There’s no debate: Model Congress is fun

These  schools, or delegations, as they are called for Model Congress, meet for weekends filled with fun and debate. I know what you may be thinking. How can fun and debate be associated with each other? 

But that is the beauty of Model Congress. Each delegation takes turns hosting a congress with a theme. Students run the debate, choose who wins the awards for excellence in debating, and pick one school to win the coveted Best Delegation award for the overall best delegation of the weekend. 

Congress weekends begin Friday afternoon and end Saturday night. Schools arrive on Friday in their formal attire prepared to take part in the weekend’s activities. After Friday’s events, delegates, or model congress participants, have the opportunity to “house” meaning that students in Model Congress from the host school allow “foreign participants” to stay in their homes overnight. 

For most delegates this is their favorite part: it’s one giant sleepover where friendships are formed and very little sleeping actually occurs. On Saturday, students return to the host school for more debating that is broken up with “entertainment sessions,” which can be anything from trivia to dodge ball. The weekend concludes with a ceremony where the best debaters receive awards in their categories, or committees, and the best delegation is crowned. 

Lawrence High School hosted its 45th Model Congress event on March 20 and 21. With a beach theme, the congress was organized by board members Ryan Bae, Jonathan Rutchik, Emily DiNardi, Richard Gauthier, Hailey Marcus, Louis Jan, and Victoria Miller under the supervision for the club’s advisor, Linda Gerard. 

On Friday, delegates were greeted with inflated beach-themed characters before settling in to watch the opening video. Delegates were eager to ditch their formal attire for beach wear on Saturday. Although it was snowing outside, the inside of Lawrence High looked like a typical day on the beach: Bucket hats, sunscreen splotches on noses, grass skirts, and bathing suits galore. Each delegate was provided with a pair of customized red sunglasses from Lawrence Model Congress. For the first entertainment session, the Lawrence board members were each assigned a delegation to be serenaded by, creativity, humor, and originality included. The traditional LMC Tug of War rounded out the second entertainment session. 

Long Beach Model Congress ended up taking home the Best Delegation trophy, but instead of the typical trophy, LBMC received an 8-foot tall customized surfboard. Not a bad alternative. The weekend started off with a roaring success and finished strongly, with many foreign delegates citing LMC XLV as the best congress they had ever attended. I would have to agree, although I might be slightly biased.