, Kavi Duvvoori (10th), about how he brought “hummus diplomacy” to the table as the session was winding to a close!
For some members of the Model U.N. Club this may be the single meet they choose do this year, and while others may decide to continue with our other planned meets. Hopefully for all it was an energizing introduction and a great way to interact with other schools.
Model U.N. is an authentic simulation of the U.N. General Assembly and other multilateral bodies. Though it’s not documented as to how it exactly began, the Model U.N. program as it is practiced today is a successor to student-directed simulations that began in the 1920s.
MMS’ next meet is scheduled for November 13-14 at Stanford University.
