The first Moanalua High School Model United Nations (PACMUN) delegation beat its own expectations at the Hawaii Pacific Model United Nations convention in Honolulu, where they participated in mock debates and policy sessions.
“We are a brand new club that was established at the beginning of this school year,” team adviser Kymberli McKay said. “And although it was our first ever event, we had four out of the 17 delegates receive awards.”
The Model United Nations event, which was held at the Hawaii Convention Center November 17-19, involved long days–14 hours on Saturday, according to McKay.
The results, however, reflected the efforts of the students over a relatively short period of preparation time.
Junior Noah Pacada won a research award for his work representing Pakistan. He had only a month to propose a crisis response plan, in which he presented a course of action the United Nations should take in the event a disaster such as an earthquake or viral outbreak affected his country.
“[The competition] was fun, but also challenging,” Pacada said. “Most of the other participants were from private schools where they have a class for [Model UN].”
Moanalua’s team practiced two days a week after school in McKay’s room.
Junior Zachary Tovar said he represented the United States on the United Nations High Commission on Refugees. At the international level, this group studies how to support people who need to move from one country to another, or who are internally displaced because of climate changes, he said,
“This experience allowed me to grow more in my oral presentation skills,” he said. “I also had to do extensive research on the topic and also learn how my country interacts with other countries [on the same topic].”
In addition to Pacada, senior Camren Thompson won the “best delegate” award and senior Xavier Leung and junior Callie Yonemoto won honorable mention awards.
“I am so proud of all the delegates for having the courage to participate in an event of this magnitude,” McKay said. “There were schools from different states like California, and even different countries, such as Canada. They all did wonderful–networking with other students and schools, preparing and presenting research on world concerns and topics, and of course representing Moanalua’s school pride with a respectful attitude.
