The weekend of January 27-28, 2024, Athens Academy students participated in the 30th annual UGAMUNC, a high school Model UN conference hosted by the UGA collegiate Model UN team. Over 500 students from schools across the Southeast were in attendance.

Athens Academy’s team included 24 Upper School students representing the countries of Jordan and Japan in a range of UN General Assembly committees and other international organizations, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency and World Health Organization. Athens Academy students also held several roles on the historical and fictional crisis committees hosted by the conference. Faculty advisors Allison Turney and John Scharfenberg were also in attendance.

Special congratulations go to Athens Academy’s award winners. Senior Margalit Mauricio was commended at the closing ceremony by the chairs of the World Trade Organization committee for her work representing the country of Japan. Junior George McMaster received the Outstanding Delegate Award (second place) for his work on a fictional crisis committee set in the Pixar movie universe. Junior Joshua Xie received the Honorable Delegate Award (third place) for his work on a crisis committee about the dismantling of the Amazon Corporation, and freshman Ben Warner received the Honorable Delegate Award for his work on a crisis committee about the historical destruction of the city of Pompeii.

The 24 team members included seniors Luke Cooper, Anvesha Das, Tara Dolan, Andrew Jones, Margalit Mauricio, and Om Patel; and juniors Luke De La Fuente, Will Dugas, Leo Gabara, Oswaldo Jara Rivera, George McMaster, Kartik Menke, Connor Schoenfeld, Hadley Spurlock, Alex Tally, and Joshua Xie; sophomores Kai Kelley and Emiliana Korin; and freshmen Sumit Alexander, Sean Cao, Milo Gabara, Matthew Reilley, Henry Scruggs, and Ben Warner.

According to faculty advisor Allison Turney, “Model UN isn't a spectator event that our community gets to participate in, but John [Scharfenberg] and I can attest that what these students do is most impressive. They spent a full weekend cooperating with hundreds of other students from around the state, debating real global issues, and drafting thoughtful, creative solutions.” She continued, “All of our students deserve congratulations for a job well done and for representing the school well.”

Athens Academy is an independent, co-educational school for students in K3 through 12th grade, located on a beautiful 152-acre campus in Northeast Georgia. Now in its 57th year, Athens Academy pursues its mission of “excellence with honor” through academics, athletics, fine arts, and service and leadership. Ranked the #1 private school in Athens, #9 college prep school in the state of Georgia, and #1 private school in Northeast Georgia (Niche.com).

For more information, please contact Kelley Cuneo, communications director, at [email protected] or 706-433-2410.