From March 9 through 13, 2016, twenty-two High School students took part in BRAMUN, the largest Model United Nations conference in Latin America. For months, they prepared by meeting weekly, taking part in Model United Nations conferences and even organizing their own. Their results were great – many awards!
Students develop debating, problem-solving, critical thinking and public speaking skills through practice. By having to think on their feet and use creative ideas and convincing arguments, conferences such as BRAMUN highlight the power of experiential learning.
Over 500 students from all over Brazil were honored by the presence Ms. Liliana Ayalde, the American Ambassador to Brazil, whose opening speech reminded students of their responsibility in helping shape the world. Ambassador Ayalde highlighted the importance of their critical and freethinking skills and their ability to think from different perspectives and their openness to debating evidence-based arguments.
The Midnight Crisis
As representatives of Italy, Marina Julião and Mariel Jeffris received a phone call at midnight to solve a crisis involving a high-level blackmail scheme involving false economic reports to be released to stop the flow of refugees. The Midnight Crisis involved tense negotiations that lasted until 3:00 a.m. We are proud to report that our seniors managed to push through their resolution, which involved Italy’s interest payments and a fiscal union.
Awards
We are proud to announce that Ricardo Zatz and Artur Nina combined to great effect in the Political Committee walking away with the Best Delegation Award! George Bertioli, who ran the French delegation, won an Honorable Mention for his delegation in the Economic and Social Committee! Mariel Jeffris and Marina Julião received a verbal commendation for their work representing Italy in the European Union. Gabriel Arruda and João Guilherme Gonzaga received the same honor for their role representing Germany. Artur Della Nina was named Vice-Chair for next year’s Special Committee!
History teacher, Mr. Kieran De Groote, who accompanied and guided our students in the conference, said, “Through the process, students become more confident, better speakers, more logical thinkers and all this using real-life examples.”
Senior Ricardo Zatz compared his first conference with this year’s saying, “With utmost certainty, the school has delivered its best performance so far. As a Director in my final BRAMUN, I could not have asked for better results or better company than what we amassed this time around. From 6 delegates in 2012, we rose to 22 this year.” George Bertioli shared his personal experience. “This was my first BRAMUN conference, and I had absolutely no clue what to expect. After speaking for the first time, I felt comfortable and confident enough to say what came to mind, making allegiances and even creating a rivalry. Although it was nerve-racking and chaotic, I felt accomplished. I felt like a winner!”
We are so proud of our BRAMUN team! Congratulation delegates! You rock!