The Model United Nations (MUN) team held its third annual American Heritage Plantation Model United Nations (AHPMUN) conference Sept. 28- 29. Originally, the conference served as a practice for American Heritage delegates only. However, the conference has grown into its own county-wide MUN conference that serves a more competitive experience for delegations — as well as a fundraiser for Project Alive, UNICEF and junior Sophia Hurtado, who has Cushing’s Syndrome.
With over 300 delegates from 13 different schools within the county, this conference marks the largest MUN event held on campus. For the second time, this event was open to other schools, encouraging delegates from all over the county to participate. Run by The Secretariat (comprised of students from AHS’s Model UN team), Secretary Generals (seniors Aamir Lacewala, Logan Kapit and Jackson Arnberg) and Director General senior Alex Yang, the conference was held in the 2000 Building, downstairs fine arts building and 4000 rooms.
Preparations for the conference started around the end of last year’s academic school year. Topics, scheduling, organization and catering, as well as smaller details such as badges, placards, awards and conference programs, were arranged over the summer. “Organizing a county-wide conference with over 13 schools and 300 delegates is a lot more challenging than one might expect,” Yang said. “It requires constant communication with other schools to create and assign jobs/rosters, order food and plan logistics, creating and sending invoices for expenses and awards. Having to deal with last-minute sign-ups, dropouts, and roster changes from schools proved difficult, but we got through it.”
The schedule consisted of registration, an opening ceremony, five committee sessions, guest speaker former Heritage MUN President and Yale graduate Jude Alawa and closing and awards ceremonies. Starting at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, AHS delegates helped register last-minute members and prepare for the upcoming day. The opening ceremony followed, and at 9:30 am, the three committee sessions for the day began. With quick breaks in between sessions for lunch and dinner, the first day ended at 8:30 p.m. Committee sessions continued Sunday morning until the closing ceremony at 12:30 p.m.
Committees consisted of four General Assembly Committees and three Crisis Committees. The General Assembly committees included the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) which was chaired by Annabella Lugo, the Disarmament and International Security Committee (DISEC) which was chaired by Logan Kapit, the Social Humanitarian and Cultural Committee (SOCHUM) which was chaired by David Marblestone and the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (SPECPOL) chaired by Barak Huang. The Crisis Committees consisted of The Boshin War which was chaired by Alex Yang, Making of the Mafia which was chaired by Jackson Arnberg and United Nations Security Council chaired by Aamir Lacewala.
At the time for the awards ceremony, the best Heritage Plantation delegates in each committee spoke to summarize what happened during their time at AHPMUN. Although AHS students were ineligible for awards, delegates from other schools had opportunities to receive their respective delegation’s award. This included Honorable Delegate, Outstanding Delegate and Best Delegate. Delegation awards were also awarded to delegations that performed best overall. The Best Delegation Award was given to MAST at FIU and the Outstanding Delegation Award was given to Barbara Goleman Senior High School.
Director General senior Alex Yang speaks at the closing ceremony Sunday before announcing the Best Delegation Award and Outstanding Delegation Award. (Photo/Cinzia Baracco)
At the time for the awards ceremony, the best Heritage Plantation delegates in each committee spoke to summarize what happened during their time at AHPMUN. Although AHS students were ineligible for awards, delegates from other schools had opportunities to receive their respective delegation’s award. This included Honorable Delegate, Outstanding Delegate and Best Delegate. Delegation awards were also awarded to delegations that performed best overall. The Best Delegation Award was given to MAST at FIU and the Outstanding Delegation Award was given to Barbara Goleman Senior High School.
Not only did delegates participate in committee sessions and opening and closing ceremonies, but they also raised the most money AHPMUN has ever fundraised, totaling to over $7000. This was achieved through candy grams and other activities such as getting pied ,making Tik Toks and holding rap battles.
This year’s AHPMUN conference invited both new and experienced delegates to friendly competitions and a fun weekend. For more information about AHPMUN, visit www.ahpmun.com.
(Photos/Cinzia Baracco)
