Photo courtesy of Carla Ward.
Mountain Brook Elementary students represented Mozambique at the Junior United Nations Assembly of Alabama in January.
On Jan. 23-24, six Mountain Brook Elementary students participated as a team in the Junior United Nations Assembly (JUNA) of Alabama at Birmingham-Southern College.
JUNA is a student-run model United Nations Assembly for sixth- through eighth-graders. Each delegation, composed of five to seven students, represents a different nation of their choosing, depending on availability.
Guided by their teacher sponsor, students research their nation, identify a problem or issue in that country or elsewhere in the world and write a resolution that proposes a solution to the identified issue. Resolutions are presented first in committees and, upon passage, are presented in the General Assembly. Delegates discuss, question and vote just as they would in the real United Nations.
Students wear the native dress of their country and make a flag to use for recognition in the General Assembly.
This year, MBE was represented by sixth grade students Eva Jane Worthen, Anna Mayor, McCarley Moorer, Sophie Hicks, Leython-George Williams and Gabe Neuendorf, and the team sponsor was MBE’s enrichment teacher Susan Downs. The MBE team chose the country of Mozambique and drafted a resolution targeted toward malnourishment and hunger.
Neuendorf said that JUNA “was a great opportunity to learn about other countries and their issues, and I enjoyed meeting new friends.”
The MBE team won Best Resolution and was also awarded a mini-grant to be donated to The Hunger Project, a nonprofit referenced in the team’s resolution. Additionally, Williams was honored as Outstanding Boy Delegate.
Worthen said that “JUNA was more than just a great experience. It opened my eyes to the ways of the world, and I feel so, so lucky that I got to be a part of it. I learned so much.”
Submitted by Carla Ward.
