West Milford High School’s Model United Nations Team dominated the annual St. Peter’s College High School Model UN Conference on March 7 and 8, winning best overall delegation against several high schools from the northern New Jersey area. West Milford’s team represented the delegations of the United Kingdom and Russian Federation. Their objectives were to debate and pass resolutions regarding current world issues, such as the crisis in Darfur, controlling nuclear warheads and materials, human rights violations, counter-terrorism, and the question of Gibraltar’s self-determination. West Milford was responsible for passing four out of the possible seven resolutions completed on the last day of the conference. Last year, due to an impending snow storm and subsequent delayed opening, West Milford was disqualified from receiving any awards because the team had to leave the conference early the first day and arrived late the second day. “This created a great energy of excitement and motivation for this year’s conference as the students were determined to prove that this is the best Model UN Team in the school’s history,” said Greg Matlosz, advisor of the team. “Unfortunately for this year, the entire team could not attend because the HSPA testing took place from March 6 through 9, preventing the juniors from participating.” In addition to winning the recognition of Best Overall Delegation, several students won individual awards: Security Council’s Best Delegate, Chris Borges, representing the United Kingdom; Security Council’s Best Delegation, George Heise and Tom Enering, representing the Russian Federation; Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee’s Best Delegate, Rachel Wiley, representing the United Kingdom; the Committee’s Best Delegation, Dan Poeschl and Steve Casselli, representing the Russian Federation; Social Political and Decolonization Committee’s Best Delegate, Scott Brewer, representing the United Kingdom; the Committee’s Best Delegation, Scott Brewer and Corey Van Clief, representing the United Kingdom; and Disarmament and International Security Committee’s Honorable Mention, Matt Forsythe and Stephen Knatz, representing the Russian Federation. The goal for next year’s team is to attend the Harvard Model United Nations Conference which is considered to be the “Super Bowl” of all model UN conferences in the United States. The team is also interested in holding a conference at West Milford High School so that students and residents of West Milford can witness the complex structure of the United Nations in action to promote interest and excitement in world affairs.