Whilst COVID-19 has prevented extra-curricular activities from continuing BISW’s Model UN has persevered. Andre Wahab and Mrs. Ormston are the club organizers and have managed to continue offering Model UN to years 7-13.
Model UNs aim is to engage students in critical thinking and use problem solving skills to assist in solving issues of global significance. Additionally, the club creates an environment for students to: collaborate, problem solve, voice opinion and improve public speaking.
BISW’s Model UN has faced great success in the last 2 terms: with mass member turn out, the award of excellence and award of best delegate given to members Leo McErlane and Andre Wahab from attending their first conference on November 18. To gain a greater understanding of this success I spoke to Andre Wahab: Year 11 student leader of the Model UN.
Andre said that he “thoroughly enjoys running the club and loves witnessing student’s growth in confidence, speaking, and collaborative skills.” While Andre has enjoyed running the club, he highlighted some difficulties COVID-19 posed and how the club was able to work through them. He said, “this year the Model UN conference were held virtually, and we have been using Microsoft Teams instead of in-person meetings”. However, Andre mentioned that working over Teams allows for people to engage easier at times in the comfort of their own home. “I still think we as a community have adapted rapidly to the changes 2020 threw our way” Andre said.
To gain a greater understanding of the club’s inner workings I spoke to Year 7 students Sofia Cortes-Rodriguezand Laura Gradzka-Clavijo who are Model UN club members.
Both students expressed that there were a lot of similarities to previous years: group work remained consistent and engaging, students were able to collaborate, and the club benefitted greatly due to the consistent members of the club which allowed there to be a consistent dynamic between group members. Laura explained that there were difficulties with Model UN being virtual as she prefers collaborating with people face to face and found there to be difficulty connecting with other group members virtually. However, Sophia detailed how the club has aided her saying “Model UN was a worth while experience that improved writing and speaking skills.”
BISW’s Model UN has been running all school year as the team was preparing for an international conference to be held November 18-19th. Usually club members would travel internationally to participate in the conference however due to COVID-19 restrictions the conference was held over zoom. In previous years the club has travelled to Bangkok, Thailand and Monterrey, Mexico. This year’s conference was hosted virtually over the course of two days, each participants name had to be ‘Your country- and Your committee’—the country competitors were assigned to be the delegate of. The event lasted a total of four hours spread across the two days.
Model UN is one of the few clubs that has been able to sustain itself through the COVID-19 pandemic and this is primarily due to the efforts of Andre and Mrs. Ormston. Both have worked incredibly hard alongside their dedicated and motivated students who continue to persevere through adversity and have demonstrated determination and dedication throughout this school year.
- Jana Abdel-Gawad
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