December 28, 2005

WSH proves worth to the world

Students excel at Model UN contest held in Canada

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer

      Earlier this month, six area West High School students wrestled with the issue of genocide in Darfur, Sudan, as well as current and potential conflicts in central Asia.
      The participants from Traverse City plus nearly 200 other high schoolers from around the Midwest tackled problems drawn from headlines and hot spots around the world.
      "My council picked drug trafficking in central Asia," said Jamie Furstenberg, a senior at West. "I represented the United States on my council and the key is to get your resolutions passed."
      The annual Canadian American Security Councils event was held on December 1-2 in Windsor, Ontario. It is part of the Mid-American Model United Nations program, which every year holds a full United Nations session for high school students. This year's program is scheduled for March 7-11 in Battle Creek, Mich.
      Besides Furstenberg, local attendees were seniors David Engstrom, Kerry Fleet, Andrew Winters and Nick Glauch plus junior Andrew Hainen. Fleet attended the event last year but the other students went for the first time earlier this month.
      The competence and confidence gained by participants over just two days are invaluable.
      "It's a role-playing simulation and there's a lot of debating and negotiating skills," said Charles Rennie, a modern history teacher at West who works with the model UN students. "It's a fantastic learning experience."
      Canadian American Security Councils organizers divided participants randomly into 14 councils. Each council included a representative from the 15 countries who sit on the United Nations' Security Council.
      Like the United Nations, the students represented both permanent members of the council - the United States, the Russia Federation, China, France and the United Kingdom - as well as non-permanent members such as Argentina, Denmark and Japan.
      Mimicking a real Security Council session, the students discussed topics, proposed resolutions, debated options and voted. Students from Traverse City were selected to represent either the United States or the Hellenic Republic, also known as Greece.
      "You had to put yourself into the diplomatic shoes of your country," said Andrew Winters, who represented Greece. "We didn't have veto power, weren't a permanent member of the Security Council, but we like America."
      Rennie, who attended the model United Nations his junior and senior years at Traverse City Senior High, teaches West's Model UN class second semester. During the fall, students and Rennie meet informally to prepare for the Windsor event. They study and research the issues and write resolutions to address them.
      "We were the only school there who brought resolutions," noted Winters.
      Embodying Rennie's mantra of "preparation, preparation and preparation," the students' hours of advance work shone throughout the event. Furstenberg and Glauch each won Best Delegate for their respective councils, selected for this honor by staff in recognition of their extensive groundwork.
      "They actually put a cap on how many awards you could get because our school came so prepared," said Glauch.
      All the students who went to Windsor plan to attend the full Model UN program in March, buoyed by their successes earlier this month.
      "At the end of the conference, it's about a five-hour drive home from Windsor and the entire time they were talking about it," said Rennie. "It really gives them a chance to grow and to meet other kids from all over the United States and Canada."
      Glauch, who has a great interest in politics and international relations, said the trip broadened his horizons and worldview.
      "I got to talk politics and issues with a bunch of different people and it gave me a new outlook on different issues," he said. "It let me know that there are other views out there, not just the ones in America."