WOW, What an Amazing Honors Session!

After a fantastic spring of 12 separate Model UN sessions with middle school students from 16 middle schools in the St. Louis area, Civitas held its culminating Honors Model UN session this past Saturday at The Drury Inn in Creve Coeur. About 10% of students who were especially engaged in the process of preparing for and participating in their week day session were invited to the final Model UN session on Saturday. Out of the 45 students who were invited and registered, only one was unable to make it, creating the best attendance record ever at an Honors session.

The nearly-perfect attendance was just the start of an incredible morning with 6th, 7th, and 8th graders from 14 different public and private schools. Their tasks were different from their earlier Model UN experiences. The very unique program was entirely designed by staffer Gloria Bilchik. Instead of discussing previously written resolutions, delegates created operative clauses for a resolution provided with just UDHR violations and facts included. Specifically, half of the students were tasked in small groups to create a Bill of Rights for refugees fleeing to other countries because of the war in Ukraine or the many other reasons people are seeking refuge in strange lands. The other half of the students worked to create a Bill of Rights for the host countries receiving refugees. The results were fantastic. After brainstorming ideas, each group narrowed their selected Rights to three clauses to present to the larger group. The floor was then opened for others to ask questions for clarification; suggest changes in amendments; and/or speak in favor or against ideas, sharing reasons why. The insight regarding both sides of the issue, the empathy for others (peers in the room and refugees and host countries), and the critical thinking displayed in the questions and comments, were all very, very impressive. If only world leaders had also been in attendance.

The morning concluded with another quick, animated activity prioritizing UN work in the upcoming year. With just minutes to think, students shared with the large group what they thought was the most important task for the UN to tackle immediately. After all ideas were shared, an open caucus time of campaigning for votes took place. Suggestions discussed included Curbing Gun Violence and Weapon Trafficking, Improving Education in Struggling Nations, Stopping the Spread of Disease, and Reducing Air Pollution. Alas, those ideas were not chosen during the final vote, which was a tough decision. As Bobbi always says, global problem-solving is extremely expensive. Not everything can be addressed at once, which makes for tough prioritizing. If these dynamic middle school students had their way, the United Nations will focus on the following three issues in the next year:

Women's Right to Choose
Climate Change
Food and Clean Water Access for All

The session ended with a distribution of Certificates of Participation and an explanation of the free high school events offered by Civitas. We hope to see all of these students again next year to share more amazing ideas to solve global, national, and local concerns.*
EXCELLENT work, delegates!!

Click here to see pictures from the morning.
Click here to see the Bill of Rights for Refugees and Host Countries and the Priority for the UN vote.

*ALL current 8th grade students are welcome to attend High School events next year, not just those who attended the Honors session!