At the 2014 YMCA Model United Nations (MUN) Conference, held January 10th -12th in Hershey, PA 1,600 student delegates from high schools in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and New York simulated the duties of UN Ambassadors. During the annual MUN Conference, students research, write, present and debate resolutions to address important international issues, such as poverty, resource sustainability and more.
The YMCA Model UN program is designed so that student officers elected at the Conference spend the next 12 months planning the following year’s program where they will preside over the proceedings during the three days of the Conference. Leading this year’s group of 40 officers from five states was Red Bank Catholic senior Aidan Byrnes, who was elected to serve as Secretary General, MUN’s highest ranking officer, for the 2014 Conference. One of the officers was Red Bank Catholic senior Tom Toman, who served as Chair of General Assembly B, one of the largest of the 31 committees.
During the three day Conference, Red Bank Catholic junior Christopher Blair was elected Vice-Chair of General Assembly B for the 2015 Conference. In addition, the adult advisors and Committee Chairs recognized certain delegates for outstanding performance in certain areas. Several Red Bank Catholic students earned distinct honors at the 2014 MUN Conference. Senior Haig Bakhtiarian and freshman Maeve Byrnes were named Outstanding First Year Delegates, the country represented by senior Joseph Liddy was named Outstanding Country and senior Ann Doherty earned Outstanding Country Position Paper.
Find out what's happening in Little Silver-Oceanportwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Part of planning the Conference, as Aidan Byrnes notes, involves “deciding on a Conference theme which underlies some of what we do at MUN. We choose service projects, find and schedule guest speakers and assign topics for debate that reflect the theme, which this year was Equal Opportunity.” He led the officers in many leadership workshops and conference calls during the past year so they could plan for delegate training, choose topics for research and debate and communicate with the delegates.
MUN officers work together to research worldwide charitable organizations and choose worthwhile service projects for their committees to focus their efforts. They guide their delegates to work in their own communities before the Conference weekend to collect items for their service project and bring the donations with them to Hershey. There they organize, count and pack the items for shipment. Among the organizations chosen this year were MedShare, Global Dental Relief, Global Playground the Jeneba Project, which all work toward improving he lives of people in developing nations throughout the world. The delegates collected hundreds of items including bars of soap, medical and school supplies and soccer balls.Aidan Byrnes reflects on his experience with the YMCA Model UN program: “These four years have been a tremendous experience. It was an honor to serve as Secretary General for such an outstanding group of my peers. I gained lifelong friendships, and learned so much about the world and about myself. I learned how to be an advocate and a leader. I highly recommend the YMCA Model UN program. It is an opportunity for high school students to feel valued, respected and part of something larger than themselves. “
Aidan's farewell address to the MUN Delegation can be viewed here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpxnVwQ62sQ
Find out what's happening in Little Silver-Oceanportwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
