The Model United Nations Calabasas High School travel team has won awards at Georgetown, Berkeley, Stanford, UCSB, and UCLA competitions. The team competes in competitions where students act like diplomats, debating and speaking on the most vital international issues. The CHS Model U.N. travel team has become known as a talented group for working very hard and performing excellently in various conferences.
In a Model United Nations Conference, students take the role of representatives of countries sending their best representatives to the United Nations. Each delegate will be assigned to represent a country and a committee, such as the Security Council or the World Health Organization, and the work of researching and debating global issues from the perspective of an assigned country is assigned.
The CHS Model United Nations program has been running for nine years, but the travel team was created eight years ago. To join the travel team, prospects are required to give a resume and an interview to show their qualifications. The character of travel team members is very strong from an international relations standpoint, which will help them greatly when they go on to college and in real life.
“Most of the students on the travel team maybe didn’t make it the first time,” said Model U.N. advisor and social studies teacher Brad Boleman.
Before being on the travel team, many students are on the junior travel team which is like a competitive JV squad. The program started with the travel team only, and as the competitiveness increased, the junior travel team was created.
“I would say that most students on the junior travel team do have aspirations to make the varsity travel team,” said Boleman.
Being on the travel team leaves little time for other extracurricular activities, such as sports, but that does not change how team members create a community with as much meaning and importance as any other sports team.
“I definitely love the sense of community and being on a team, especially for a more academic club, it still gives you that sense of community,” said travel team member and senior, Gabrielle Eggers.
The most prestigious award the team has received was either from the UC Berkeley or Georgetown competition, as they are the most competitive. The team has not only gone to universities, but they have also earned two awards in New York. These awards in New York are especially incredible as they are one of the largest Model U.N. conferences in the entire world.
Having a travel team has also opened opportunities for the members to go to different places and travel with friends that they have made through the program. These experiences will also improve things like public speaking skills and the ability to communicate with others, which are constantly used throughout a person’s life.
“When we travel, we are not necessarily on our own, we do this in a school environment, which is really beneficial,” said Eggers.
Besides all the skills they will gain in diplomacy, public speaking, and teamwork, the travel team members become very close. The supportive environment adds to their experience both as students and on a personal basis. By participating in such intensive events, members of the CHS Model U.N. travel team have been able to travel the country and connect with their peers across the nation. The travel team is currently preparing speeches and position papers for their conference this weekend at Stanford University.
