Model Congress Team Gets Stamp of Approval From Washington

The HHS Model Congress team competed at the Princeton Model Congress Conference in Washington, DC on November 16-19 and collected 10 awards and a visit to the White House. Over 800 students from all over the country took place in this prestigious event.

Harrison High School was the only public high school among the top 5 in contention for the best/outstanding delegation award - an award Harrison won last year - and the only school without a model congress, speech or debate program as an academic class.

After graduating 12 seniors in the Class of 2012, advisors Laryca Makarczuk and Meghan Orban expected this year to be one of rebuilding and strengthening. They were gobsmacked by the 10 awards the students received in Washington, even after two of the team’s strongest seniors were unable to attend as a result of SAT rescheduling conflicts. Freshman Catie DiRe’s bill An Act to Abolish Drone Attacks was passed in committee, in full session and signed into law by the President of the Princeton Model Congress, an outstanding achievement for any attending member.

The students of Harrison would like to thank Congresswoman Nita Lowey for a tour of the White House. Students had also looked forward to hearing the guest speaker for the Conference, General David Petraeus, who was obviously unable to attend.

The Princeton Model Congress bestowed awards on:

Rajan Mehra (Co-President- 12^th grade) – GAVEL

Thomas Lovinger (Co-President – 12^th grade) – GAVEL and Honorable Mention

Hunter Sable (11^th Grade) – GAVEL

Ben Adler (11^th Grade) – Honorable Mention

Sam Colangelo (11^th Grade) – Honorable Mention

Aaron Kaplan (11^th Grade) – Honorable Mention

Liliane Lindsay (11^th Grade) – Honorable Mention

Daniel Maldonado (11^th Grade) – Honorable Mention

Harrison Steins (10^th Grade) – Honorable Mention