The FLOW district held its first FLOWMUN (Model United Nations) conference on December 14th and 15th at Ramapo High School. Delegates from Ramapo and Indian Hills high schools competed after school in a simulation of the United Nations. The two committees present at the conference were the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN). Delegates in these committees debated the effects of climate change and potential solutions and international measures for preventing future economic crises, exercised their public speaking skills, and finalized comprehensive resolutions. Award-winning Indian Hills students Gaby Romm, for outstanding delegate, and Emma Graffino, as runner-up for best position paper, demonstrated excellence in their committees.
The Model United Nations club at Indian Hills has experienced its fair share of obstacles in the past year. As a club, they struggled to maintain the organizational and structural leadership of the prestigious club when their past advisor left at the end of 2022. Ms. Wiener, the current advisor for Model United Nations at Indian Hills, described her first experience with the club last year, applauding the initiative and leadership of the student members. “The students had taken it upon themselves to get everything together, meet with interested students, register for AMUN, and do all of that,” Ms. Wiener says.
Club co-presidents, juniors Gaby Becker and Isabella Manias, are both passionate and dedicated to Model United Nations. At Indian Hills, student-run clubs are growing in popularity. Ms. Wiener explains, “In concept, it is the best way to go because of how clubs and activities and extracurriculars are done at the college level and the kind of leadership experience that you gain from running a club.” Becker and Manias are primary examples of this through their perseverance through virtual conferences, their dedication to the club without an advisor, and their individual development from beginner delegates to chairs of committees.
Manias says, “I like that MUN allows students to learn more about global issues, which is a personal interest of mine, and fosters skills to improve such issues.” Becker agrees, expressing, “My experience as a major contributor to the MUN club at IHHS has been an extremely rewarding experience.”
The FLOWMUN conference was the first Model United Nations conference solely between Indian Hills and Ramapo High School. As a result, ample preparation from advisors, student chairs, and committee delegates was essential to such a successful event. Student chairs from both high schools organized committees, topic guides, and delegate positions. At Indian Hills, delegates were required to write position papers—an overview of their country’s position on the issue being discussed—and prioritized a comprehensive review of diplomatic procedure, terminology, and basic public speaking skills prior to the conference.
Indian Hills delegates are now using their experience at FLOWMUN to help prepare for their approaching AMUN (Academy MUN at Bergen County Academies) conference in February.
