Congratulations to the 13 IDEA scholars who comprised the first-ever Model United Nations team to represent IDEA at the Washington Area Model United Nations Conference. Representing several UN committees and member countries, team members interacted with the other 1,300 Model UN delegates from schools from all over the country. Model UN is an international program that brings middle school, high school, and college students together to strengthen their skills in critical thinking, diplomacy, negotiation, public speaking, writing, and research by simulating a real United Nations conference. Scholars at IDEA began preparing for the summit in January by learning parliamentary procedure, researching the countries and committees they represented, and writing position papers explaining how they were advocating for critical issues related to their committees and countries. Most IDEA scholars were named delegates from South Sudan, a country that has only existed independently since 2013. As delegates, scholars had to build partnerships and advance their positions while protecting their resources and the interests of their countries. Representing South Sudan, Delonte Cunningham and Dianshe Robinson were assigned to the Disarmament and International Security Committee. Faith Brooks and DeNay Barnes represented the Special Political and Decolonization Committee. Malaysia Johnson and Kajah Watkins worked on the Social, Humanitarian & Cultural Issues Committee. Francisco San Roman and Trejure Mclean were assigned to the UN Office of Legal Affairs. Representing Australia, J’Lin Small and Amillian Richardson (representing South Sudan) worked with the United Nations Development Programme. Representing Albania, Dezeray Walters worked with the Commission on the Status of Women. The George Washington University’s International Affairs Society organized the conference, which was held at the Grand Hyatt Washington March 21-24. IDEA English teacher Alexandrea Rich sponsored IDEA’s team and raised money for the scholars’ expenses during the conference. IDEA Board of Trustees member Lakeisha Highsmith generously sponsored the scholars’ accommodations. “Model UN is a way to teach our scholars how to talk about policy and politics,” explained Ms. Rich. “They focused on our larger culture and learned about contemporary world issues and African American topics.