Students Hone Debating Skills, Study World Issues at Model United Nation

From http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/article1223682.ece

Students hone debating skills, study world issues at Model United Nations
By Sherri Ackerman
April 8, 2012

Connor Neal was just a baby when the first Model United Nations Conference came to Tampa. Last week, the 11-year-old from Lee Magnet Elementary in Tampa not only participated in the event, he had the privilege of questioning the keynote speaker during opening ceremonies. "What can we as a country do to help other countries come together to work as one group instead of separate groups?'' Connor asked Gillian Sorensen, one-time assistant to former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Connor and his classmates are among the youngest in the state to take part in the United Nations Association of the USA program known as Global Classrooms.

In Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties, about 3,500 middle and high school students at 89 schools study the U.N. curriculum designed to challenge them and help them discover other cultures and views on issues such as malnutrition, women and development, and sustainable energy.

Teachers assign students a country and a topic. They have to work together to research and write a resolution that addresses the issue, then convince other nations to support it.

Read the full article at http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/article1223682.ece