Seven Brea Junior High School students, supported by BOHS mentors and fellow competitors Maia Hammel (‘27) and Aiden Duenas (‘26), joined the ranks of United Nations (UN) delegates in an award-winning debut at the Condor MUN competition, hosted by California High School in Whittier, Dec. 7.
Alongside veteran MUN members Hammel and Duenas, Arjun Rajkumar (‘30) and Lulu Giang (‘31) earned commendation awards, recognitions for the delegates who showed strong debating skills in the day-long competition.
“I was so proud of every single student,” BJH MUN founder Hammel said. “For a majority of our team, it was their first time competing in a MUN conference, so seeing all their hard work pay off was so rewarding.”
Junior MUN conferences function similarly to high school conferences, but tackle less nuanced world issues and focus on nations and UN-associated organizations, such as the World Health Organization. In Condor, for instance, the junior divisions covered topics ranging from protecting indigenous rights to the effects of social media on children.
“The junior level is definitely more about just getting your feet wet, learning the system, having fun, and trying new things,” BOHS history teacher and MUN adviser Kate Caprine (‘02) said.
The growth of the junior high’s fledgling organization, and its success at the Condor MUN competition, comes after an intensive nine-week mentorship program, where the BOHS MUN team led a class of 30 students through the basics of competing at conferences.
“I wouldn’t have lasted a few seconds at [Condor] if it weren’t for the amazing lectures and examples provided by Maia Hammel, our mentor,” Rajkumar said. “She taught us about the basics of how Condor MUN worked, as well as how to prepare and present our speeches in front of a small audience.”
Following the end of general debates, where each delegate had 45 seconds to present on their topic and stance, delegates closed the conference by voting on a solution for world peace.
The top representative from each committee, which included Hammel, Duenas, Rajkumar, and Giang, were awarded with certificates.
For first-time delegate Giang, the program has stoked an unexpected interest in MUN.
“At first, I thought MUN would be like speech and debate and Mock Trial [but] I quickly found out it was not,” Giang said. “I thought I’d stay because I found it interesting and I thought it was really cool to be representing different countries.”
With the success of the offshoot teams’ first conference, Hammel hopes to “extend [the program] to the second semester in upcoming March” and continue engaging junior delegates in the MUN program.
