Wednesday, April 2, 2025
Isabella Lala, a senior at Gulf Coast High School, won $2,000 for the best single year performance at SWFLMUN. Alan Van Egmond, the director of SWFLMUN, presented the award. COURTESY PHOTOS
Naples Council on World Affairs distributed dozens of awards totaling $60,000 at the 32nd Southwest Florida Model United Nations competition. More than 200 high school participants from 18 high schools in Collier, Lee, Charlotte and other surrounding counties competed.
NCWA partners with Florida Gulf Coast University to host the annual SWFLMUN competition. The 2025 competition took place at FGCU in March. FGCU President Dr. Aysegul Timur and NCWA President Mark Schwab opened the conference.
The event was powered by more than 120 community volunteers, including committee and position paper judges, registrars, committee chairs and leaders.
Florida schools participating included Collier County: Aubrey Rogers High School, Barron Collier High School, Donahue Academy, Gulf Coast High School, Lely High School, Naples High School, Palmetto Ridge High School, St. John Neumann High School; Charlotte County: Babcock Ranch High School, Port Charlotte High School, Lemon Bay High School; Lee County: Bishop Verot High School, Canterbury School, Cypress Lake High School, Fort Myers High School, North Fort Myers High School; and Sarasota County: Cardinal Mooney High School.
Winner of the Lynn Knox (left) Teacher of the Year Award is Ali Hofstetter, right, Port Charlotte High School teacher and coach for MUN.
Winner of the Lynn Knox (left) Teacher of the Year Award is Ali Hofstetter, right, Port Charlotte High School teacher and coach for MUN.
The SWFLMUN 2025 scholarship winners are:
Performance Awards
¦ Isabella Lala, Gulf Coast High School, $2,000, Best Single Year Performance, Howard and Nancy Cohen Award
¦ Catherine Saadeh, Gulf Coast High School, $1,500, Best Single Year – Junior, Janet Markel Award
¦ Aarohee Dabas, Gulf Coast High School, $1,000, Best Single Year – Sophomore, Gulati Family Foundation
¦ James Zurick, Fort Myers High School, $500 Best Single Year – Freshman, Rollie Crawford Award
¦ Julian Junkroski, Lely High School, $1,500 Mo Winograd Outstanding Delegate, Robert and Joella Roussel Award
Multiyear Participation Awards
¦ Jack Welsby, Gulf Coast High School, $5,500 Ralph J. Bunche Award
¦ Isabella Lala, Gulf Coast High School, $2,500, Amb. Gregor Zore Memorial Award
Jack Welsby, a senior at Gulf Coast High School, received the Ralph J. Bunche Award and $5,500 for his outstanding four-year involvement in SWFLMUN. He is pictured with Richard Clemens, the award’s sponsor, and former recipient Surya Dodia.
Jack Welsby, a senior at Gulf Coast High School, received the Ralph J. Bunche Award and $5,500 for his outstanding four-year involvement in SWFLMUN. He is pictured with Richard Clemens, the award’s sponsor, and former recipient Surya Dodia.
¦ Everett Tedrow, Gulf Coast High School, $2,500, Ron Gymer Memorial Award
¦ Helena Brewer, Gulf Coast High School, $2,500, Thomas J. O’Gorman Memorial Award
¦ Mariana Ramirez, Gulf Coast High School, $2,500, Jinny & John Johnson Award
¦ Julian Junkroski, Lely High School, $1,500 George Gotschall Memorial Award
¦ Rita Saadeh, Gulf Coast High School, $1,500, Iqbal & Shelby Mamdani Award
Top School Awards
¦ First place: Gulf Coast High School, $1,000, Edith Hunt Award
¦ Second place: Canterbury High School, $700, Edith Hunt Award
¦ Third place: Barron Collier High School, $300, Edith Hunt Award
Diana McGowen Most Improved School Award, Fort Myers High School, $500, Edith Hunt Award
Lynn Knox SWFLMUN Coach of the Year Award, given to the faculty coach who best exemplifies the highest standards of excellence and empowerment in supporting their Model UN Team: Ali Hofstetter, Port Charlotte High School, $750, funded by Bob and Erna Place, Patrick Mattingly and Jill Force
Position Paper Awards
¦ First place: Siddharth Chaudhari, Fort Myers High School, $2,500, Barbara Markel Memorial Award
¦ Second place: Kreessan Exinor, Lely High School, $2,000, Ron Gymer Memorial Award
¦ Third place: Stefany Saldan, North Fort Myers High School, $1,500, Mark and Cathy Walchak Award
¦ Fourth place: Aarohee Dabas, Gulf Coast High School, $1,000, Janet Markel Award
¦ Fifth place: Catherine Saadeh, Gulf Coast High School, $800, Judi Palay Award
¦ Sixth place: Aaron Pryear, Gulf Coast High School, $700, Lillian Veri and Fred Klinkhammer Award
¦ Seventh place: Raquel Laskowski, Lemon Bay High School, $500, Jan and Mike Johnson Award
¦ Eighth place: Cristina Peterson, Cardinal Mooney High School, $400, Mickey and Mo Winograd Award
¦ Ninth place: Haley Sharry, Gulf Coast High School, $300, Marvin and Helaine Lender,
¦ 10th Place: Sebastian Canizares, Fort Myers High School, $250, Mark Schwab Award
Caucus Awards ($1,750 divided equally), Richard and Kay Ryder Award
¦ Abigail Shaw, Gulf Coast High School, WHO/WADA
¦ Jack Welsby, Gulf Coast High School, OPEC
¦ Olivia Ringland, Gulf Coast High School, Crisis: Bosnia
¦ Helena Brewer, Gulf Coast High School, UNFCCC
¦ Zaara Rahman, Cardinal Mooney High School, Crisis: Haiti
¦ Isidor Radojevic, Canterbury High School, UNESCO
Special Competition Awards: Curbing the rise of land-based plastics in SW Florida waters
¦ Given to the three Model UN clubs that presented the best proposals:
¦ First place: Cypress Lake High School, $1,000, Howard and Nancy Cohen Award
¦ Second place: Cardinal Mooney High School, $750, Patrick Mattingly and Jill Force Award
¦ Third place: Gulf Coast High School, $500, Rollie Crawford Award
¦ Fourth place: Port Charlotte High School, $350, Mickey and Mo Winograd Award
¦ Fifth place: Palmetto Ridge High School, $300, Julie and Alan Van Egmond Award
¦ Sixth place: Lely High School, $250, Julie and Alan Van Egmond Award
Best in Committee gavel awards – Engraved gavels were given to the delegates with the highest total score in each committee from this year’s competition.
