MUN a Stepping Stone Toward Leadership
Menor begins season strong at Americano event
Menor students, seen here with new coach Milagros, represented well at their first event of the year on Nov. 11-12 in Quito.
The world’s future leaders are right here on the campus of Colegio Menor.
The Model United Nations (MUNS) club is a group of students from Colegio Menor that participate in debates and conversations about current events happening in the world. It’s a chance for students to have a real world experience of participating in the United Nations and good practice for everyone that dreams to be in the United Nations when they are older.
In charge of this club is Emilie Castillo, who is also the AP Human Geography and AP Research teacher. According to Castillo, the benefits of MUN include learning new academic skills, like public speaking.
“It’s not a sports extra curricular, it’s an academic one so we focus on developing the academic skills of our students like public speaking,” said Castillo. “These are skills that will help all students when they leave the school and go to university.”
Castillo also mentioned that this year will be exciting since another teacher has been added to the team, Milagros Egas.Students speak highly about their experience with this club, noting that it is a very good opportunity to practice their public speaking, research and debating. It also gives them an opportunity to work towards earning positions in the club, which takes time and attention to detail.
“I have worked for this position for a long time,” said Isabella Ochoa, the current Secretary General for MUN.
Ochoa, like many others, has been part of the organization all four years of her high school career. Like others, her favorite part of the process is the opportunity to compete.
In their first competition of the season — which took place on Nov. 11-12 at Colegio Americano in Quito — the Menor MUN came home with plenty to brag about. Seven different students were recognized for their efforts at the MUN competition (see inset).
The topics discussed at last week’s MUN included: the Ukraine-Russia conflict, handling interna
tional terrorist groups actions, corruption in Latín America, the current refugee crisis and others.
“We are certain that this is only the beginning of the outstanding performance the MUN club
will have through the school year,” Castillo wrote to Menor staff via email. “We know that the impact this will have in our students and community will be everlasting.”
Perhaps the biggest and most important event for the MUN club this year is the model that takes place on campus in April. The next model the club will be participating in is CESMUN, which will be held at Colegio El Sauce.
If students are interested in participating in MUN, or obtaining more information, Ana Sofia Whittembury and Ochoa are the best point of contact. Regular meetings are held on Tuesdays.
Maria Julia Moreno is a senior,and her favorite classes are Theater, Journalism and English. The one AP class that she's taking is Spanish, because one...
