The NC Model United Nations club hosted its fifth annual Middle School Model United Nations at NC on Sunday, April 24. Juniors Dylan Kellos and Leighann Raksasouk headed the conference, which featured middle school participants from across the county.

Conference attendees began to arrive at 8:00AM and received a country to represent the rest of the day. Middle schoolers spent the first half of the day learning the basics of the United Nations and diplomacy. Each delegate attended one of four workshops on a variety of topics for 50 minutes. Secretary General of the conference, Raksasouk said, “I never seen a group so enthusiastic.”

One workshop focused on improving public speaking skills, eliminating uncomfortable time fillers such as “uh” or “like” and getting to the point in a limited time frame. Another workshop outlined the rules and procedures for the conference, defining and explaining terms like “moderated caucus” for students with no experience with the topic. The final two workshops explained the process of writing resolutions, the United Nations equivalent of a law, and briefing middle schoolers on their individual country’s stances and allies.  Eighth grade student Maggie Jones, who participated in the conference last year, said, “I enjoyed this year even more, I feel the conference was more enthusiastic.”

After a lunch break, delegates began a mock conference directed towards replicating an actual committee, but designed to accentuate public speaking and an application of skills learned in workshops. After passing one resolution, students enjoyed a closing ceremonies slideshow, then received an award and a tee-shirt. Junior Shelby Estroff echoed a similar opinion to other present members, saying “the kids seemed interested and asked a ton of questions, they all did a good job.”