by Kristina Zagame

This weekend, the Model United Nations club participated in its first conference of the year at Brown University, and three members won awards.

Ten Model U.N. members and other high school students from around the world participated in a debate lead by current Brown students, according to secretary-general Gabe Dreyer.

Each participant represented a different country on a committee and debated “a wide range of topics,” said senior Allie Philips, an under-secretary general with senior Emily Schacter and junior Sejal Vallahb. Topics included “anything from human rights to the Independence of Kosovo,” she added.

Schacter won the Erin Phelan Women’s Leadership award, according to history teacher Gregory Drake, the adviser. She received $500 to give to the charity of her choice.

This was the first time the award was presented, he said. Schater had to submit an application and go through an interview process to receive the award.

Junior Gloria Li and Vallahb won honorable mentions for leadership and performance in Model U.N., he said.

Model U.N. will have its next conference on the weekend of Friday, Jan. 27 at Harvard University.

No other dates have been set for future conferences. “We will hopefully have one other out of state conference before the spring,” Phillips added. The club is hoping to host a high school conference sometime in May.