McLean High School Shows Off a Range of Global Gifts

Ian Tendick has negotiated resolutions to international conflicts. As Secretary of State for the United States, he has argued passionately for his country, and has worked to diffuse tensions in some of the hottest hot spots in the world. But he has yet to get his high school diploma.

Tendick is a senior at McLean High School in McLean and as Secretary General of his school’s Model United Nations Club, has presided over an increasingly talented and successful group that includes a recent second place finish as Most Outstanding Large Delegation at the Prince William Model U.N. Convention. Hosted by C.D. Hylton High School, that convention is the largest Model U.N. high school confab on the East Coast. The McLean delegation finished just behind magnet school Thomas Jefferson's, which sent 150 students to the competition, and consistently wins it.

For Tendick the high finish is a validation of the progress that his McLean club has made over the past two years. Such an achievement has required hours of research about the countries that he and his fellow delegates represent, constant reading about current events, and session after session of mock debates, including reflecting on facts and rhetoric. Most of all, though, the recognition is indicative of the increasing enthusiasm among the growing numbers of McLean delegates who have begun to participate in the activity that has captivated Tendick for years.

Over the school year McLean participates in seven or eight conventions, sending from 10 to 25 delegates. At the conferences the activities are separated into two different styles of events; the general assembly and crisis committees. The two events require different kinds of preparation and also attract different types of students.

For the general assembly participants represent an assigned country and are given a range of issues to study before the convention and prepare resolutions about. This format requires intense research about the specific issues and a lot of time working out possible resolutions and ideas. The venue attracts students more comfortable with in-depth advance research.

Crisis committees, on the other hand, require a lot more spontaneous thinking. While the countries are assigned before the event, the topics aren’t shared with the delegates until they show up, and are usually about some sudden conflict or emergency that they must deal with, a format that Tendick prefers because it allows him to think on his feet.

The crisis committee format also requires a great deal of preparation, but rather than specific topical research, the participants have to study a broad range of information about their country’s needs and keep abreast of international politics.

Often for delegates at McLean, representing countries around the world isn’t just about their imagination. With many of the school's students coming from other countries, or with parents from other countries, the issues aren’t always about places far away, but instead about very real and familiar issues and locales.

In Tendick's case, though he was born in the U.S. his mother is from Lebanon. His participation in the Model U.N. club has sparked conversations with her about what she remembers about life and the cultures in her home country.

Ultimately this knowledge is what makes the difference between being recognized and awarded at a conference, or being overlooked. The adjudication, which is decided by members of the host high school or college, is based not only on how effective delegates were in passing resolutions, but also on how well they worked with others to get what their respective countries needed, and how effective they were in accurately and effectively representing their countries’ interests. In the end it comes down to two things: how well you know who you are, and how effective you are at getting what you want.

For Tendick though, his real reward is what his participation has done for him since he started participating in the Model U.N. three years ago. “I’m a much better public speaker now, and a much more knowledgeable person,” he said. “You just feel that you know a lot more about the world.”