Students Make History

“Every human being, of whatever origin, of whatever station, deserves respect. We must each respect others even as we respect ourselves.”

U Thant: Former Secretary-General of the United Nations

Students, teachers, administrators, and parents in Prince Edward-Hastings are celebrating the success of their second annual elementary school Model UN.
They organized the first Canadian elementary school Model UN last year.
“It really is a milestone,” said Aruna Alexander, founder of the Quinte United Nations chapter. The Model UN session is designed to give students hands-on experience and get them involved in international issues.
Susanna Moodie School principal Gail Brant and Quinte Mohawk School principal, Kathleen Manderville worked with Alexander to get the project started in 2004. Once an outline was in place, grade 6 teachers Scott Berry (Susanna Moodie) and Edith Groslouis (Quinte Mohawk) developed and completed the program with their grade 6 classes in 2004. This year’s project included a third school, Albert College.
On the first day, students travelled to Quinte Mohawk School for a school tour, a regional history lesson given by Chief R. Donald Maracle, a display of First Nations’ culture – such as crafts, food and dancing – and an exchange of ideas.
Over the following two days, the students gathered at Susanna Moodie to work in groups and research indigenous people and cultures from around the world, including the Maori of New Zealand, Hmong of Laos, Aztecs of Mexico, and the Sami of Finland. They then forged a resolution, wrote a position paper, and created a display for their indigenous group.

On the fourth and last day, the students took part in a Model UN assembly

at the Orange Lodge on the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. Each group represented one indigenous nation and their country. Reynolds Mastin, 2003 co-winner of Magna’s national “As Prime Minister” award, addressed the students on the issues of indigenous peoples, the subject of his winning paper. Each group gave a short presentation and read a paper outlining their position. They answered questions about the history of their country, its indigenous people, and current issues. They then voted on resolutions dealing with two major native issues, choosing between land rights and respect for aboriginal people. Their teachers chaired the model assembly.

Students received an in-depth view of how the UN works. They dealt with real world issues, discovering that finding and agreeing on solutionsis not easy. Once they voted on the resolutions, students showed visitors their projects, answered questions, and discussed the success of the event.

“I feel really proud of the students. They’ve worked hard, met new friends, and have more respect for the community,” said teacher Edith Groslouis.

The main goal of this project is to build respect. We hope that students will learn a lot about how to act towards others by doing this project. If we give them these skills they can become role models in the future.

The friends, memories, and lessons they have learned will last a lifetime. This real-life experience is active learning at its best.