On Saturday, Dec. 7, middle school students from Miami Lakes Middle School, Aventura Waterways Preparatory Academy, Archimedean Middle Conservatory and Doral Academy Preparatory School came to Coral Gables Senior High for the second annual Gables-hosted Model United Nations conference: CAVMUN II.

After what was intended to be a brief introductory session that included a lengthy speech by Model United Nations club member Alexander Sutton, the middle school delegates dispersed to their committees, of which there were four this year: Security Council, SOCHUM, the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee, MAGIC, a fictitious committee charged with organizing the Tri-Wizard Tournament in the Harry Potter universe, and the Prohibition Era committee, where committee members were Mafiosi from the 1920s.

“Last year, our team had a lot of seniors that have done Model UN at gables for four years and now our team is majority new members and underclassmen who volunteered for CAVMUN, while our returning members chaired our committees. Ultimately, it couldn’t have been completed without the schools attending, our advisors, and our new members. Another thing different this year was our committees. We decided to make them even more interesting than last year and feature two crisis committees instead of one. I really think the extra work that took made a world of difference for the kids who attended,” senior Melanie Giquel said.

In committee, students went through a condensed version of the standard procedures of the United Nations, debating issues on behalf of the nations they represented and drafting resolutions with the intent of solving the issues presented in committee. Each committee was able to pass at least one resolution, and some were able to collaborate and pass multiple resolutions.

“I think what really brought this conference to be a success this year was the determination and enthusiasm of our volunteers, and dais members. This year I was also given the pleasure to invite Consul General Adolfo Sun to the conference as a guest speaker during closing ceremonies where he talked about his own experience in diplomacy and was able to make a big impact on our delegates’ viewpoints of what they were actually simulating” sophomore Benjamin Pla said.

The day ended with a powerful speech by Adolfo Sun, Consul General from Taiwan, on how the youth participating in government simulations now will be the leaders of the world in the future, and the presentation of awards for best position papers and outstanding delegates from each committee. In true MUN fashion, club president Melanie Giquel asked the crowd of delegates if there were any points or motions on the board, someone motioned to close debate, and just like that, CAVMUN II came to a close.