Sandburg's Model UN Team excels at conferences

The Sandburg Model United Nations Team traveled to Chicago to attend the SIMUN Model United Nations conference, hosted by St. Ignatius High School. With two busloads of Sandburg delegates participating, Sandburg’s MUN team was proud to bring home the Outstanding Large Delegation Award. Sandburg delegates helped the shrinking bee population, solved Africa’s water crisis, and delved into mental health issues. Additional topics scoped into both the past and future, and each delegate handled the crises thrown their way with both class and diplomacy. Numerous students brought home individual awards, too, including:

• Riddhi Patel-Best Delegate in ECOSOC
• Sydney Dea-Best Delegate in UNICEF
• Cassidy Leonard-Best Delegate in Chicago City Council
• Caroline Aurelio-Best Delegate in JCC Spanish Empire
• Violet Erikson-Best Delegate in JCC Star Wars Rebels
• Elizabeth and Alyssa Prisby-Outstanding Delegates in WHO
• Andrea Rebollido-Outstanding Delegate in ASEAN
• Savannah Ayala-Outstanding Delegate in UNEP
• Nessa Trombetta-Honorable Delegate in UNHCR
• Mike McKeough-Honorable Delegate in Security Council
• DeLayna Major and Angelica Juliano-Honorable Delegates in SOCHUM
• Nat Oliven-Honorable Delegate in SPECPOL

Earlier this season, Sandburg Model United Nations hosted its eighth annual conference (CSMUN VIII). The conference was staffed by 42 current Sandburg students, as well as 5 Sandburg alumni. 600 Delegates came from all over the state of Illinois to debate a variety of issues including the Opium Wars, Great Britain’s Parliament, the US Senate, and Queen Elizabeth’s Court, as well as to simulate current relations between nearly every continent alike. New to one-day Model UN conferences was pilot committee: The Press, which featured 8 delegates taking note of the activity in each room as it occurred, releasing three newspaper additions in total. The conference was also proud to feature students as keynote speakers from five schools represented at this year’s event. Speaking on behalf of their experiences with finding their voice in Model UN, the commendable speeches from each delegate instilled drive in an auditorium full of listeners.

To cap a great day of diplomacy, award recipients were recognized for excellent performances in their committees:

• Naail Chaudhry – Cambodia-UNEP
• Simon Han – France-UN Women
• Kathleen Kimmey – France-UNICEF
• Mollie McCormick – Oman-Arab League
• Alexandra Para – Ecuador-UNHCR
• Michael Trombetta – France-UNODC
• Jamil Allen – Ireland-EU
• Demilade Jimoh – Uganda-AU
• Lauren Yazumbek – Trinidad and Tobago-OAS
• Meghan Walsh – Sir Christopher Hatton Queen Elizabeth Cabinet