More than 150 Montclair middle school students debated, objected and called for decorum at the 19th annual Middle School Model Congress Conference (MidMc). The event, which was the first in-person Congress held in two years, took place Tuesday, Dec. 13, at Montclair High School.
Hosted by the MHS Model Congress Club, about 30 high school students led the middle school students in their debates. Each group tackled a different topic like climate crisis, armed forces or agriculture and had about 20 middle schoolers per room. While middle and high school teachers were on-hand for support, the high school students acted as chair, co-chair and page to run the debates.
Thomas Manos and William Wingren, both Civics and Government Institute history teachers, sponsor the MHS Model Congress Club, which has about 100 members. The teachers take the high school students to debate around the Northeast.
Manos said it was a smaller Congress than in the past, but they are rebuilding after COVID. “It's an awesome experience for the middle schoolers,” explained Manos. “They've been preparing and researching the bills our students wrote for them. They get to debate with students from the other middle schools. They also have an amazing opportunity for a great introduction to MHS.”
Graham Carovillano, an eighth grader at Buzz Middle School, liked what he saw when he visited the high school and said he definitely wants to join the high school Model Congress team next year. Carovillano, who participated online as a sixth grader, was on the foreign affairs committee. He said they debated a bill about troops being placed near Iran and a bill about protecting Asian countries from a North Korean threat. “I like that we can speak our minds,” said Carovillano. “It's fun.”
Justin Bruso, a Glenfield Middle School social studies teacher, said he thought his students learned from the event that collaboration and compromise are important life skills. “Students came in with a variety of great ideas and perspectives, but they realized in order to pass meaningful legislation that amendments had to be added or eliminated to satisfy the majority of the committee,” said Bruso. He added how impressed he was by the high school students. “I noticed that some of the middle school students were nervous to take part in the event but the high school students created a positive environment for open discourse.”
Jonah Khersonsky, a MHS junior, joined Model Congress as a sixth grader at Glenfield. Now the vice president for Model Congress, he was responsible for organizing much of the conference logistics. “It taught me a lot about how to organize people and get them to do things on time,” said Khersonsky. He says for the high schoolers, “It was interesting to see the other side and be the chairs. It teaches us a lot about how to manage people, how to manage things and be a leader.”
Asha Giancaspro, a MHS junior who serves as parliamentarian for Model Congress, participated all three years at Glenfield. “Everyone in Model Congress loves going to conferences and learning, but there is truly something special about running something yourself and being able to give something to these middle schoolers while also making them extremely happy.”