Led by Mrs. Erin Moran and Mr. Franklin Davidson, these students, veterans of intense MUN competition in Puerto Rico, conducted themselves with dignity and maturity and performed at a very high level, winning numerous awards. I was lucky enough to see our students in action, and they were outstanding. Congratulations to all of the participants and their intrepid moderators.
If you are unfamiliar with Model UN, it is the premier international competition of high school-age students (there are some from middle school), focused primarily on international law, international relations, and global economics. Students take on incredibly complex issues drawn from world headlines. During competitions, they imitate real-world crisis negotiation and resolution, from concerns over emerging markets, sustainability, terrorism, and international drug trafficking, to asset allocation and intervention strategies by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), to inter and extra-governmental diplomacy in war and peace. They even imitate intelligence-gathering agencies and multinational corporations. Students are versed in the major players and major problems of our world, and consider both with a sophistication normally reserved for senior experts.
Make no mistake; Model UN is more than role playing for international policy and history buffs. These students are the vanguard of a generation that will be asked to solve these real problems in real time. They are not only global representatives, they are global thinkers. More so, this is a skills-based program. Students who engage in MUN build key competencies. They learn to think on their feet. They practice debate, diplomacy, and the art of compromise. They consider the moral, pragmatic, and political dimensions of problem solving. They marshal evidence in support of their contentions, forcefully when necessary, and yielding when the same. This is a training ground for future financiers, lawyers, diplomats, businesspeople, developers, technocrats, medical professionals, and philanthropists. These are critical and divergent thinkers trying on leadership, parliamentary procedure, and professional attire.
Model United Nations has a long association with the International Baccalaureate, which should come as little surprise being that IB seeks to develop learners in the very same way. When kids take on real problems and are asked to think in real-world terms, their studies become more meaningful, more transcendent. Just ask our elementary students who are tackling the issue of water scarcity. These are not practice problems in a textbook, which have their place but can never approach the value of addressing complexity in a global context. History comes alive. Science and mathematics cross disciplinary boarders. Literature creates social and cultural awareness. Second language study prepares global citizens. Both programs seek to empower students to take on the hard things, the big ideas, the unsolvable problems, and, as Gandhi challenged, to be the change they wish to see in the world. We could certainly use some 45 degree, out-of-the-box thinking in support of Puerto Rico.
A Big Bulls Shout-out to our Model UNers, their teachers, and all of our adults who are transforming learning at Baldwin. I was certainly full of Bulls Pride over the weekend...and just a little cold.
See you around our warm tropical campus.