Krop’s Model United Nation represents Angola in Ivy League Conference

Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School’s Model United Nations team poses at the national Ivy League conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

     On January 29th, 2019, 15 students from Michael Krop Senior High School attended the Ivy League Model United Nations conference hosted by the University of Pennsylvania.

     Model United Nations is a branch of Social Studies Honor Society that aims to give students leadership skills by assigning them a country to represent, and a current world dilemma to resolve.

     “It was an intense weekend where we got to compete against some of the best schools in the world,” junior David Brothers said. “At the same time, meeting and hanging out with people from places like Europe and Asia made it very fun.”

     Throughout the four day conference, students participated in nearly 12 hour structured committee time. While each individual and team was enrolled in a different committee, they all debated an created foreign policy that they wanted to implement. All of the students except for senior Luka Gawlinski Silva were assigned the country of Angola, and expressed their ideas on its policies  through committees.

     Instead of representing Angola, Silva represented an individual named Honorable Humberto Duarte instead. He participated in the Economic Community of West Africa States committee and was the only member of the Krop MUN team to place, earning the title of Verbal Commendation.

     Aside from the actual competition, Freshmen Maria Villar and Jazmin Masri agreed that it was too cold for them in Philadelphia. Meanwhile, Seniors Joshua Watson and Josephine Sullivan saw the weather as an opportunity to engage in a friendly snowball fight. Sightings of the Liberty Bell, The George Washington statue, and meals in the Hard Rock and Reading Terminal Market were also part of the experience.

     “The conference was an amazing opportunity for the team to showcase all the hard work we’ve been putting in this year,” said team captain Luka Gawlinski Silva. “It’s priceless to be able to interact with so many bright students from all across the world, and coming back from the trip, it really gives you a greater sense of purpose and determination to, essentially, change the world.”

     So, if you are looking to make new friends and learn about issues that affect our world today while traveling across the United States, Model United Nations might be the club for you.