Foreign Affair

Published 11:26 am Friday, December 5, 2008

Did you happen to hear that whirring noise around 9 Thursday morning?

Don’t worry. That was just King Tut and the bedazzling Queen Nefertiti spinning in their respective pyramids as the talented and gifted students of Rock Hill strolled into Ohio University Southern’s Bowman Auditorium for this year’s Mock UN.

Dressed to the nines in shiny gold and cool black, the Rock Hill delegation to this pretend General Assembly could certainly make any pharaoh or queen feel a bit inadequate.

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However, the two big names from Egypt of ancient times were surely calmed when they realized these teens were more than up to representing the modern-day version of their homeland.

Rock Hill was joined by TAG students from Chesapeake, South Point and Fairland middle schools at the 22nd Mock UN where participants get to blend exploring international affairs with a lot of fun.

This was Hope Meadows second time to hone her debating skills as she and her Fairland classmates represented the Republic of Chad in Central Africa. The landlocked country is often called the Dead Heart of Africa and this delegation wanted to persuade the assembly to provide it with $40 million to build 10 rural education centers, boost teaching training, provide a school for children with disabilities and textbooks and computers.

“You learn about different places and problems and how you can fix them by working together,” the student said.

Started in 1987 by then Rock Hill TAG teacher John Miller, the Mock UN brings together students from four middle schools each year who formed teams to research a chosen foreign country and present a resolution to address specified problems earmarked by the teens. Next they present it to the group, answer questions, debate the issues, and then ply their political skills in caucuses to get votes for passage.

“They have thoughts and ideas a lot of times that are better common sense than adults,” Miller said.

Eleven countries were represented this year with issues ranging from nuclear power to terrorism’s effect on tourism to military aggression between Russia and Georgia.

The turmoil between Russia and Georgia intrigued Chesapeake’s TAG students who picked it along with the Democratic Republic of the Congo as their countries.

“We like to pick troubled countries with problems,” Samantha Miller, a Chesapeake eighth grader, said.

Jamie Scott, now a Rock Hill senior, played one of the three moderators for the event reading resolutions and mediating debates. It was in eighth grade when she first participated in the Mock UN, which whetted her passion for politics that carried over to this year’s presidential election. An Obama supporter, Scott went door-to-door canvassing for the senator among the county’s undecided voters.

“It is really important for my generation,” she said. “People look at young people and think that they don’t care. We have shown we can go out and canvass and be involved.”

As Miller watched the students file into the auditorium adorned with African headdresses, Caribbean beads and Down Under chapeaus, he seemed pleased that this event has endured.

“It is something that doesn’t get old,” he said. “Kids are still enthusiastic and take it very, very seriously.”