Model UN starts off its year with success at Gettysburg and Riverview competitions.

The Knights recently traveled to the Gettysburg College Model UN conference on Friday, October 10, through October 12. They entered the competition as a small delegation team with ten students. Norwin brought an experienced team that has had success in the past.

While there, they competed against five other schools. The Knights were one of the only public schools in the whole competition.

Throughout the Gettysburg College conference, there were five total rooms to compete in, and 3/5 of them were crisis rooms. This means the competition was fierce, requiring the Knights to stay on their toes and think fast.

The delegates were attentive in coming up with various solutions to the different issues they faced, such as the fall of the Roman Republic.

“Studying old literature, like Shakespeare and Roman philosophy, truly guided me in embodying the spirit of Rome and gave me the ability to act my role as Cato to the fullest,” junior Roman Ola said.

Juniors Ola, Aiden Colaiuta, and Carter Kunicky earned Outstanding Delegate, which is second place. Senior Chloe Verdin, earned the distinguished delegate, which is 3rd place.

As a whole, Norwin’s Model UN team won best small group delegation, which was an award for the best team with 10 delegates and under.

“It was definitely one of the most competitive committees I’ve been in. Nearly everyone was driven to win an award,” Ola said.

Aside from the competition, the Knights also got to hear from guest speaker, Susan Eisenhower, who is the granddaughter of the past President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The students who attended the conference explained how it was cool to hear from someone who was so directly related to a past president.

“Overall the weekend helped students collaborate, meet new people, and have fun,” teacher advisor, Mrs. Sturm said.

The students’ performance at Gettysburg was expected, as they were all experienced delegates who had success in Model UN over the years.

After Gettysburg, the Model UN team traveled to the Riverview High School Model UN conference.

The Knights brought a full novice team of 24 delegates to the Riverview conference. The goal was for the new club members to get a feel for what Model UN is really like.

At Riverview, there were more schools than at Gettysburg. The Knights had more of a learning experience at the conference.

They learned how Model UN runs and what measures it takes to be successful. The delegates got to work on their public speaking and cognitive thinking skills.

The Knights will travel to the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Virginia, and American University, and hope to hold an in-house conference at some point throughout this year.

Success approaches Model UN’s future as the club continues to grow in size and skill.