MFS Delegation holding awards after PhilMUN. Photo by Charlotte Nesevich '25.
As the major part of the Model United Nations season wraps up, the Foxes have completed a remarkable achievement: winning the two largest conferences of the program’s three overnight events. The Foxes also won Best Large Delegation at both the Rutgers Model United Nations Conference and the Philadelphia Model United Nations Conference.
“Winning two Best Delegation awards in one year has never happened before in the history of our program, so Charlotte [Nesevich ’25] and I were super happy to be able to witness and be a part of it,” said one of the program’s leaders, Maya DeAndrea ’25. Many MFS students won individual awards at both conferences, leading to the Best Large Delegation award for Moorestown Friends at each conference.
“I think this Model UN Season has been extremely successful. I’m so proud of every single one of our delegates,” added co-leader Charlotte Nesevich ’25.
The Moorestown Friends Model United Nations program is a highly-regarded extracurricular and provides two ways for students to become a part of the program. With a minor class in the A1 block and lunchtime club that is regularly attended by over 30 members across the Upper School, the 2024-2025 team’s accolades prove that the time spent preparing for the conference has paid off. The celebrations for the success of the team are heard around the halls; Upper School Director Noah Rachlin said, “When individuals and groups of students are pursuing things that they are passionate about, and being recognized with high levels of success, we should feel a pride about what they are doing and how they are representing themselves and MFS.”
“I think that the biggest thing that we’ve done is train our underclassmen into a position where they now have the resources that they need to be successful in the future, and that’s where the lasting impact comes from. The awards are great, the delegation awards are a sign that it’s being recognized, but what’s more impactful is knowing that those kids have the skill set that they need to succeed,” said Nesevich.
The legacy left behind by this group of Model UN program leaders has made the Foxes’ team the best it has been in recent memory, according to advisor Clark Thomson.
Thomson said, “I’ve been doing this for 14 years. We had won Best Delegation once before, and this [was] before COVID, at the Delaware conference, and it was a really big deal. Getting that first best delegation at a conference of over 1000 people, that’s when all of the awards start coming and you start winning. The two wins recently were really impressive and I’m really proud of all the kids.”
This new philosophy of coaching and proper development of skills in the Model UN program is a relatively new part of the program but has worked very effectively with the past four years of Model UN.
“Since we came back from COVID, the approach that the students had taken has been just regularly on improvement … get new people into the program, show them how it’s done … so that we can get to that point where we do have enough strong delegates when the time comes for the conferences,” said Thomson.
As many of the key individuals in the Model UN program are graduating in the coming months, this legacy of strong values passed to the next generation will be the foundation of the program.
Current Junior Zayden Lalani ‘24 said, “I am excited to continue with our winning legacy and bring new students into the program.”