SMCHS Students Clean Up In China Competition

Nine Santa Margarita Catholic High School students recently traveled to the 18th annual Beijing Model United Nations Conference, in which they were the only students from the United States in attendance. Fifty schools from across the globe attended the invitation-only mock meeting of the United Nations.

Representing the United Kingdom, Santa Margarita students debated a wide variety of issues, such as arms control, sustainable development, and human rights issues. 

Santa Margarita took home more awards than any other school at the conference and was the only school to win multiple awards.  

Seniors Madi Weil, Katie Fernelius, Steven Holcomb, Kristen Gallogly and Liz Zarka earned best delegate awards, the highest honor in the Model United Nations Program.  This was a record-tying number of awards for Santa Margarita in the five years the school has attended the conference. Santa Margarita delegates also received five awards in 2010.

“The China trip was an incredible opportunity that not only allowed us to develop global awareness, but also permitted us to foster relationships with amazing kids from around the world,” Fernelius said.

MUN simulates sessions of the United Nations with students serving as delegates of participating countries. Students replicate the working of the United Nations by attending conferences worldwide such as the BEIMUN Conference. Santa Margarita Catholic High School has traveled to Ireland, Germany, London, the Netherlands and France through the MUN program. The program helps build skills including negotiation, team work and public speaking.

“As China becomes a more important country in the international community it is very important that people in the United States understand the people and their culture,” said John Remmell, the school’s MUN Advisor.  “Our students learned first-hand what they could never learn from reading a textbook. They acted as great ambassadors for our country showing the world the future leaders of the United States are concerned and knowledgeable about the problems facing the international community.”

The 10-day trip, from March 3-12, began in Seoul, South Korea. Students were fortunate to receive a private tour of the Korean Congress before making their way to the Korean Demilitarized Zone, where they ventured into an underground infiltration tunnel and walked to the very boundary of the DMZ and South Korea.

The students then traveled to Beijing where they had the opportunity to visit the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, the Great Wall of China, the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven and the Lama Temple before the three-day conference began.

"This trip truly was the trip of a lifetime,” Gallogly said. “We were completely emerged into the Chinese culture from the traditional Peking Duck lunch to the subway traffic during rush hour.”