Known for its vibrant international community, The Storm King School is also home to one of New York’s top high school Model UN teams. After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, this small but dedicated group of students interested in international affairs, politics, and economics traveled to New York City to participate in the 2022 National High School Model United Nations Conference (NHSMUN). The Conference was held at the New York Hilton Midtown on March 18-21, 2022.

The largest high school conference in the world, NHSMUN hosts over 5,000 participants from more than 75 countries and 250 schools each year. The event also provides students the opportunity to interact with high-profile United Nations delegates and gain insight into the challenges of international diplomacy. This year, the Storm King Team was charged with the challenge of representing Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

2022 Storm King Delegates: Alexandra Zischke ’22, Shilin Yan ’24, Hyeonjin Lee ’23, Anora Mahin ’22, Emma Lewis ’25, Berjin Aka ’23, Daniel Zhang ’25, Alex Neighbors ’22, Jasper Lung ’24, Christine Sung ’25

“Our students worked on a total of four UN committees: IOM (International Organization for Migration), UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund), SOCHUM (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee), and UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund),” explained social sciences teacher Julia Carrano, who accompanied the team. “Delegates were asked to research and discuss one to two topics in their committee. These topics included childhood malnutrition and child marriage, use of force by police against civilian demonstrators, attitudes towards migrants and refugees, and the impact of poverty and violence on women’s health.”

Jasper Lung ’24, who is new to the Model UN team, described his experience as ‘intense’ and ‘ambitious.’ “I was a co-delegate representing Ukraine on the Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee (SOCHUM). Our main topic was ‘Addressing the use of force by police at civilian demonstrations,’ Jasper explained. “Ukraine experienced civilian demonstrations during the Euromaidan Movement where force was inappropriately used by the police under former president Viktor Yanukovych. With the leadership of the chair, gathered up each delegation’s ideas presented in the debate sessions and composed a 10-page resolution paper. At the conference, I enjoyed seeing delegates from different high schools coming together and working as a team so our ideas could be heard.”

“Leading up to the conference, the Storm King team worked diligently to prepare position papers which represent the policy of their assigned country on the topic at hand,” continued Ms. Carrano. “Later, within the committee discussions, our delegations used persuasion and compromise to help craft and vote on resolutions that represented new solutions to the world’s most pressing problems.”

“As mentors, it was extremely rewarding to see our students actively participating in the committee discussions and gaining confidence as the conference progressed,” explained History and Social Sciences Dept. Chair Tim Gillett, who also traveled with the group. “For many, this was their first time at a Model UN conference and it can be an intense experience; often, the committee discussions would last for hours, even extending until 11 pm one evening. Ms. Carrano and I were very proud of the way the SKS delegates handled themselves during these long days, remaining professional and engaged.”