The Model United Nations team will be hosting their first Spanish Committee on Jan. 23, sponsored by French teacher Matthew Hanlon, social studies teacher Joseph Brannan and Spanish teacher David Barkley.
The idea for an internationally based event arose this past summer when Hanlon and Brannan realized that there was only one foreign language committee in the area, preventing non-English speakers from participating in Model UN events.
“We finally decided that we would just start our own, kind of like with My First Model UN, and that hopefully the idea would catch on,” Hanlon said.
The assistance of teachers provides reference sources for students who are running the conference. IB Spanish students, fluent speakers, and Model UN students have taken control of getting the conference together.
“The students are the ones primarily in charge of the event,” Brannan said, “This is an extraordinary opportunity for them: even though they aren’t participating in the actual committee, they are learning so much. I am really excited to watch them go through this process.”
One such student is junior Tom Freebairn, Chief of Staff on Model UN and the Secretary General of the Spanish conference.
“On the day of the conference, I will be managing a lot of the actual happenings. It involves a lot of planning and decision-making,” Freebairn said.
Freebairn will also be participating at the Prince William Model United Nations conference in a Spanish committee on Dec. 5 and 6. The Prince William conference holds one of the few foreign language committees in the area, and will help provide a basis for the Spanish conference being held at Marshall.
“Prince William’s is only one Spanish-speaking committee, while this is an entire conference entirely done in Spanish. It will be a lot more work and a lot more Spanish involvement,” Freebairn said.
The Spanish conference is not only open to students participating in Model UN, but also fluent speakers who wish to participate.
“It’s an invitational conference, so we are going to be inviting schools. We’re also going to be reaching out to schools that do not have Model UN clubs, in particular other IB schools,” Hanlon said.
By collaborating with other schools, Brannan’s goal of expanding the participation throughout the area is within reach.
“One goal is to give an opportunity to students who speak Spanish (as a first or second language) to use their language skills in an arena outside the classroom. By making language real, it often inspires students to want to learn more and to use their skills more frequently,” Brannan said.