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Schools

Students Learn to Debate and Discuss World Issues

Mira Costa's Model United Nations team's early success has been impressive, but adviser Bob Timberlake says there is still work to be done.

As some Mira Costa sports wrap their seasons up, the Mira Costa Model United Nations (MUN) team is in full competition. But it's not just competing that's keeping them busy these days.

On Saturday, Dec. 4, Costa's MUN will host about 735 student participants of the Los Angeles Invitational Model United Nations. For this event, Costa sophomores, juniors and seniors have been working to organize and stage the event while freshmen have been practicing for the debates.

MUN is a simulation of the United Nations, an international organization that allows representatives from 192 of the world's countries to reach solutions on problems plaguing the world. The UN is based in New York City.

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With MUN, students attend conferences where they are assigned to represent a country's policy and interests in debate on international issues. Students who are a part of MUN have the chance to learn about the world's problems, build their leadership abilities, and hone their public speaking skills. Costa's MUN program is renowned, and has a distinguished history of national success.

Many Costa students credit the program's lasting success on strong speaking skills, assertiveness, communication and leadership. "I remained competitive the entire time and was perhaps the most assertive speaker in committee," said Zack Gill, sophomore and MUN participant, of his participation in the school year's first Advanced Competition.

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Held at Edison High School in Huntington Beach, the Advanced Conference was another example of Costa students' abilities. About 100 Costa students competed, and while Costa dominated the conference, winning more than half of the 18 different committees, or individual debates, in a field of almost 20 schools, the results leave room for improvement, said Bob Timberlake, Costa MUN adviser.

"If we are going to be successful at Chicago or, let alone, New York we are going to need to kick it up at least two notches," Timberlake said.

He said that if this year's class of MUN students wanted to repeat successes of previous years, changes would have to be made, despite the early successes of the team, which also took first place, and took home seven gavels, out of nearly 30 schools at a college conference at UCLA.

At the Edison event, a majority of Costa's students took home an award. Awards were given to students who participated frequently in debate, suggested innovative ideas, and demonstrated leadership and teamwork while working with students from other schools.

Certainly, the ability to powerfully convey a message through effective public speaking is undoubtedly a skill Costa students will need to use to remain competitive as the year goes on; especially at bigger national conferences, such as the University of Chicago Conference, and, of course, at MUN Nationals, which takes place in UN headquarters in New York early next year.

At Mira Costa, when someone walks into the MUN room and overhears 16-year-olds debating some of the world's most complicated issues, from the war in Afghanistan to artifact repartitioning, they'll see students who they know are already a step ahead because all the public speaking and leadership skills learned in Model United Nations are just as important in adulthood as they are in debate. And who knows, maybe a Mustang will be representing us in the real United Nations one day.  

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