The 21st annual Regional Model United Nations Competition at Buffalo State University was held on Tuesday, March 18th and Ken-Ton was well represented by both Kenmore East and Kenmore West students. The competition was put on by the International Institute of Buffalo in cooperation with UB and the International Affairs Departments of local colleges and universities.
The Kenmore East team came out on top as "Best Overall Designation", besting the more than 80 schools and 900 students from across the region that took part in the day's competition. They've now won 17 of the last 19 regional competitions that they've competed in as a school team. Kenmore West, competing for the 2nd time since 2019, finished 7th.
The Model UN General Assembly is an annual competition. Students act as diplomats for the day and address pressing issues in international relations. They are split up and work in pairs in different rooms, each of which represents a different committee. Schools are rated based on their contributions to the discussions as they debate and amend resolutions, tackling some of the most important issues facing the world today.
In addition to winning the competition’s top prize, six Kenmore East team members (led by social studies teacher Christopher Knab) won their respective committees as they represented the country of Spain: Abraham Al-Obaidi and Ellery Kraus for the Special Political Committee, Alexis Casselman and Sienna Peraza for the Political Security Committee, and Miley Cunningham and Mariella Holden for the Economic and Finance Committee. Also competing for Kenmore East was Henry Budzich, Emma Cudzillo, Logan Fey, Chloe Gallant, Kasia McGregor, Aiden O'Malley, Joseph Steinborn, and Fatemeh Tajik.
"I was, and am, extremely proud of my students, and more importantly, I think they are extremely proud of themselves," Knab said. "Their level of commitment to the endeavor was impressive both while they were preparing and while they participated on the day of the competition. This is not easy. They had to understand and research complicated international issues, seek to solve these issues, and formally debate following UN parliamentary procedures. When they won Best Overall Delegation, you could feel their joy, relief, and pride."
Kenmore West (led by social studies teachers Holly Georgic-Schmitt and Dan Archdeacon ), who represented the country of Finland, saw student Quinn Blair-Heim earn an excellence award in the Social, Cultural, and Humanitarian Committee. Other Kenmore West students participating included Vaughn Barden, Charlotte Brach, Madeline Burt, Shaw Freeman, Michael Hark, Dylan Hein, Elizabeth Heerdt, Kerry-Ann Lewis, Biagio Pelligra, and Gabriella Pilat.
"We are very proud of how they did," Georgic-Schmitt said. "Many got up to speak and their confidence and knowledge of Finland’s stance on the resolutions reflects their hard work and research prior to the conference. The students who attended in the past helped to prep new team members. We are extremely pleased with how the day went!"
