Academy Students Practice for Model UN
By Valerie Gabriel, Academy at Ocean Reef 8th Grade

Last Saturday, January 27th, Academy at Ocean Reef 6th-grade students went to Miami Dade Model United Nations Delegate Preparation practice at the University of Miami. These young diplomats had the opportunity to enhance their public speaking and negotiation skills as they debated the topic of restrictions on social media and screentime for young people.

Academy sixth-grade students participated in Model United Nations Delegate Prep at University of Miami.

Every year, the Academy middle school students act as delegates in a Model UN conference. Taking part in last week’s practice helped our students prepare to reach resolutions on global issues at the real Model UN conference in March.

“I found public speaking challenging… but after encouragement from my friends I went up and spoke!” said Kai Howell. The sixth graders learned complex phrases like a “moderated caucus”, a formal debate that allows for a flow and exchange of various ideas.

During the practice session, everyone was striving to get a resolution passed. Each person was assigned a role as a stakeholder in a community. Some people were governors, some were CEOs and others were students or parents. No matter what their role, each had an important job: to get their resolution to pass.

The resolutions included plans to let parents determine screentime; to have social media companies set limits on screentime for minors; and even having companies (including Dominoes, airlines, and Facebook) participate in online fundraising according to hits on their apps to benefit environmental causes and a domestic abuse hotline.

For their resolution to pass, students needed support from other people who agreed with their ideas. It took courage to engage in conversations with kids they have never met before. “It wasn’t just a valuable learning experience; I made friends