At the end of a long day of speeches and debating, sophomore Caitlyn Levitan ended her experience at the 2026 Jewish Canadian Youth Model United Nations committee sessions by watching two members in her committee duel with foam swords. The fight was a fitting finale to the committee’s topic: the Trojan War.
Jewish students from the U.S., Brazil and Canada gathered in Montreal to discuss issues ranging from the Kashmir conflict to cyberterrorism. The JDS Model United Nations (UN) club was formed during the 2025-2026 school year and attended this competition from March 8-10 for the first time.
Led by sophomore Stella Cutler and supervised by history teacher Dana Foster, Model UN club members prepared for the competition based on their individual committees. JDS sent seven students to the conference along with two chaperones.
“It was a very new experience this year. I’m actually very excited after now having gone to the conference to think about what we can do better next year,” Foster said. “It was such an amazing experience for the students… we were blown away by the students and by the way that all of these students from all over the world were interacting with each other.”
In Model UN, students are assigned committees that mimic real committees in the United Nations, each dealing with their separate issues ranging from air pollution to cyberterrorism. Within the committees, students represent countries or historical figures like Achilles, and debate how to solve the given issue from their role’s point of view. The goal is for the majority of the members in a committee to agree on a resolution to the issue. Preparation included writing position papers, extensive research on the committee’s topic and training public speaking skills.
The conference, made up of 260 Jewish students, was specifically created to cater to religious needs. Since most Model UN competitions occur over Shabbat, Jewish schools are left with limited opportunities. This conference gives International Jewish students the chance to compete while properly observing their religion.
“It allows you to learn and experience so many different points of view,” Cutler said. “It was just cool to see how other people interpreted other countries being from different ones.”
The JDS team arrived at the conference on Sunday, March 8. They first attended the opening ceremony, followed by a committee session, and the night concluded with an evening activity where students had the opportunity to get to know one another. Monday was structured with four committee sessions interspersed with breaks and meals.
Within sessions, students are expected to know the right terminology and procedures for their debates, as well as staying formal and objective.
“There’s just so much to say, and only at the right times, you have to be strategic about it,” Levitan said. “There’s a lot to be thinking about constantly, and so being in the moment is necessary… I learned how to stay very engaged in a discussion.”
One of the most challenging aspects of the competition for the team was understanding the flow of how the sessions worked. Due to the club being so new, most students on the team had never been to a Model UN conference before. However, the team, despite its small size, had five resolutions passed in their committees.
Additionally, junior Lindsey Shapiro won an honorable mention award for representing the Arab Republic of Egypt in the UN Women committee. Foster believes the team’s accomplishments were especially impressive due to the small number of students who attended.
“I think our big takeaway is best practice on how to move forward, how we can set up the club for the rest of this year and the beginning of next year, and how we can help prepare everybody better,” Foster said.
