Ferrahian High School students had the privilege of participating in the Fifty-Seventh Annual Berkeley Model United Nations Conference, held at the University of California, Berkeley. The oldest and most renowned Model UN conference in the nation, Berkeley attracts students from across the globes, who share a passion for diplomacy and international relations. This year, the organizers of the conference focused on a “Going Green” initiative, and sought to promote environmental awareness and advocate compositing and recycling. A new committee was added this year to the conference, the UN World Tourism Committee, which was established to tackle 21st Century threats to tourism worldwide.
This year, over 1500 delegates attended the conference, including several Ferrahian High School students, who had the honor of represented the Republic of Armenia, as well as the Republic of Kazakhstan. Students between the tenth and twelfth grades prepared months in advanced for the conference, doing extensive research, writing lengthy position papers, and even blogging on the official Berkeley Model UN Blog, which allows students to communicate and interact with others before the conference weekend. Ferrahian students made their long awaited journey to Berkeley, California, where they experienced college campus life first hand, for the first time. Accompanied by Model UN Coordinator and Book Store Clerk Ms. Hourig Demirjian, Ms. Alenoush Khachikian, and Ferrahian alumni Mirak Kazanjian, our students enthusiastically and proudly engaged the many problems the international community faces today.
Our students worked very hard this year and made it noticeable. Eleventh graders Haig Karapetian and Kyle Khandikian and tenth graders Nyrie Dikijian and Lori Injejikian won Research Awards due to their outstanding position papers. Congratulations students!