On November 11-12, the high school simulated a real Model Congress conference forAi??eighth and ninth graders. Mr. Haggarty, Mr. Vernon, and Mr. Hannah are social studies teachers at the Junior High who take an active role in the Model Congress club. They were present during the conference.

High school students formed committees such as United Nations, Foreign Affairs, Education, Judicial, Armed Forces, and liberal and conservative think tanks. Ai??These committees debated current issues in the world today. Ai??Several crises broke out such as Syrian refugee camps breaking out in an Ebola-Typhoid super virus, Russia expanding their invasion of Ukraine to Poland, and a lollipop robbery between two think tanks that resulted in the fictional deaths of Joey Chell and Josephine Cardoni.

“I think they [the crises] helped liven up the humdrum legislative process; however, I feel they were more of a distraction then they should have been,” said senior and Model Congress president Samuel Whiteley.

The purpose of this local conference is to prepare high school and junior high school students for the conferences they attend at University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, and Rutgers. Ai??Those conferences are organized by the students at each respected university involved in Model Congress and is held to a more professional standard.

“I think that participation breeds participation and the more involved we can get them, the more they will put into the club when they are in charge,” said senior Kevin Bergen, who was the chair of the Media committee. Several students who display leadership and responsibility in Model Congress are asked to attend other conferences to debate current and historical issues.