On Saturday, September 30, three intrepid middle school students–eighth graders Gideon Borisy and Tadhg O’Sullivan and seventh grader Vatche Balikian–took part in the Greater Boston Model UN Conference sponsored by the United Nations Association of Greater Boston. They participated with about 150 other middle school students from around Massachusetts, who came together to discuss the topic of finding durable solutions for refugees, in particular refugee children.
Our students represented El Salvador and Brazil and they took part in debates over how to craft solutions. What should the priorities be with our global solutions? From housing to education to economics, our students were committed to proposing creative solutions. They thought through the interconnected nature of both the problems and the solutions. Model UN conferences around the globe are dealing with this topic this year, invited by the UN High Commission on Refugees to have a say in solution-oriented plans and policies.
Our students were active and engaged, and they gained a solid foundation for other conferences that will come up later this year. Watch this space for more news from this term’s Model UN club, which includes 17 students in grades 6-8.
