Schools
Montclair Delegation Takes Home Awards at Model Congress
High school students competed against hundreds of students from across the county and Canada last week at the University of Pennsylvania's Model Congress Conference.
A delegation of Montclair High School students took home 25 awards recently at the University of Pennsylvania's Model Congress Conference.
Montclair students competed against various other schools – both public and private – and hundreds of students from across the nation and Canada between Feb. 7 and 10 at the university in Philadelphia, Pa.
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Students were assigned to committees that modeled the United States Congress, where they researched and proposed bills for passage.
Bills would then be presented to the larger congress where they were argued and debated and voted on.
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While the representatives from Montclair did not win the coveted best delegation award – an honor they had won the previous three years – the students did take home 25 awards, including a best delegate special program award, an outstanding delegate award, and multiple honorable mentions.
Two Montclair students also served in a model supreme court and argued three cases.
Superintendent Penny MacCormack congratulated the students for their hard work upon their return.
"For four days," MacCormack wrote in a statement, "students from across the nation gathered at [the University of Pennsylvania] to confront the most challenging domestic and foreign issues that face America today.
"By writing their own legislation and preparing for debate, delegates learn to actively engage in contemporary political discourse. ..."
The advisers for the local delegation were Billy Wingren and Tom Manos.
The students who competed in the model Congress were:
- Emma Axelrod
- Amahdi Shabaka
- Jesse Gugig
- Tessa Bangs
- Eve Feldberg
- Audrey Hertzberg
- Celine Prell
- Claudia McKenzie
- Jake Ephros
- Alex Warshawsky
- Gabriella Teitelbaum
- Sarah Bjerklie
- Isy Levy
- Nathaniel Hickok
- Leo Hentschker
- Lydia Gilbert
- Thomas Pool
[Correction: Feb. 12a t 1:30 p.m. – The students who participated in the model Congress were from Montclair High School. The original post incorrectly stated the students were from the middle school]
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