Darien High School students crossed language and culture barriers recently to work on human rights issues at the United Nations headquarters in New York City.
Photo from the Darien Public Schools website
The US-Chinese collaboration was part of the Model United Nations program, which is a simulation of the actual United Nations. This year, the theme was around respect, understanding, and cooperation.
“This particular conference was special because DHS students worked with Chinese students. While playing the role of delegates, they sat in the same seats that UN delegates sit at to discuss the issues,” said DHS History teacher Dennis Cabrera. Cabrera serves as the faculty adviser to the Model UN Club, which meets every Thursday.
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— an article from the Darien Public Schools website
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In the model UN, students take on the role of delegates from countries from around the world. Students then debate, negotiate, and write resolutions to address global problems.
“As a teaching tool, students are engaged in real world problems and research the history as well as the current views of the nations involved in addressing the problem,” said Cabrera, who had a chance to address the full assembly on the importance of listening and communication.
News of the DHS collaboration reached back to Beijing with a published news story. In the Beijing story, a picture of Cabrera appears, and the awards of DHS students were noted, including ones for best representative, best organization, and best position papers. DHS student Mila Escajadillo was noted as “Outstanding Representative.”
The DHS students who participated in the Model UN were: Henry Keena, Mila Escajadillo, Katie Jarrett, Dana Cahoon, Alex Wang, Michael Borecki, Komal Dhull, James Garijo-Garde and Will Brandon