News
Model UN Trophy to GPS
For the fourth consecutive year, a GPS team was awarded the Best Delegation trophy at the Southeastern High School Model UN Conference.
The GPS Model UN club is a model…of consistency! For the fourth year in a row, the club brought home the Best Delegation trophy from the Southeastern High School Model United Nations Conference (SHSMUN). GPS sent thirty-nine delegates representing four nations (United Kingdom, Syria, Philippines, and Vietnam) to the annual conference. The delegation from the United Kingdom won the top honor.
Winning the Best Delegate Award for their committees from the United Kingdom delegation were seniors Gabby Cox (Economics and Finance), Rebecca Torrence (Social and Humanitarian), Leah Baxter (Legal), junior Tatiana Poggi (Special Political), and freshman Komal Patri (Introductory Committee).
As a result of their Best Delegate designations, Cox, Torrence, Baxter, and Poggi are eligible to attend the National High School Model UN (NHSMUN) conference in New York City in March. In addition, senior Lori Baxter, who served as one of the eleven chairs for the conference, was selected to go to New York as well, all as part of the local YMCA delegation representing Kazakhstan.
Awarded Honorable Mentions from the United Kingdom were seniors Isabella Cornea (Disarmament) and Rachel Truelove (Environment) and from Syria was junior Ritika Modi (Development). Rounding out the victorious UK delegation were senior Delaney Swann and juniors Meher Memon, Gabbi Adasme, and Ameera Bhatti. Advisor Glen Vey was especially enthusiastic about the 13 new members who participated energetically during the conference, as this bodes well for future conferences.
Senior Lori Baxter served as the Chair of the Introductory Committee, used as a learning experience and consisting of only new delegates. Also, seniors Bennett Burns and Anna Shaw served on the Digital Press Corps (DPC), the journalism arm of the conference. Meher Memon will serve at next year’s conference as the DPC Editor-in-Chief.
The Southeastern High School Model United Nations Conference is held annually the weekend before Thanksgiving. This year the conference hosted 21 schools from Chattanooga, Atlanta, Memphis, and Montgomery, AL. Seventy-five countries (delegations) were represented by 641 delegates during the three-day conference, an increase of over 70 from 2015. Twenty-two of the 156 (14%) draft resolutions submitted before the conference and put on the docket were from GPS, even though the school represented only 6% of the delegations participating.
The SHSMUN website describes the conference as “unique,” in that “ teenagers run the conference by writing topic papers and chairing their own committees…” The delegates at SHSMUN “are expected to bring their best ‘game’ by researching their countries’ positions, delivering speeches, and writing thorough resolutions that deliver solutions to their committee’s issues.”
