On November 2, WHS’s Model United Nations Club will be attending a conference at Brown University.

Model UN is an open club. Students do not have be elected or meet any grade prerequisite to participate. The club only asks that students attend a meeting once every two months, pay a $60 fee and attend the conference.

Before the convention begins, students are assigned a country and a committee. Committees usually include current crises or controversial issues. The club members study their country and committee. The purpose of Model UN is to encourage its members to stay on top of current events. However, they will not be graded on their knowledge of the events related to their country or committee.

At the convention, students are expected to create declarations and come up with ideas and solutions surrounding their committee. They will also debate with other Model UN members. At previous conferences, the best delegates from each committee received a certificate.

This year, Brown University will be giving out the Erinn Phelan Award to a female parcipitant. According to Brown’s Model UN site, the female delegate must have “the greatest commitment to women empowerment” and must represent “visionary leadership, dedication and unswerving commitment to service.”

Other awards such as Best Delegate, Outstanding Delegate and commendations will also be given out for each committee.

“I’m looking forward to getting more experience with public speaking, research and being in a debate-type setting,” junior Anna Rubin, and a new member of Model UN, said. “I think it will be hard to participate in the discussions at first, and it sounds a bit overwhelming, but hopefully by the end, I will be more comfortable with it.”

Seniors and student advisors Josh O’Neil and Jon Goodman organized the conference. The two seniors have registered the participating students online, collected money, organized the driving schedule and found chaperones to attend the conference.

Model UN previously attended a conference at Boston University with former history teacher, Julia Yazbek in the winter of 2011.

“We represented Somalia and talked about ways to help people with disabilities,” senior club member Jessica Brofsky said. “Parts of it were fun. We weren’t really well-prepared going in, so I didn’t contribute a lot, but it was interesting to hear solutions that other people came up with.”

Model UN hopes to attend another conference in January.