On Thursday, November 1, 2018, the Alden High School Model UN Club competed in the 40^th Annual Canisius College Model UN Conference.  Over 400 students from over 20 area schools competed in mock United Nations Councils.  Alden High School participated with 20 students representing various countries.  Students were judged on their ability to discuss the issues from the perspective of the countries they represented, make agreements and compromises with other countries in their councils, and maintain proper decorum and debate procedures.  Alden’s students competed in three Contemporary Security Councils, an Historic Security Council, a Human Rights Council, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Alden students Richard Pasternack and Justin Evoy, representing Transjordan, were awarded Best Delegates in the Historical Security Council. The Historic Security Council was set in 1948 to coincide with the year that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted. Delegates in the Historic Security Council explored the important topics of the Palestine question, the Indonesian question, and the blockade of Berlin.

Alden students Megan Harvey, Zoe Guilliams, and Jeremy Evoy, representing Jordan, were awarded Best Delegates in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).  Delegates in the OIC explored the important contemporary topics of the Israel/Palestine Border conflict, the Iranian nuclear crisis, and the effect of increased European secularism on religious minorities.

All the members of the Alden Model UN club did an excellent job, both representing their countries while also representing the Alden Schools and community, at the Canisius Conference.  Model UN advisor, Mrs. Jamie Williams, was proud to bring this excellent group of students to this conference.  She is looking forward to the next competition, at the University at Buffalo, in March.