Congratulations to Storm King freshman Charlotte “Charlie” T. ’25, who won the North American Invitational Model United Nations (NAIMUN) Essay Contest. The contest, open to registered student delegates at the NAIMUN Conference held on February 17 -20, 2022, in Washington, D.C., aimed “to engage all delegates with the substance of international affairs both in and outside the competitive committee simulation experience.” Charlotte, who wrote an analysis of the United Nations Human Rights Declaration (UNDHR), will be honored later this spring.

“It took a lot of initiative and hard work to submit her essay,” explained social sciences teacher Julia Carrano, who has been working with SKS’ Model UN team to prepare for this semester’s conferences. “It required extensive research and analysis of the UNDHR. Charlotte accomplished this while simultaneously crafting her own position paper for the conference itself– not an easy feat! Charlotte’s writing is extraordinarily strong, and we are proud that she represented SKS in her submission.”

“I was motivated to enter this essay contest after reviewing the prompts. I chose the prompt asking me to analyze the UNDHR established after World War I. The declaration was the first time in history an international mandate was created with the goal of protecting human rights. During my research, I discovered that although the goals of the UNDHR were paramount, many different factors including predominantly Western ideals, wealth disparity, and lack of enforcement essentially nullified any weight the declaration carried.

The discussion of improving human rights is an important one in the 21^st century. I hope my essay brought to light some of the problems with the methodology currently being employed to promote human rights across the globe. Winning the contest has been an honor. I am so glad to have become a part of the Model UN here at Storm King,” continued Charlotte.

“We are thrilled with Charlotte’s success in the essay competition,” continued Ms. Carrano. “We also know it means a lot to the entire SKS Model UN team. They all did such a good job preparing for the D.C. conference and supporting each other. We look forward to further success at the upcoming national high school conference in New York City in March.”