This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Three KO Students Win Awards at Yale Model UN; Still Time to Register for KO's Middle School Model UN

Distinguishing itself once again amid stiff competition, Kingswood Oxford’s Model UN team performed extremely well at Yale University’s Model UN on Jan. 23-26, with three students capturing top honors.

This was the 40th annual YMUN, and the 11th consecutive year that KO has participated and brought home awards. More than 1,700 students from around the world were in New Haven for the competition.

"Our students love the Yale Model UN experience -- they learn so much about world affairs, public speaking and the art of negotiation,” said KO History teacher and Model UN advisor Stacey Savin. “It gives them a chance to meet their peers from all over the world, and helps train them to run the regional KOMUN (KO’s Model UN for middle schools) in March. That we've brought home awards every year we've attended is just icing on the cake."

Find out what's happening in West Hartfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

This year’s award winners are:

  • Jake Leshem ’14 of West Hartford and Griffin Maloney ’14 of Avon – Best Delegate, representing Saudi Arabia in the Arab League Committee
  • Areesha Irfan ’15 of Farmington -- Outstanding Delegate, representing Palestine in the Israel-Palestine Joint-Cabinet Crisis Committee

KO’s team of 40 delegates represented four countries -- Malaysia, Italy, Saudi Arabia, and the Netherlands – and 17 different committees, including Security Council, World Health, and the Press Corps, to name just a few.

Find out what's happening in West Hartfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The group will now shift its focus to preparing for the second annual KOMUN, the only program of its kind in the state. Registrations are still being accepted for KOMUN, which will be held at KO on Saturday, Mar. 22, 2014. Visit www.kingswoodoxford.org to register.

Founded in 2013 by Savin, KOMUN offers students in grades 6-8 the opportunity to develop the research, writing, discussion, and presentation skills that are intrinsic to Model UN participation and critical to success in high school.

Patrick Brown, who attended KOMUN in 2013 and is now a freshman at Cheshire Academy, won an honorable mention at the Yale Model UN – his first year participating. “This is really a testament to what a great training ground KOMUN is for 8th graders,” said his Cheshire Academy teacher, Theresa West. 

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?