Today (Friday, 2/17) was the yearly Tallahassee Southern Model United Nations Conference at the Florida Capitol. It was a chance for nearly three-hundred local middle and high schoolers to wrestle with world problems.
Those problems included international security, world hunger and global disease threats. Chiles High School History Teacher Cliff Sherry saw this as a hands on civics lesson for his students.
“The kids, they hear these things and they want to discuss them and they want to find out what it all means, but also come up with solutions,” Sherry remarked as the students headed to various parts of the Capitol for committee meetings.
Model U.N. Secretary General Truitt Wilson explained the exercise helps build self-assurance in even the shyest kids.
“And what they’ll gain is the life confidence to go further,” he said, describing himself as a “real introvert” before getting involved in the program.
Leon County Commission Chair John Dailey who welcomed the conference members hoped the Model U.N. lessons will reach a larger audience.
“We’ve got to do a better job as a society of educating the general public on civics and getting them involved,” Dailey insisted.
Hosted by Tallahassee Community College, this was the 21st Conference of the Tallahassee Southern Model United Nations.
