The Model United Nations Club at Cape Coral High School is hosting a golf tournament in May to raise money so the club can travel across the United States for competitions.
Twenty-two students in the club spend the school year studying international issues and attending conferences across the United States. Fund-raising events such as the golf tournament May 3 at Palmetto Pines Country Club help to offset traveling costs.
Individual players can participate in the spring scramble for $80 and a team can sign up for $300.
Players can also face off for the Closest to the Pin Award and A Luck and Skills challenge, mulligans and other raffle and team prizes.
Kylee Shirakawa, newly elected president of Cape High’s Model UN team, said the team has performed well in national competitions.
“This year we’ve competed in five conferences,” she said.
In March, the team competed in the Washington (D.C.) Area Model United Nations conference where 16 of the 22 students received awards. Shirakawa said the event hosted 1,000 students from across the country.
Before traveling to Washington, D.C., the team competed at the Southwest Florida Model United Nations conference at Florida Gulf Coast University. Two students earned college scholarships — one winning a 120-hour scholarship to FGCU and the other a $1,500 to any school.
“We also won a delegation award there (FGCU),” said Shirakawa.
Because the school year is ending, the team will not compete again until November. Once the 2009-10 school year begins, each member will begin studying for a new season of competitions.
During conferences, students debate climate change, the global economy, international security and environmental stability. They are assigned individual countries for research.
“Through participation in Model UN, students gain greater awareness, but also skills. They must become better researchers, speakers and learn how to think creatively in order to develop compromises,” said Michael Cook in a letter to the community.
Anyone interested in signing up for the golf tournament can contact Michael Cook at 574-6766.