As members of the Government class this fall, juniors Kayla Abernathy, Kyle Riley, and Ramon Gibbs participated in Civitas’ first crisis simulation of the year to fulfill their community service hours requirement.
Based in St. Louis, Civitas is non-profit organization that organizes model United Nations programs. At Civitas, there are different activities that promote world awareness for both middle and high school students.
“The program was mainly about how kid’s ideas can impact the government and different things around us,” Riley said. “Part of the program was coming together with your peers to come to a conclusion about a situation.”
At the first meeting, 18 students from six different schools discussed the country of Ukraine, and if it could safely protect the 500 pounds of Uranium that it owns. If put in the wrong hands, Uranium can be made into nuclear weapons. In addition to the Ukrainian problem, the students divided into two different groups, and focused on other key issues as well.
“We came together as groups and were given a problem that had to do with another country,” Riley said. “It was a simulation, so my group and I came together to come to a conclusion for a certain scenario.”
Abernathy credits her government teacher for helping her get involved in Civitas.
“I wanted government hours plus I was interested to see what the program had to offer,” Abernathy said. “I wish I could have gone to more meetings but I only attended one.
The second model UN session was held in late November. Four topics were discussed this time, with scenarios outlined in countries that included New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom.
“I participated in [Civitas] because Kyle, Kayla, and I thought it would be a great opportunity to get community service hours and have fun at the same time,” Gibbs said.
The session was about 2 hours long which made a dent in the required service hours for the junior government class. Despite already being friends before the program, Civitas presented a unique opportunity for each of the students.
“I do feel like it brought us closer together with all of the different topics we discussed,” Riley said. “You really have to communicate in situations like this.”
Although the trio did not attend the second meeting in November, the first session provided the three with a good outlet to discuss world issues.
“I really enjoyed listening and participating to hear and take in everybody’s perspective on the different topics discussed at the meeting,” Abernathy said.
Now done with her government hours, Abernathy recommends the Civitas program to students in the future.
“Civitas honestly does affect your outlook on the world and national crisis situations,” Abernathy said. “It gives you more awareness and puts you in real life situations to show the severity of these situations and how they’re handled in a step by step process. Anyone who enjoys US and world history would like this because it gives different perspectives on world issues.”
