The Pope John Paul II High School College Model United Nations (UN) Team attended the Arkansas State University Spring Model UN Conference from March 13th to March 14th, 2009. While the team was hoping to gain experience to prepare for the upcoming University of Chapel Hill Conference, they ended up winning 13 of the 15 awards at the conference.
On Friday, March 13th, 2009, 18 JPII students traveled to Jonesboro, Arkansas to participate in the Arkansas State University Spring Model UN Conference. The students were lead by College Model UN Advisor Mr. Paul Saboe. The group included 11 students, over half of the team, who were new to College Model UN, giving them their first exposure to this type of extracurricular activity.
The Arkansas State Model UN Conference is one of many conferences sponsored throughout the world that enables students to experience a simulation of the United Nations. During the two-day conference, JPII students served as delegates on the Security Council, dealing with current issues as the conflict in Gaza and Somali pirates. They also served as delegates on the League of Nations, set in 1935 and addressing the Italian invasion of Abyssinia (Ethiopia), one of the events leading to World War II.
The JPII students were actively involved in their committees, helping to write and sponsor five resolutions or about 83% of the resolutions that were passed by their respective committees during the conference. Tommy Joe Bednar, Stephanie Kerrigan, Avery Story, Nick Cherry, and Lauren Slinkard all saw one or more of their resolutions approved by their fellow delegates.
During the Awards Ceremony on Saturday, March 14th, the JPII students received 13 awards, more than any other school. Tommy Joe Bednar (UK) and Nick Cherry (UK) won Best Position Paper Awards and Joey Staley (Portugal) and Joseph Griggs (Japan) won Best Position Paper Honorable Mention Awards, all of which were given based on excellence in country research. Nick Cherry (UK) and Tommy Joe Bednar (UK) were both selected by the college conference staff to receive Best Delegate Awards while Stephanie Kerrigan (China), Logan Pulliza (Netherlands), and Andrew Jefferies (USSR) were awarded Best Delegate Honorable Mention Awards. In addition, four JPII students were recognized by their peers for their debating excellence with Delegate Choice Awards. Tommy Joe Bednar (UK), and Nick Cherry (UK) both received Delegate Choice Awards and Avery Story (Turkey) and Logan Pulliza (Netherlands) both received Delegate Choice Honorable Mention Awards. Overall, eight of the eighteen JPII students won an award with Logan Pulliza, Avery Story, and Joey Staley winning awards at their first ever Model UN conference. In addition, Nick Cherry and Tommy Joe Bednar both won three awards, the most possible for a single delegate.