Whiz Kids: Melrose High Model United Nations Students

Melrose Patch Whiz Kids of the Week: The Melrose High School sophomores, juniors and seniors who represented Uganda at Harvard University's Model United Nations. 

• Caroline Kerwin
• Angela Soto
• Sarah Strike
• Kristin Terry
• Mira Williams
• Lisa Yannaco
• Jessie Horne
• Sarah MacDonald
• Jamie Zajac
• Samantha Cardoso
• Rachel Follett
• Corinne Kelly

From Margot Bauman, a teacher in the high school's social studies department who advised the students and accompanied them to the event: 

On Thursday, January 26, twelve intrepid adventurers set off from Melrose High School to represent the country of Uganda at the Harvard Model United Nations, one of the oldest and largest Model UN conferences in the world. Of the twelve pioneering students, six (Caroline Kerwin, Angela Soto, Sarah Strike, Kristin Terry, Mira Williams, and Lisa Yannaco) are sophomores and three (Jessie Horne, Sarah MacDonald, and Jamie Zajac) are juniors. The remaining three (Samantha Cardoso, Rachel Follett, and Corinne Kelly) are seniors.  Your humble correspondent served as advisor and chaperone for the trip, although I admit the term ‘advisor’ must be loosely construed.

The decision to undertake this adventure was prompted largely, if not wholly, by Corinne Kelly, a transfer student from Mystic Valley Charter School, where she had participated in Model UNs at Cornell, Dartmouth, and Harvard in past years. She was an invaluable resource, not only for the other students, but for me as well.

Despite their inexperience and, in some cases, shyness, all of the students exceeded my expectations throughout the trip. Despite the size of many of the committees (many committees of the General Assembly of the UN are ‘committees of the whole’, meaning every country in the GA is represented – some 194 in total), the girls took active roles in the discussions of the issues facing their committees.  For some of the girls, this meant participating in small working groups to design working papers during unmoderated caucuses.  This was mainly because the issues in their committees did not affect our assigned country directly; for example, cyber terrorism is less of a worry for Uganda than it is in the West. Some of the girls, however, spoke to their entire committees about how the issues under consideration (for example, genetically modified foods) would impact, or have impacted, Uganda, and what resolutions might be appropriate.

Corinne Kelly, instead of representing Uganda like the rest of our delegation, participated in a simulation of the government installed following the Taiping Rebellion in China in the mid-19th century, one of several historically-based ‘crisis committees’ at the conference.  Her role was that of the Taiping government’s ambassador to Great Britain, who had gained prominence through his military skills. Her small group of about twenty high school students conducted the internal and external affairs of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom so well that the Harvard students running the simulation were forced to resort to mass ‘executions’ of the officials and sending wolves to destroy their army in order to preserve some conformity to actual historical events. The Harvard staff recognized her work by awarding her the Honorable Mention in the Best Delegate competition for her committee. This is an amazing achievement and a well-deserved honor.

This report would be incomplete without a mention of two Melrose parents who contributed immensely to the success of the trip. First, Mrs. Lata Williams generously drove our luggage into Boston for us on Thursday. This made the commuter rail and T trip significantly easier and was much appreciated. Second, Mr. Rich Yannaco hosted a pizza lunch for us in his office at the John Hancock Tower on Friday. During a great lunch, he also described his work as a consultant to the girls, even setting them a small simulation of his own to demonstrate the process his company goes through when dealing with clients’ problems. As several of the girls are interested in business, this added ‘career day’ feature was a real bonus. And there were prizes.

On the whole, this was a phenomenal learning experience for all involved, myself not least. The Harvard students running the conference set a professional tone and set up stimulating issues for all of the committees. The opportunity to work with students from 37 countries (there were about 3200 students at the conference) is rare indeed, and Melrose High’s delegation took full advantage of it.  The entire town should be proud of these girls and their hard work and dedication.  I only hope that I can live up to the standard they’ve set when I come to advise next year’s delegation (I’ve been warned that I can expect it to grow).

Nominate a Melrose Kid!

Each week, Melrose Patch will seek suggestions from readers for individual kids, youth groups, teens, and even sports teams that wow us with their accomplishments. We want to hear about these amazing children and teens and select one each week as the Patch Whiz Kid.  Submit your nomination in our comment box below or e-mail the information to danield@patch.com. Be sure to include all of the following information:

• Nominator's Name
• Nominator's E-Mail
• Whiz Kid's Name
• Whiz Kid's Age
• Whiz Kid's School
• Whiz Kid's Accomplishment
• An explanation of the accomplishment (approximately 150-300 words).
• A photo, if available.