Somersfield Students Take Part In Model UN

May 15, 2019

A group of twelve M4 Somersfield Academy students have demonstrated their ‘international mindedness’ while attending a three day-conference for the Model United Nations.

The group travelled to New York between May 8th and May 12th, 2019 to take part in the Global Classroom International Model UN Conference held annually in New York.

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The purpose of the Model United Nations program is to bring the UN culture of global awareness and to bridge the education gap through allowing students to step into the shoes of ambassadors in order to negotiate current world issues, to resolve conflicts, and to navigate the UN’s rules of procedure with fellow delegates.

The Somersfield Academy students represented the country of the Netherlands and engaged in simulations on how the UN resolves problems with hundreds of countries each offering their own ideas and opinions. Amongst some of the issues debated and discussed were the abolition of the death penalty, the legality of drones as weapons of war, green gas emissions and the 2020 challenge.

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All students took an active part in debates, in moderated and unmoderated caucuses and participated in writing resolutions, which will be submitted to the actual United Nations committees.

When interviewed by the organizers of the conference, one of the MUN coordinators for Somersfield Academy, Ms. Anne-Laure Bazin states, “Somersfield Academy students are amongst the youngest in this conference but they have showed great preparedness and maturity during the whole conference advancing ideas and actively taking part in writing resolution papers.”

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Mr. Brice Pursell, IB MYP coordinator at Somersfield Academy was keen to share his thoughts by saying “the Model United Nations program is just one more shining example of how an IB-MYP education offered at Somersfield Academy allows students to demonstrate the all-around skill-set required of the 21st century learner.

“Through the explicit use of IB-MYP Approaches to Learning, young individuals are able to showcase their skills of self-management, collaboration, research, and communication to voice their opinions on current world issues. True to the Somersfield promise, this program furthers the development of ‘socially conscious independent thinkers’ and readies them for future success in all endeavors.”

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One of the students who attended, Thibaut Stefani states: “Attending the Model United Nations is more than attending a conference; it’s meeting with young people from all regions of the world to take on the world’s most severe problems. An unforgettable experience that allows youth to discover the world around them and expand their lives from their small communities to the globe.”

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Zoe Hasselkuss provided the following account of her experience: “It was an amazing experience that really helped me to improve my confidence in public speaking, as well as my debating and compromising skills. There were people from all over the world, and it was great to see people come together from a variety of different cultures. I will never forget this experience and hope that I will be able to do it again next year.”

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Ms. Bazin concludes “Our M4 students did Somersfield Academy very, very proud indeed!”

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