Model UN Conference 2021: GPCS’s Best Performance Yet!
This year GPCS students won the most awards in the history of the school’s participation in the Maine Model United Nations Conference (MeMUNC). This event brought together almost 300 middle and high school students from 24 public and private schools around Maine in a fully-online format this year.
Our students took home the prestigious Best Delegation award, representing Germany. Showing poise and persistence in the face of connectivity issues and technology challenges, the six GPCS student delegates that represented Germany stood out among all those in attendance for their ability to stay in character, resolve conflicts, negotiate and write resolutions, speak publicly and use parliamentary procedure. Three students from the German delegation were recognized in their committees with awards, including one as Best Delegate for her work in the UN Environment Program.
GPCS delegates representing Indonesia, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates and Jamaica each received honorable mentions in committees for their outstanding work. GPCS also represented Uzbekistan, Iraq, Gabon at this year’s conference. Every student contributed to the overall success of GPCS’s team, and GPCS students were noted by other school advisors as being role models in their committees, in the way they comported themselves and interacted with other delegations.
In a year like no other, where opportunities for athletic and scholastic competition have been rare, eighteen students from Greater Portland Christian School (GPCS) participated in the online Maine Model United Nations Conference. Model United Nations is an academic competition where students role-play as diplomats operating in a simulated international organization.
The GPCS team meets once a week starting in early November to train for the MeMUNC. Student delegates are assigned a country and prepare by researching background information about that country. They also research information on international issues and develop an understanding of what their assigned country’s policy would be on the issue. At the conference, delegates compete in committees and are judged by staff members based primarily on their speaking, writing, and problem-solving abilities.
The Opening Ceremony this year started with a video welcome from Susan Collins, Angus King, Chellie Pingree, Dr. Nirav Shah, USM president Glenn Cummings and the staff of the MeMUNC. They greeted the students and encouraged them to step outside their comfort zone, and to work together to find solutions to the problems facing our society.
