Announcements of the West Triangle Chapter of UNA-USA

United Nations Contest for Chapel Hill, Carrboro,
Orange and Durham County High School Students

Rationale for the Contest

The annual United Nations Contest sponsored by the West Triangle Chapter of the United Nations Association is designed primarily to encourage local high school students to create original projects which deal with an issue or problems relevant to the mission of the United Nations. The works may come from any discipline and may take a variety of forms: essays, videos, posters, musical selections or compositions, multi-media works, etc. Projects created by teams of students are encouraged.

2012 UN Contest Announcement

2011 U.N. Contest Winners
For the sake of consistency and load time, all project were converted to PDF files. The latest Adobe Reader may be downloaded HERE

David McDonogh, Junior, East Chapel Hill High School. $750 1st place award for “Timor East and West.” The judging committee was very impressed with his mastery of the complex history of the conflicts in East Timor. His well thought out PowerPoint presentation on that history included realistic and carefully considered proposals for U.N.-based solutions. David won last year’s second place award.

Kathy Dai, Freshman, East Chapel Hill High School. $500 2nd place award for “U.N. Leadership Roles in Humanitarian Aid.” The judging committee was impressed with her analysis of how important the coordination of aid is. Her PowerPoint presentation on that issue included her proposal for U.N.-based solutions.

Joe Baker, Parker Edwards, and Adam Glasser, Seniors, Carrboro High School. $250 3rd place award for “U.N. Aid for Indonesia.” The members of the judging committee were impressed by the team’s creativity in writing a multi-verse song about the issue and with their concern for improving the aid process in general.

Maryam Ali, Freshman, East Chapel Hill High School. Honorable Mention for “Violence Against Women.” The Contest judges were impressed with the background Ms. Ali acquired about the various causes of the problem, with her detailed and colorful presentation, and with the essay on the topic.

Yuyi Li, Sophomore, East Chapel Hill High School. Honorable Mention for “Blood Diamonds.” Judges were impressed with the background she acquired about various aspects of the topic and with her delightful PowerPoint presentation.

Rachel Hainline, Senior, East Chapel Hill High School. Honorable Mention for “Poverty Reduction.” Ms. Hainline demonstrated considerable knowledge about the topic and her PowerPoint presentation included an interesting proposal for using U.N. supervised clinics to reduce poverty. Ms. Hainline and various colleagues won awards in our 2009 and 2010 Contests.

2010 Award Winners

This year there were ten Contest entries from fourteen students – eight individual entries and two entries by three person teams.

Due to differences in computer and browser capabilities, the top three presentations may be viewed as either PowerPoint Slide Shows or as PDF files.

First place: "Israel/Palestine," by Bradli Crump, Carrboro High School. Her PowerPoint presentation demonstrated the student's mastery of the complex history of the conflict. She used a tri-fold poster board that summarized her two-state solution which included imaginative proposals for changing the UN to make it more effectively involved in resolving the conflict.
To see her PowerPoint Slide Show, click here.
To view as a PDF, click here.

Second Place: "Cyprus: (un)Divided" by David McDonogh, East Chapel Hill High School. Mr. McDonogh’s PowerPoint presentation showed his extensive knowledge of the conflicts in Cyprus and incorporated well designed proposals for UN-based solutions.
To see his PowerPoint Slide Show, click here.
To view as a PDF, click here.

Third place (tie): "A UN Approach to Eliminating Child Labor," by Claire Johnson, Cedar Ridge High School, Hillsborough. Ms. Johnson used a PowerPoint with many visuals and included detailed proposals for UN-based solutions.
To see her presentation as a PowerPoint Slide Show, click here.
To view as a PDF, click here.

Third place (tie): "Yemen: A Failing State," by Reade Paterno, Sam Stargel, and Jordan Thomas, Carrboro High School. The team's PowerPoint proposed getting the UN more effectively involved in Yemen than it has been in the past. The team also produced a video on how extreme poverty exacerbates the problems in Yemen.

Honorable Mention: Sofia Haley, Cedar Ridge High School, Hillsborough. Her topic was the effects of rainforest depletion. She read her essay on it and commented on the painting she created to dramatize the problem. To see her essay and a photo of her painting as a PDF file, click here.

Honorable Mention: Katelyn Whittingham, Cedar Ridge High School, Hillsborough. Ms Whittingham’s project was on the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its children hurt by war. She read her essay on the topic as well as a short story she wrote illustrating the plight of a single child raped in the Congo.

Honorable Mention: Rachel Hainline, Marsha Sugana, and Young-Eun Hyun, East Chapel Hill High School. Environmental refugees was the topic chosen by the team. Their PowerPoint included visuals to illustrate such things as global climate change.

2009 Award Winners

First place was awarded to a team from East Chapel Hill High School, Suchin Gurangan and Niel and Kiron Lebeck for their project “The Kashmir Conflict: U.N. Solutions.” The Contest Judging Committee thought the team’s Power Point presentation was an imaginative and extremely well thought out proposal for getting the United Nations more involved in this conflict than it has been in the past. The Committee was also very impressed with the close collaboration among team members in researching the project and their professional approach in presenting their conclusions.

            Click here to view their PowerPoint presentation (14.6 m)

Second place was awarded to another team from East Chapel Hill High School, Rachel Hainline, Young-Eun Hyun, and Marsha Sugana, for their project “Encoraging Nuclear Non-Proliferation.” The Contest Judging Committee was impressed by the extensive background team members acquired about the topic and the effective way they worked together in developing their PowerPoint presentation.

            Click here to view their PowerPoint presentation. (.8m)

Honorable Mention was awarded to Stephanie Krasnov of Chapel Hill High School for her sculpture “2010: Celebrating the International Year of Biodiversity”. The Contest Judging Committee was delighted with the clever way Ms. Krasnov decorated the ceramic letters 2010 with diverse flora and fauna.

            Click here to see a photo of her sculpture and background information on the International Year for Biodiversity.