Whiz Kids: Model UN Team Earns Highest Award

Whiz Kids: Kate Kelley, Cody Hoeffel and Emma Holcomb

School:

Accomplishment: The Royal Oak High School Model United Nations team earned the highest awards at the Lake Erie International Model UN (LEIMUN) spring national conference at Kent State University in Ohio. The three attending delegates won the Best Small School Award for overall excellence. This is the highest award given, according to adviser and Royal Oak teacher Steve Chisnell.

Individual awards:

• Junior Kate Kelley earned the conference’s top honors for her work in the A-Team Committee, designing crisis simulations and representing multiple countries on a wide variety of topics. She was rated “superior” for her debating work, took the committee’s highest honor and received the Director’s Gavel for special recognition as the highest-scoring delegate at the conference.
• Sophomore Cody Hoeffel earned a rating of “excellence” (second place) for his representation of Iran in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Debating nuclear security, toxic waste transportation, North Korea and Libyan politics, Hoeffel turned every Iranian argument back toward Israel as a dangerous force in the Middle East.
• Freshman Emma Holcomb, representing China on the Security Council, also earned a rating of “excellence.” Wielding the pressure of a veto power, Holcomb pushed veteran delegates in issues of Security Council reform, Libyan protests and a Pakistan-India crisis.

Together, the team had the highest average score of the conference schools, earning it the prestigious team award. The LEIMUN conference tested hundreds of delegates from more than a dozen schools from four states.

Do you know our next Whiz Kid?

Know a great kid who made Eagle Scout? How about a school group that worked on a project for charity? Did your local soccer team take the championship? They may be our next Patch Whiz Kid honorees.

Each week, Royal Oak Patch seeks suggestions from readers for individual children, youth groups, teens and even sports teams that wow us with their accomplishments. We want to hear about these amazing children and teens and select one each week as the Patch Whiz Kid. Submit your nomination in our comment box below or email the information to editor Victoria Mitchell. Be sure to include all of the following information:

• Nominator's name
• Whiz Kid's name, age and school
• Whiz Kid's accomplishment
• Whiz Kid's key to awesomeness (what made him/her successful?)
• Whiz Kid photo