WCCS Students Travel Abroad

Western New York Students to be delegates to The Hague International Model UN Conference

Trisha Ignatowski, Emily McCall and Garret Quimby of Wheatland-Chili High School were selected to participate in the BOCES 2 International Model United Nations program coordinated by the Gifted and Talented Education Department.

The students will spend months working with their advisors, Robert Phillips and Susan Jacobitti, in an intensive research effort in the study of the country of Saudi Arabia, which they will represent at The Hague International Model UN conference in The Netherlands. This conference is the closest simulation of the real UN for high school students. In January, more than 4,000 students representing over 200 high schools in the United States, Western and Eastern Europe, the Far East, Middle East and Central and South America participate in this international conference.

The BOCES 2 delegation of 16 western New York State students is one of only two public school delegations from the United States invited to participate in this conference. This will be the 39^th year that BOCES 2 has sent a delegation to this prestigious conference. “The students will gain a new perspective of the world as they represent a country and prepare to discuss international issues as a delegate at the International Model UN,” said Charmy Perry, coordinator of BOCES 2 gifted and talented education. “They also serve as student ambassadors from the United States and are selected for this program after an extensive application process, recommendation, and interview,” said Perry. “We expect much out of them as they are highly qualified students and eager to learn about the world. They bring to the conference new insight, passion, and commitment to a topic they have researched as a delegate.”