Seven 12th graders who have been involved with the MUN program at JFKS for many years just returned from a trip to New York.
This trip was special for many reasons. For some of our students this was their first time in the US, and the majority had not seen or experienced life, school or college in the US.
We were able to stay with host families from our partner school Xaverian High School who graciously opened up their homes in Staten Island and Brooklyn again. The students experienced family life, enjoyed dinners, conversations and visited museum, played games, went shopping, to the beach and more.
Our group activities in New York included a tour at the Museum of the Chinese in America, the African Burial Ground, the 9/11 Memorial site and museum, sightseeing throughout Manhattan, Central Park, and more. Students prepared short presentations to tell us about the five boroughs, politics and music in New York, Chinatown, and Wall Street. We met up with Tony (JFKS Class of ’23) for a tour of New York University (NYU). He then joined our group for dinner with Xenia (JFKS Class of ’18) who is also living in New York.
A meeting at the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations gave us insight into their role and current as well as future goals. The tour of the UN Headquarters allowed us to ask many questions and we were able to walk into rooms used by the committees the MUN program simulates, e.g. the Security Council, ECOSOC, and the General Assembly.
At XAVMUN, one of our students chaired and others represented several countries, challenging all delegates to participate and debate.
For fun, we each picked Major League Baseball teams to follow and attended a Staten Island FerryHawks game where we got to learn about baseball rules, strikes, balls and watch former World Series MVP Pablo Sandoval play. A visit to the Jackie Robinson Museum allowed us to connect baseball and sports with civil rights and US history.
It was a packed and busy week that went by fast. We had a great time though and memories were definitely made! Special thanks again to Xaverian HS for hosting us.
Click here to view the video with some pictures from our trip!
-Mr. Robertson, BERMUN Director
