The Upper School Model UN team traveled to Athens, Greece for a week of learning, touring, and debate from February 27 through March 5. Traveling with the 17 participating delegates from Parker were Dean of Student Life Joe Bruno, Latin teacher Sean Miranda, and Club Advisor and history teacher Jeanne Barr.

In the afternoon of February 27, the delegates and their faculty advisors took a bus to O’Hare Airport and departed for Germany, landing in Frankfurt for their connecting flight to Athens that landed in the early afternoon. After their long day of traveling, they headed to their hotel where they checked in, and explored the neighborhood near the Acropolis. Their first activity of the week was a Taste of Athens Food Tour — a staple of any Model UN trip.

Every year, Parker’s high school Model UN delegates are given the chance to attend one of two trips sponsored by the club. This year, the second trip was to attend Platon School Model UN (PSMUN), in Athens, Greece, while the first was to attend PacMUN in Oahu, Hawaii.

This year was PSMUN’s 13th official conference with twelve committees taking place and over 500+ delegates attending. Schools from Belgium, Cyprus, France, Israel, Italy, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Türkiye, and the United Arab Emirates attended along with Parker, the only school from the United States. 

“The conference was super hard but rewarding and was a great way to round out my MUN career at Parker,” Model UN Captain and senior Jack Charfoos said. “The conference was far more akin to the actual UN, so it was primarily writing-based, but it was still super cool and allowed for some great debate.”

At most Model UN conferences, the secretariat picks a theme they would like to follow throughout the conference. For this year PSMUN decided to focus on the Paradox of Progress. Specifically in their words, how “we encounter a timeless paradox rooted in human nature; a simultaneous impulse toward improvement followed by a resistance to change. At the crossroads of tradition and transformation, we grapple with the tension between preserving established norms and embracing innovation. Yet, within this tension lies a fertile ground for creativity, where new paradigms and possibilities take root.”

The PSMUN conference stretched from March 1 – March 3 and was full of days of learning, education, and opportunities to meet and bond with new and different people. The first day of the conference consisted of the official opening ceremony followed by lunch, lobbying, and debriefing.

“The PSMUN conference procedure was different in many ways from the procedure I am used to,” Model UN Captain and junior Gabrielle Silverman said. “One major difference is that the committees begin with a lot of lobbying time where you split into two groups and write resolutions. Then after all of the lobbying concluded, we began debating, which is what I am used to starting with.”

On the second day of the conference, delegates began in their committee sessions and commenced with lobbying and meetings. Finally, on the last day of the conference, delegates had their final committee meetings, and two general assemblies followed by the official closing ceremony that afternoon. 

Not only did Parker’s delegates debate, but they also filled their spare time with further education and fun. As their week flew by, they filled their days together as a group with special experiences. “I thought we made really good choices in terms of what we did outside of the conference to support having a broader cultural understanding of Greece,” Jeanne Barr said. “They learned so much about art history and Greek mythology, that you know, was kind of the bonus of the trip.” 

On February 29, the group had a private tour of Athens and visited Cape Sounion. Students and advisors visited the Acropolis Museum with a view of the Propylaea Gates and experienced the Parthenon, Erechtheion, Propylaea, and Nike Temple. The afternoon continued with exploring Plaka’s streets before driving past the Athens Riviera and four beaches as they ended up at the Temple of Poseidon.

After the conference, the group took a Delphi discovery tour and saw the plains of Beotia and the towns of Thebes, Levadia, and Arachova, on their way to the middle of the ancient world Delphi then back to Athens. They explored the temple of Apollo, the site of the most famous Greek Oracle, and the ancient theater nearby.

“I loved exploring the different areas and learning about the Oracle from the Ancient Greek times. Following our tour, we ate delicious Greek food in a stunning mountain town nearby,” Silverman said.

They visited the Archeological Museum of Delphi to continue learning about the site’s history and significance, and immerse themselves in the mythology.

“It was just the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen and the ruins there were magnificent,” Barr said. “We had this really great guide who gave us chapter and verse in terms of the mythological backdrop and all the stories of Apollo.”

The end of the day consisted of lunch in the village of Arachova and then homework and downtime time back at the hotel. “I loved learning from these intercultural exchanges, and I’m so appreciative of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity the school provided for me and my peers to go across the world to see incredible historic landmarks with our own eyes, try new things (and new foods), and expand our life perspectives,” Senior Cate O’Connor said.