NEW YORK – Students from John Adams High School are no stranger to conflict or big problems. But when they spent two days at the United Nations to tackle world conflict and global problems, it changed their lives forever.
Decorum, a documentary produced by the United Nations Association of the USA (UNA-USA), tells the story of how Dean/Teacher Michael Budhu used UNA-USA’s Global Classrooms ® Model UN program to challenge, empower, and inspire these students. The film will premiere today at 4:30 p.m. at the Grand Hyatt New York, and will be followed by a discussion with Budhu and several of the students in the documentary.
“There’s a disconnect between the material that we need to teach students in order to graduate high school, and what concerns them,” Budhu says in the film. “I think Model UN helps bridge that gap. It really helps our students gain a connection to the community outside of Queens, New York.”
Every year UNA-USA’s Global Classrooms® Model UN hosts an international conference at UN Headquarters in New York. Students represent different nations and step into the shoes of ambassadors to debate real issues on the UN agenda in a UN simulation. Each year, 2,500 students, 300 teachers, and 140 schools from around the world participate in Global Classrooms International Model UN Conference.
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Decorum is a story of triumph – for education, for the teacher, and for the students,” said Patrick Madden, executive director, UNA-USA. “
Decorum proves that students today don’t imagine a world that ends on their street or at their neighborhood. They are globally engaged and our Global Classrooms program gave them an outlet to show off their command of urgent world issues that most adults shy away from.”
Decorum will premiere in the Uris/Juilliard Rooms of the Grand Hyatt; a brief reception will follow the discussion. The documentary, whose trailer continues to air on the Toshiba Vision screen in Times Square, will be released online in three parts starting today at
www.unausa.org/decorum. For questions or to schedule an interview, please contact Joe Catapano at
jcatapano@unausa.org. More information on UNA-USA’s Global Classrooms Model UN is available at
www.unausa.org/globalclassrooms.
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MORE ON UNA-USAThe United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA), a program of the UN Foundation, is a membership organization dedicated to inform, inspire and mobilize the American people to support the principles and vital work of the United Nations. UNA-USA works to accomplish its mission through its national network of chapters, advocacy efforts, education programs, and public events. UNA-USA and the UN Foundation create the single largest network of advocates and supporters of the United Nations in the world. For more information on UNA-USA, visit
www.unausa.org.
MORE ON GLOBAL CLASSROOMSGlobal Classrooms is UNA-USA’s innovative educational program that engages middle school and high school students in an exploration of current world issues through interactive simulations and curricular materials. Global Classrooms cultivates literacy, life skills and the attitudes necessary for active citizenship. For more information on Global Classrooms, visit
www.unausa.org/globalclassrooms.