¦ Crisis Committee: Haiti: Nathan Rubin, Gulf Coast High School
¦ Crisis Committee Bosnia: Vibhav Nimmagadda, Gulf Coast High School
¦ UNFCCC Climate Change: Everett Tedrow, Gulf Coast High School
¦ UNHCR Stateless People: Adrian Alvarez-Garcia, Aubrey Rogers High School
¦ UNEP Amazon Basin: Jack Welsby, Gulf Coast High School
¦ DISEC Drones: Rita Saadeh, Gulf Coast High School
¦ UNESCO Music, Catherine Saadeh, Gulf Coast High School
¦ OPEC: Selma Parfene, Gulf Coast High School
¦ UNDP Indigenous People: Helena Brewer, Gulf Coast High School
¦ WADA Doping: Isabella Lala, Gulf Coast High School
SWFLMUN alumni Syed Adnan, a graduate of Cape Coral High School and Florida International University in Miami, was the keynote speaker for the closing ceremonies. Syed serves as the director of organizing and political outreach for the American Federation of Teachers— Pennsylvania. AFT Pennsylvania is the state affiliate of AFT National, a labor union representing the interests of 1.8 million union members primarily in the education, health care and public services sectors in all 50 states and overseas territories of the United States.
Syed is a first-generation immigrant who served as president of the Cape Coral High School and Florida International University Model United Nations programs, leading both to national rankings.
“This year’s SWFLMUN showcased an amazing array of talent among hundreds of students from private, public and charter schools participating in our 32nd annual event,” said Alan Van Egmond, SWFLMUN chair and NCWA board member. “We can be very proud of the promising leadership skills shown by our students and the vital foundational skills they are mastering. Their teachers as well deserve high praise and clearly are producing terrific results.”
The topics researched and debated by students at the conference were:
¦ Current crisis collapse of coalition government in Haiti in the midst of a natural disaster
¦ UN Climate Change Convention building infrastructure for climate change
¦ UNHCR citizenship for stateless people
¦ UN Environment Programme saving the Amazon basin from ecological disaster
¦ Commission on certain conventional weapons developing an international convention on the use of drones
¦ OPEC impacts of energy transitions on OPEC
¦ UNESCO Corporatization of Music
¦ UN Development Programme economic development of indigenous communities: Reversing urbanization
¦ World Health Organization World Anti-Doping Agency protecting international sports and athletes from substance abuse and unfair doping practices
¦ Historical crisis the Bosnian War/ Genocide (1992-95)
“We are pleased to have hosted the SWFLMUN competition since 1998. Thousands of students have competed at the SWFLMUN conference since then. We are proud of what we have accomplished in the partnership between FGCU and NCWA over the years,” said Dr. Richard Coughlin, academic coordinator for SWFLMUN and associate professor of political science at FGCU.
As a part of NCWA’s mission, Southwest Florida Model UN provides mentoring, inspiration, support and scholarships to participating students. NCWA has sponsored and administered the Model United National program for Southwest Florida high schools since 1989 as a part of its educational outreach objectives.
Model United Nations programs are focused on teaching negotiating, bargaining and communication skills, driving awareness of critical global issues, and informing students about the United Nations’ objectives.
Students prepare their committee research for several months before the annual SWFLMUN conference at FGCU. At the conference, judges provided by NCWA evaluated the student delegates’ performances at each of the committee meetings, which this year included a Crisis Committee to determine how humanitarian relief can be delivered to conflict zones. Winning teams and individuals are declared at the end of the conference, and thousands of dollars in scholarships are distributed.
For more information about SWFLMUN, contact NCWA Board member and SWFLMUN Communications Martha L. Williams at 847-778-9806 or mwilliams@wnmn.org. ¦
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