St. Vincent – St. Mary High School (STVM) is an independent Catholic school in Akron, Ohio. Since 2014, over 40 students from STVM have attended the MUN Institute across the United States at various levels – from beginner to advanced curriculum. According to student leader Fiona Gaffney, “Those who have attended the MUN Institute learned how to more quickly and effectively form speeches as well as how to organize a Model UN conference.”
This year, the STVM MUN team had about 20 students, and they attended five conferences: Cleveland Council on World Affairs Conference, Vanderbilt MUN Conference (VUMUN), Carnegie Mellon MUN Conference (CMUMUN), Washington Area MUN Conference (WAMUNC), and Ohio State University MUN Conference (OSUMUN). They also attended American University MUN Conference (AmeriMUNC) for the first time this year. At four out of five of these conferences, STVM won the Best Small Delegation award.
Gaffney says that the STVM MUN team stands out because they are tight-knit. “I believe that the family atmosphere of our team sets us apart from other teams we compete with. Every week at our meetings, the team eats dinner together as a family, and we take turns cooking dinner. Additionally, our team tries to have bonding activities a few times throughout the year, which allows us to grow closer as friends.”
Gaffney also cited community support as a big factor in the MUN team’s success. “One of the largest reasons our team succeeds is because of all the amazing support we receive from our advisor as well as the team parents. On behalf of our team I would like to say thank you to Mrs. Kofsky and our team’s parents as well as all the MUN advisors, teachers, and parents that allow MUN teams everywhere to thrive.”
Read on to learn more about the St. Vincent – St. Mary MUN team!
What is your MUN organization’s philosophy when it comes to training and preparing for MUN conferences?
Our MUN organization’s philosophy regarding training and preparing for conferences is that you have to be willing to work hard in order to succeed. We practice for four hours every week but the best delegates on our team put in many additional hours of their own time to prepare for competitions. Additionally, our training consists of a blend of simulations as well as speaking and writing exercise that allow new delegates to get feedback from veteran members.
What challenges did your MUN team face this year? How did you overcome them?
Last year, a large number of our team’s veteran delegates graduated, and one of the challenges our team faced this year was training a large number of new members. In order to do this, we had meetings specifically dedicated to training new delegates in different aspects of a MUN conference, such as resolution writing and speeches. We also paired new members with veteran members so that there would be one on one training time at meetings.
What would you consider your MUN organization’s biggest accomplishments from the past school year?
I would consider our MUN organization’s biggest achievement to be winning the Best Small Delegation Award at AmeriMUNC this year. We had a Conference right before AmeriMUNC so many of our team members did not have a lot of time to prepare for the conference. However, the team worked hard and was ultimately successful.
Thank you to Fiona Gaffney for contributing information used in this article!
Want to learn MUN skills to share with your school’s team? Check out the MUN Institute!
