On Jan. 9, a group of 107 WHS students traveled to the Hersey Lodge to partake in the annual Model United Nations Conference. Roughly 1,300 delegates from high schools across the East Coast participated in a weekend of policymaking and debate.
The conference divided students into committees, where they engaged in collaborative discussions to solve real-world issues. Prior to the conference, each student was assigned a country and three issues to research and address within their committee.
At the conference, delegates work within their committee to write “resolutions” to address their topics. Club Advisor and Social Studies Teacher Daniel Farabaugh worked with Westfield delegates through December, refining each resolution. Each resolution is debated and passed by their respective committees.
Sophomore Logan Sporn emphasized the importance of participation, saying, “you get as much out of Model UN as you put into it,” noting that writing more resolutions creates more opportunities to debate.
The program is largely student-led. Senior Gabriela Castillo served as secretary general of the conference, training the officer corps throughout the year and overseeing the entire conference.
Throughout the weekend, delegates are evaluated by the Conference on National Affairs, which selects 20 delegates to attend its program in North Carolina. At CONA, participants debate national issues with the best delegates from across the country. Three WHS students were selected to attend the conference: freshman Gavin Berman, senior Emma Blaustein and Castillo.
Twelve WHS students were honored at the closing ceremony for their performances. Winners of the Outstanding First Year Delegate award were Berman and Junior Daniel Blake. Junior Olivia Marquet was the only WHS student to win the Outstanding General Research Paper award, and the Mahoney Family Community and Leadership Award was given to four WHS seniors: Sophia Rodkin, Kiran Patel, Jacob Kofsky and Audrey Lin.
The 2025 officers, responsible for organizing this year’s conference, included seven WHS students: Castillo, Blaustein, Lin, Rodkin, senior Sabine Mauras, junior Hannah Lee and junior Mahie Panjwani. The newly-elected 2026 officers are juniors Lee, Panjwani and Ryder LaConti.