Lansing High School has strong showing at 56th Annual Topeka Model United Nations
A group of thirteen Lansing High School students spent February 24th and February 25th in Topeka competing in the 56th Annual Topeka Model United Nations event. The students started preparing for this event in September under the direction of sponsor and Advanced Studies teacher, Mrs. Julie Hinckley. Their first task was to select a country and delegation they would be representing. Lansing represented the countries of Afghanistan, New Zealand, Spain, and Tunisia. Lansing High School also had two officers chosen for the event - Liam Neidig was Vice-President of World Council I and Anne Strukel was Secretary of World Council III.
The students started their preparation in September by researching the United Nations and their scope of power. They then researched and gained an understanding of their selected country's stance on various topics. They took what they learned from their research to write a Position Paper that was submitted to Topeka in December. The Position Paper was to reflect each country's general policy toward established resolution topics. Lansing students Tony Alvarado, Kate Bircher, Anthony Krebs, and William Strickland received the Best Position Paper award for Tunisia.
Each student also had to write a Resolution for their particular country. According to the Topeka Model United Nations website, "The Model United Nations Resolution is a proposal by one or more nations which attempts to solve a world problem." The Resolutions were due in January and reviewed by a Topeka Model United Nations Resolution Committee. The committee then selected the most relevant Resolutions to be debated at the event.
All students attending the event also had to research and gain an understanding of parliamentary procedure before going to Topeka. This step was especially important for our officers Liam Neidig and Anne Strukel, since they were in charge of running their particular council.
Lansing senior, Alyssa Wiegers, took home the coveted Best Delegate Award in the Economic and Social Council and earned 2nd place as the Best Delegate Overall at the event.
This was Alyssa's fifth year competing at the event and she was thrilled to get multiple awards, especially since this was her last time competing at the Topeka Model United Nations event.
"I've been a delegate at the Topeka Model UN conference since middle school," said Miss Wiegers. "For the first few years, I was definitely an observer; I'd ask a few questions over the course of the conference. By seeing how others did it, I was able to emulate what they were doing and develop my own skills in problem solving, writing, and speaking. Model UN is a truly unique experience, and we are very lucky to have access to such a big conference! I definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about what the UN does, problems facing our world, and most importantly, develop their own skills in public speaking. Our sponsor, Mrs. Hinckley, does a great job of organizing the team and keeping us all informed. While I plan to continue Model UN in college this fall, I look forward to seeing how well Lansing will be represented in Topeka next year!"
Mrs. Julie Hinckley invited Lansing Middle School Advanced Studies teacher, Mr. Josh Yoakam, and several interested 8th graders from Lansing Middle School to attend the competition and awards ceremony on Tuesday, February 25th. This gave them the chance to learn about the event and hopefully want to be a participant in the 2021 Topeka Model United Nations.