On October 23, Woodgrove students took a day away from school and traveled to Dominion High school to participate in Model European Union, the first in Woodgrove’s history. This group was led by Mr. Matthew Talboo, and consisted of about 20 students, representing 7 countries. There were 3 students per country, with Woodgrove presenting Ireland, Estonia, Croatia, Germany, Czech Republic, Netherlands, and Hungary. 

Model EU is the gathering of those in place of ambassadors to represent a country, followed by a series of debates and in depth conversations to find solutions and remedies to specific issues. It acts as a mock conference, a meeting to discuss geopolitical debates where each participant must come ready to defend their countries needs while making executive calls and aligning with other nations to achieve compromises. It focuses on the countries within the European Union, not to be confused with Model United Nations which shifts focus to the international organization which maintains peace and teamwork over a broad selection of countries. Hadley Ayott, an 11th grade student, represented Ireland. She explained her interpretation of the issues debated through the day, “This Model EU focused on finding a common immigration and defense policy throughout the EU,” stated Ayott.

The idea for Woodgrove to participate came to light through various connections to other high schools in the area dating back to previous international summits. Mrs. Jenifer Rogers, the Dominion High School Global Coordinator, directly reached out to Mr. Talboo to invite Woodgrove’s Global Ambassadors Club to join the event. Talboo encouraged his students to take a chance on something new and experiment with unfamiliar ground. “Having a “yes” attitude to new experiences is very important,” shared Talboo, “The goal of Global Ambassadors Club is to keep increasing the footprint of what we are doing, from international food night, to visiting the state department, to international trips, and now Model EU. The club is now constantly growing because we have a “yes” attitude and very ambitious students.” After many classes through the years of casually implementing Model UN and Model EU into lesson plans for practice and fun, this was finally an opportunity to implement these skills.

The day consisted of listening to a guest speaker who discussed topics of international politics, then the students presented their pre-made position statements. This was each country’s opportunity to lay down their goals, as well as listen to other countries for similar aspirations and note who they may want to work with or avoid. After the statements were made, there was a designated time for free form discussion where they could act upon previously made plans and strategies. At this point, resolutions are made on the spot, unlike similar clubs such as debate where you enter with an overall objective of the intended outcome. After lunch, another one of these free range discussions took place, and then lastly, votes were cast on which plans should succeed or which should not move forward. A participant of the model EU, Amanda Dickson, a 12th grade student who is representing Croatia, noted the social aspect of the day. “It was really cool how the alliances were not only for policy, but we also made an emotional connection through befriending them,” referring to Greece and Sweden.”Though it was sort of difficult at the end to pass a vote because it had to be unanimous,” Dickson explained “There were some people who didn’t agree with most of the positions, so nothing got fully passed.” With this, the Model EU was a trial, first for more than just Woodgrove, and with some minor tweaks it holds the potential to give the students lots of experience and connections as they move forward with both Model EU and Model UN in the future.