Students from Miami Lakes K-8 Center and Hialeah-Miami Lakes Senior High School participated in this year’s Miami Dade Model UN Conference.
The program happened in March at Miami Dade College’s North Campus and draws more than 1,200 students and teachers from local schools, according to the Model UN website.
Students emulate the workings of delegates to the United Nations in New York, and represent different countries and their interests in debates. Depending upon grade level, students may engage on topics such as human rights; climate change; the war in Ukraine; access to education; human rights of migrants; sustainable energy and information and communications technology for development.
Students from Hialeah-Miami Lakes Senior High School represented China, while Miami Lakes K-8 Center students advocated as representatives of the countries of Ghana, Pakistan, Canada and Japan.
HML’s TrojanMUN team, led by teacher Rukayat Adebisi, took home the 1st Place delegation award and prizes for best delegate, outstanding diplomat and honorable mention. Adebisi won a grant from the Miami Lakes Town Foundation to fund the team’s participation in the competition.
Miami Lakes K-8 Center students took home two honorable mentions, and one member took home Best Position Paper award for the General Assembly.
In the first photo, students from Miami Lakes K-8 Center are from left front: Adriana Morales; Amanda Martinez; Jillian Dibenedetto; Melanie Fidalgo; Paola Mendez; Angie Reyes and Allison Reyes. Back row: Lucas Martinez; Madison Martinez; Miranda Gonzalez; Julia Perez; Virginia Ladeira; Damian Figueredo; Caroline Paguada-Flores; Sophia Lorenzo; Madison Reyes; Alexa Pla; Isabella Diaz and teacher Jennifer Simeon.
The second photo shows Team TrojanMUN from Hialeah-Miami Lakes Senior High School, from left: Gabriella Vega; Roberto Carmona; Matthew Webb; Kenny Nava; Maurits Acosta; Angie Zuleta; Jasmine Martinez; Stephanie Rodriguez; Mauricio Cuba; Juan Gavarrete; Romaicov Desir and Natalie Alguera.
Photos provided by the schools.