Students from Bayside Academy recently participated in the Davidson Invitational Model United Nations program held at the Mobile Civic Center.

Bayside students were among 530 students from 10 schools who gathered for the two-day simulation, where they debated international concerns. Participants were assigned a country prior to the event and required to complete extensive research to determine their country’s viewpoint on issues facing the international community.

They then prepared arguments for solutions to overcome these problems, which they presented at the debate. For the first time, Bayside was assigned one of the five major powers: the United Kingdom.

“I was very pleased with the participation of our students,” Bayside’s Model UN sponsor, Sonny Joiner, said. “Because the simulation was only two days long, they were required to meet and work with students from several different schools without a lot of introduction. It was an example of lots of good students in one place doing lots of good things.'"

Delegates from Bayside included the following: Hope Barnard, Brooke Hohman, Canden Jackson and Ian Shields representing the United Kingdom; Dorothy Griffith, Jessica Houston, T.J. Julian and Michael Latady representing Burkina Faso;Nicole Hohman and Audra Little representing Georgia; David Reeves and Matthew Wolf representing Israel; and Jessica McAlpine, Anna Todd, Tres Wiggins and Ashley Drinkard representing Lesotho.

Junior Ian Shields received the Best Delegate Award in the Humanitarian and Financial Committee, and senior Hope Barnard received the Best Delegate Award in the Economic and Social Committee.