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After months of preparation, the Charles River School Model United Nations and Robotics teams competed in local competitions this month. At both of these events, students had the opportunity to apply all they’d practiced and learned this fall, and to think on their feet.
On December 9, 21 CRS students in grades 6-8 took part in the day-long Middle School Model UN Conference held at Northeastern University; more than 500 students from 30 different schools came together for this event, making it the largest conference ever. Representing Australia and Bangladesh, CRS delegations applied their collaboration and negotiation skills in committees discussing child refugees, clean water, climate change and nuclear disarmament.
Members of the CRS Robotics Team at the competition.
Six of the CRS delegations were recognized for their outstanding work – a tremendous accomplishment. Awards included Best Delegate, Best Public Speaker and Best Negotiator.
Also this month, the CRS Robotics team competed at the First LEGO League Robotics Competition. For this competition, teams worked at robotic challenges and created a presentation to address a global water issue. Due to a misunderstanding of the rules, the team needed to recode all of their programs between rounds (they had spent months working on the initial programming). The team rose to the challenge and was able to reconstruct 80% of the programming to meet the new restrictions, earning 15th place out of more than 30 teams!
Janie Howland, CRS parent and coach of the CRS Robotics Team commented, “The students were level headed, hard-working, dedicated, and could solve problems on their feet. They took it step by step and did great, and didn’t get upset when things went wrong. This is a testament to CRS, the education students receive there, and the atmosphere of the school.”
The Model UN and Robotics clubs both provide students with the opportunity to apply problem-solving skills to real-world problems and to think on their feet, leveraging skills they’ve developed over the preceding months. CRS has offered the Model UN Club for more than 10 years, and this is the second year the school has offered the Robotics Club.
The following students were recognized with Model UN awards:
• Ian Brassard, Needham
• Mary Cate Clayton, Natick
• Ali Ehlinger, Wellesley
• Max Heredia, Dover
• Hannah Lapides, Wellesley
• Isabelle Mathews, Wellesley
• Carson Moellering, Natick
• Patricia Plunkett, Wellesley
• Grady Savage, Needham
• Emma Somol, Dover
• Eva Tutin, Natick
