Model UN and Debate Update

The fall term has been an extremely busy time for the WPGA Debate and Model UN program. With a record number of 72 senior school students and 55 students in the junior school club, the number of students involved in this program has reached an all-time high.

The school year kicked off with WPGA hosting the Lower Mainland novice workshop and debates which welcomed new debaters from all of the local independent schools to WPGA for an afternoon of workshops and friendly debates. The first major competition occurred on the first weekend of October, the BC Qualifiers, which is our provincial tryouts for students to advance to the Canadian national team tryouts. Three students, Alessandra Harkness, Daniel Cohen and Liam Pedersen, had been selected from provincials last year; at the end of the day, Alessandra Harkness was one of the three BC students who qualified to the national tryouts in Toronto. Congratulations to Alessandra as she advances to the next stage of the selection process.

Vancouver Youth Model UN (VYMUN)(October 14 - 15, 2011)

On the weekend of October 14, over 150 high school students participated in the sixth annual Vancouver Youth Model United Nations at the Granville Island hotel. This event is entirely organized and run by senior WPGA students who spend six months each year planning the event. Under the leadership of secretary general, Daniel Cohen, and with the assistance of seniors Liam Carson, Robbie Legge, Liam Pedersen, Katrina Kaur and Hilary Chu, delegates from over seven Lower Mainland schools simulated the workings of the United Nations and affiliated organizations. The weekend was a resounding success and revealed the talents of some of our budding young diplomats. Special recognition goes to the following students who received awards for their diplomacy and negotiation skills:

WHO

Best Position Paper – Lily Han

Outstanding Delegate – Quinn Aquilini

Honourable Mention – Linda Xu

ICJ

Best Delegation – Samantha Starkey & Ben MacVicar

US NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL

Outstanding Delegate – Sarah Deretic (Secretary of State)

UN SECURITY COUNCIL

Best Delegate – Lloyd Lyall

Honourable Mention – Raheesa Jina

For more information about the VYMUN experience, please check out our website at www.vymun.com

McGill High School Debates (October 27 - 29, 2011)

WPGA debate captain, Liam Carson, travelled to McGill last weekend to compete in the largest high school tournament in Canada. Partnered with his Team Canada teammate from Sacred Heart School, Halifax, Aislinn Flynn, the two managed to break to the semi-finals round (top eight out of 108 teams) and successfully advanced to the McGill Finals. In front of packed house and debating the motion, “This house would ban genetically engineered children”, Liam and Aislinn lost a very close debate to national team member, Debi Ogunrinde and her Halifax Grammar partner. Congratulations to Liam for a fine showing at this event!

International Independent Schools Public Speaking Competition (October 26 - 31, 2011)

Vancouver was the destination of over 180 competitors from 9 countries this past weekend as York House School hosted the International Independent Schools Public Speaking competition and WPGA assisted as a co-host school. The event was a jam-packed weekend of speech and debate events, which included categories such as dramatic interpretation, persuasive and extemporaneous speaking, parliamentary debate and cross-examination debate. West Point Grey Academy hosted teams from Bermuda, Scotland, the UK, Korea and India, for this event. Many thanks to the families who generously opened their homes to billeting students from these countries; by all accounts, the students enjoyed their experience in Vancouver tremendously as a result of the warm hospitality of their host families. WPGA students Samantha Starkey, Hayaat Stuart-Khafaji and Jai Mathur represented our school at this event and are to be commended for their fine performances. Jai and Hayaat qualified for the parliamentary debate finals and Samantha ended up ranking 4th overall in the under 16 category.

A final note of thanks to staff members and WPGA alumni who volunteered over the course of the tournament as judges and to the many student volunteers who came out as officials, your participation in this event were essential to its success and smooth running.

UBC High School Debate Tournament – November 4-5, 2011

SSUNS McGill Model UN - November 9-14, 2011

ESU Public Speaking Tournament – November 24-25, 2011

Oxford Cup Tournament – November 26-27, 2011

Canadian National Team Tryouts – November 28-29, 2011