COEUR d'ALENE —  One senior at Lakeland High School came away from the Model United Nations Competition with an award for excellence and service.  

Alexandrea Hall has been involved in Model U.N. for three years and brought home the Fred Cornforth Award this year. This award is the most prestigious in the competition.

"I was really floored that I won," Alexandrea said. "All of the students put a lot of hard work in and I didn't expect an award at all."

Previously, she won the Outstanding Delegate and Best Delegate Awards.

"You have to make sure you have solid research and strong facts," Alexandrea said. "That is the base for helping students build debate skills and create strong presentations."

This year's competition was held Feb. 22-24 at Boise State University.

Shanda Heacock, Model U.N. coach for Lakeland High School, said she is glad to see the program growing. She said there were over 300 students competing this year. The first year there were about 90.

"Our school has been participating for three years with all funding provided by the institute," Heacock said. "Alexandrea has been involved from the start and, this year, she led our team."

Heacock also teaches government and U.S. history classes and said the program helps young adults understand how the United Nations works.

"Each participating school picks a country to emulate," Heacock said. "Then teams go through mock debates and assemblies to try and work on real world issues such as human rights and environmental sustainability."

Lakeland represented Russia this year.  

"One of my favorite things about the program is that it makes us argue for resolutions we normally wouldn't support," Hall said. "Participants get to really understand multiple perspectives when debating."

Heacock said Alexandrea previously won the Outstanding Delegate Award and Best Delegate Award, and earned the most prestigious award this year because she "always gives above what is required."

"She created all of the teaching materials for our team this year," Heacock said. "She is also deeply concerned with world issues and is extremely dedicated."

Alexandrea's mother, Yuliya Hall, said she thinks the program helps students expand their horizons and learn about other countries. Yuliya said she has seen world issues firsthand as she is a Ukrainian refugee who moved to the U.S. in 1997.

"My daughter has always been interested in world issues through her upbringing," Yuliya said. "The current situation in Ukraine really made her aware of the issues other countries and cultures face."

Other local schools also competed. Coeur d'Alene High School and Lake City High School created a combined team and represented China and Columbia.

  

Alexandrea Hall stands with the Fred Cornforth Award she earned during the 2024 Model U.N. Competition at Boise State University.

 Luke Sharon (left) was given the award for Best Delegate and Cooper Yake (right) was given the Outstanding Delegate award.