Around Our School
Model United Nations
On Wednesday 21 October, eight Frankston High School students were lucky enough to participate in a Model UN (United Nations) at Peninsula School. Teams of two to three students were given a country to represent: Tyler Goodridge and Gerard Filipe were asked to represent Brazil, Kaelah Elvish, Sam Cox and Hana Kolar Taiwan, while Charlotte Bowman, Ella Bowman and Kate Oades Somalia. These students did extensive research on their countries to gain the knowledge of their politics and stance on worldwide issues.
The topic of debate was crimes against humanity, including ethnic cleansing and genocide. All participants were given a helpful booklet with a proposed UN resolution which on the day they could debate to change, remove or leave the same.
On the day, students heard a speech from an inspiring UN ambassador, who told them about her experiences working for the UN and Red Cross, as well as more about crimes against humanity. Then each country gave a short speech about where they stood on the issue, so others could create a “friend and foe” sheet which was used to see which countries wanted to align with when caucus came. During the caucus, students were able to walk around the room, asking for other countries to support their proposed amendments to the resolution. Students made alliances with other countries who shared similar views.
At the end of the day, the countries that had enough signatures on their proposed amendments had them placed on the screen and the other countries voted on the ones they wanted to see enacted. Brazil (Gerard Filipe and Tyler Goodridge) was one of the four countries who had their amendment passed.
The Model UN brought a greater and deeper insight into how the UN works in real life. Students of all ages were able to participate in a variety of different debates in regards to genocide and war crimes. Not only were students able to debate and show off their persuasive communication skills, each and every one of them also had the privilege of sharing and exchanging opinions and action plans to counter such crimes.
Throughout the day, all guests enjoyed a delicious and healthy lunch. The entire day was filled with a lot of information and challenging yet admirable amendments made by students to change or modify the resolution, which had the purpose of putting an end to genocide. By the end of the day, it proved to be a worthwhile yet challenging event and perhaps inspired a few students to pursue a future career with the UN.
We would like to thank Mr Whitley and Mrs Bahramis for organising the excursion, but a special thank you to Ms Lefebvre who worked with us before the day to learn more about our given countries and about how the UN works, as well as supporting us on the day.
Tyler Goodridge and Gerard Felipe – SLC students
WheelTalk
On the 22 October we were fortunate enough to have Mel Adams from the Gliders, the Australian Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team, come to run a session for one of the Frankston High School Year 11 health classes. The health class involved thoroughly enjoyed the chance to experience playing this sport and realised the precision and skill involved in its execution. Mel also spoke to the 25 students about valuing their own health, being resilient, making wise decisions and fully utilising any opportunities that come their way. She was a terrific role model for Disability, Sport and Recreation. The WheelTalk School Awareness Program visits thousands of students each year to raise disability awareness and promote the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Mel participated in an action packed hour of basketball with the Year 11 students.
Sue Manks
Access Monash Champions
Access Monash Champions is a special program run by Monash University for students who demonstrate great leadership skills; I was lucky enough to be chosen to participate in this wonderful program. A small group of year 9 and 10 students from Frankston High School were chosen as well as many other students from all around Melbourne. We got the opportunity to learn and undertake activities about leadership and ways we can help our communities. A project was assigned for the year 9s and the year 10s which eventually would be shown at assembly and the Access Monash presentation day. My group chose to create a short video about past Frankston High School students who now attend Monash University and how their lives have changed since high school. After working very hard we presented our video at the Access Monash presentation day where we were able to watch other schools projects and come together and see what we all created. We are very grateful to Monash University students Seamus and Kim who helped and mentored us along the way for our video project. Overall the program was a lot of fun where we were able to gain skills for our futures.
Ivana Deam, Year 9
The $20 Boss Program at Frankston High School
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