Great Bend Post
Jan 22, 2024

Great Bend students attend Model UN at Wichita State

Posted Jan 22, 2024 4:00 PM
<b>Back Row: </b> Hunter McClanahan, Quinton Heath, Parker Coleman, Jordan Sander, Zachary Hart, Dominik Zimmerman, Ailey Williams, Kaitlyn Froetschner, and Rhys Froetschner. <br><br><b>Front row: </b>Majestic Maher, Dixie Gallant, Ellie Damm and Sheridan Johnson.
Back Row: Hunter McClanahan, Quinton Heath, Parker Coleman, Jordan Sander, Zachary Hart, Dominik Zimmerman, Ailey Williams, Kaitlyn Froetschner, and Rhys Froetschner.

Front row: Majestic Maher, Dixie Gallant, Ellie Damm and Sheridan Johnson.

From Great Bend High School speech/debate coach Kim Heath...

On Friday, Jan. 19, thirteen students from Great Bend High School attended the Wichita Area Model United Nations Conference hosted by the Political Science Department at Wichita State University. At the Model UN event, students stepped into the shoes of ambassadors from UN Member States to debate current issues.

The conference was held in the Rhatigan Student Center on the campus of WSU where roughly 90 students spent the day learning the United Nations’ procedures and negotiation techniques as they discussed various global issues. This year’s topics were the placement of weapons in outer space and the international treatment of migrants.

Participants in the Model UN conference performed research, gave speeches, wrote resolutions, and negotiated with other students representing allies and adversaries–all with the goal of mobilizing international cooperation to resolve problems that affect countries from all over the world. The Wichita State conference had a diverse group of participants from the entire State of Kansas which gave the Great Bend students the opportunity to work with others representing different beliefs and perspectives.

The student delegates were assigned as ambassadors for various countries. The GBHS students researched their countries to understand their needs in order to best represent them during the conference.

While at the Model UN conference the students engaged deeply with current real-world issues. In addition, Model UN helped the students build confidence with public speaking, practice argumentative skills and improve their writing and research skills.

At the end of a conference, the best-performing delegates were recognized. Great Bend students received four awards. Kaitlyn Froetschner and Dominik Zimmerman were named Honorable Mention delegates, and Outstanding Position Paper was awarded to the research and writing teams for Cuba and Egypt. The Cuba position paper was written by Darcy Feist, Rhys Froetschner and Ellie Damm; and the Egypt position paper was written by Ailey Williams, Kaitlyn Froetschner, and Dominik Zimmerman.