The Los Alamitos High School Model United Nations team finished the year strong on May 16 at the Whitney High School Conference, where 10 of 18 delegates won awards and the team won one of two overall awards for Best Delegation.
This has been an exceptional year for the team, with members winning more awards than in any previous year, including a school record setting nine gavels won for Best Delegate.
Renee Congdon set an individual record by winning four gavels.
The club is supported by academic advisers Joel Rubio, Maria Kibtya, and Alan Armstrong.
Rubio, the club’s lead adviser, said, “The Los Alamitos Model United Nations program is a true testament to the hard work and dedication that our Griffins put into the program.
“The students in the program learn important and valuable skills that allow them to be globally knowledgeable of their surroundings and the issues that plague today’s political arena. We are proud of our Griffins and we look forward to building on the success the program has had this past year. We are thankful to have graduating MUNers that have left their legacy in the Los Al MUN program and I know that next year’s MUN group will continue to build and leave their own legacy behind,” said Rubio.
The Model United Nations club is an academic competition team dedicated to excellence and improvement in foreign affairs and public speaking. Students compete on the basis of their public speaking and research skills.
The team competes against high schools throughout Southern California and is hoping to attend additional conferences during the 2015-2016 academic year at UC Berkeley and perhaps Brown University. After several years of hiatus, Los Alamitos hosted their own conference this year in which over 100 students from various local schools participated.
The Los Al team is looking to expand on this successful conference and host a much larger one next year. Award winners at the Whitney High School Conference included seniors Margaret Cooper, Trent Gomberg and Ben Shahon; juniors Chloe Carpenter, Chris Choi, Renee Congdon, and Mark Kim; and sophomores David Gordon, Alex Kashou, and Minh-Thi Nguyen.
Seen the above photograph are:
Los Alamitos High School’s Model United Nations team. Top row from left to right: Anita Maksymchuk, Alexa Gomberg, Chris Choi, Chloe Carpenter, Mark Kim, Ben Shanon, Alex Kashou, Chris Senner, Andy Rvano. Bottom Row: Judy Kim, Sarah Carpenter, Minh-thi Nguyen, Jenna Rogers, Trent Gomberg, Renee Congdon, Margaret Cooper, David Gordon, Jack Sumner. Courtesy photo
