Roeper Students Excel at Model UN Conference in Germany

Ten high school students and two directors from The Roeper School attended the fifth Model United Nations of Goldberg 2012 Conference (MUNOG’12) at the Goldberg Gymnasium in Sindelfingen, Germany from Oct. 19-23.

Fifty-five delegations from twenty-four schools and sixteen countries all over the world including India, Russia, Taiwan, England, France, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Denmark, Netherlands, Luxemburg, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, and Germany participated in the conference.  Roeper was the only school attending from North America. 

The conference idea began when Felix Lehmann, an exchange student from the Goldberg Gymnasium attended The Roeper School during the 2006-07 school year. Felix expressed his fondness for Roeper’s fostering of an atmosphere where individuals are encouraged to act upon their own ideas. Upon returning to Germany, he sought to establish a Model UN Conference at Goldberg. He acted upon that idea and it became bigger than he could have even imagined. 

The conference committees addressed resolutions ranging from measures to prevent terrorists from acquiring radioactive materials for a dirty bomb, to compatibility of business and human rights, to ways to maintain a balance between food production and the increasing demand for biofuels.

Roeper delegates represented the nations of China and Nigeria and wrote ten resolutions considered by seven different committees, with three being debated in the General Assembly.

“Roeper delegates played a major role in the opening General Assembly to prevent passage of a proposal for Security Council reform that would have destabilized UN conflict resolution and peacekeeping ability," said Roeper teacher and MUN director Michael Ruddy.

Roeper’s delegation was recognized for their leadership and realistic representation of the People’s Republic of China and Nigeria, and received the greatest number of awards at the conference.

Three Roeper students — Steven Saham, Rachel Stamler-Jonas and Ambassador Thomas Allen — were recognized as “Best Delegates” representing China. Four other Roeper students received “Honorable Mention” recognition: Ambassador Farid Alsabeh and Eli Simons for Nigeria; and Aaron Baker and Erica Parker for China.

"(The trip was) a great opportunity for me to observe our students in this international arena. …Although they were delegates of China and Nigeria, they were first and foremost impressive ambassadors for the United States,” Roeper teacher and MUN advisor Tessa Stein said. 

The students and directors stayed with host families from the Herenberg School, an additional cultural experience from which the Roeper delegation benefited. 

Roeper students attending were:

• Jonah Sklar of Huntington Woods
• Rachel Nichols of Dearborn
• Thomas Allen of Detroit
• Farid Alsabeh of West Bloomfield
• Aaron Baker of Birmingham
• Steven Saham of Bloomfield Hills
• Maddie Wilson of Royal Oak
• Rachel Stamler-Jonas of Royal Oak
• Erica Parker of Southfield
• Eli Simons of Southfield. 

The directors attending were Michael Ruddy of Royal Oak and Tessa Stein of Sylvan Lake.