Upper School Students Mentor Middle School Debaters

Middle School students in Model Congress have been busy polishing their debate skills and drafting their bills ahead of the virtual Model Congress, organized by Packer Collegiate on Saturday, May 15. Friends Seminary is one of the most proactive members of Model Congress. This year over 150 students from nearly a dozen schools participated in the virtual event.

Students in Grades 6, 7 and 8 have been engaged since the fall, first as a debate group and progressing to Model Congress last January. History teacher Rachel Barany spearheaded the program this year with Sami ‘22 and Plum ‘22 who have served as long-standing leaders and mentors to them. Both Sami and Plum have been active members of Model Congress since the sixth grade and took on leadership of the club once they entered the Upper School, working hand-in-hand with teachers to coach middle schoolers on how to make persuasive and compelling arguments. 

Each Wednesday the group met on Zoom to discuss their proposed bills in depth, why they are important, and what they intended to change. Sami and Plum also take this time to help with individual speech writing, address questions, and share and analyze their own work from middle school. This year they also held a speech writing workshop and hosted two Mock Model Congress Sessions to prepare debaters for the real session in May.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Friends students pivoted to design their own Model Congress last year, which was a drastic change from the typical in-person sessions held at Packer Collegiate. This was the first year Model Congress was held virtually. Sami and Plum, who served as Chairs, have taken this opportunity to recruit four other Upper School students who assisted at Packer’s Virtual Model Congress. Three of them participated in Model Congress as middle schoolers while one participated for the first time. “It is a nice way for upper school Model Congress ‘veterans’ to connect with a program that they participated in at that age,” Samara explains.

Rachel Barany explains, “I am so proud of the work Sami and Plum have contributed to Model Congress at Friends. I have seen the students grow so much through these sessions. And their leadership role in working with the administration at Packer ensured that the first virtual Model Congress was a success. That’s really commendable.”

The students themselves inspire me. I love their enthusiasm and how interested they are in their bills. The students each feel so strongly about the issues their bills aim to address—everything from raising federal minimum wage in prisons to implementing mandatory Kindergarten.

I love seeing students be able to easily write their opening speeches after spending months researching and working on their bills. The speech is a place where the students show off their mastery and enthusiasm for their topic and it is really amazing to see all their hard work come together.

I’m really excited to see all the students debating—something I love about Model Congress is that each student gets to choose a topic that they are super passionate about and it's great to see how they bring so much energy to their speech and arguments during debates. When we had Model Congress in person it was rewarding to see how the team came together during our breaks and debriefed about how everything went—congratulating students for bills that had been passed, consoling students if their bills hadn’t, and all around a lot of encouragement that everyone keep working hard and bringing their best to the next session. Although, we won’t get the same exact sense of camaraderie online, Sami and I are going to make sure that the team comes together on Zoom quickly during the breaks to debrief and celebrate all their hard work—I am so excited for the students to come together and support each other (even over Zoom)!

This year has been so difficult for everyone so it has been truly incredible to watch the dedication of these students as they continue to participate eagerly and work so enthusiastically on their bills and speeches. Even though Packer’s Model Congress was cancelled last year, the Friends Seminary Model Congress Club hosted our own individual mock Model Congress to celebrate the work that was done by our students. Therefore, the true inspiration really does come from the students themselves. Despite all the difficulties of this year and last, they managed to work tirelessly, engage with the material, and learn. I enjoy collaborating with younger students because it allows me to reconnect with the middle school. Model Congress was such a prominent part of my middle school experience, so I am so grateful to have the opportunity to continue that.

The community that we have built is very unique and special. Before the pandemic, students in Model Congress constantly collaborated and debated with one another, bounced ideas off of one another, and learned together. Through that, you get a real sense of community, everyone is always excited to see each other when they walk through the doors. Despite the current circumstances with all of us being virtual, we still have that sense of community. Whenever Plum and I have opened breakout rooms and let the kids choose their own rooms, we see large groups of students gather together to talk and work. When Packer Model Congress rolls around, Friends students always congregate together to chat about other bills and speeches they have debated. In normal days there is also a tradition of going to Shake Shack at the end which is a nice final culminating celebration. A family really is born from this year long commitment and we look forward to seeing how this will unfold over Zoom.

I am excited to see the final products of the students’ work. They all have been working tirelessly on researching, writing, and perfecting their bills and speeches. I am also excited to see how this event comes together in a virtual setting. It is really fun to see the work of other schools combined with ours. Watching the students debate is certainly entertaining because there is certainly no shortage of friendly yet fiery competition at Model Congress, but Friends students always manage to shine and succeed. At the end of the day, we will be sure to spend time together as a School and go over the day and celebrate the highlights of the year and of Model Congress itself.