United Nations Contest for Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Orange 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.  

• For full details about entering the Contest, click here to see the 2009 Contest Announcement

Award Selection and Award Ceremonies 

Each Contest entrant is given an hour to present their work and to respond to questions from the Contest Judging Committee, which consists of members of the Chapter’s Education Outreach Committee. The winners, together with their parents and teachers, attend the Chapter’s April Lunch and Learn meeting, during which they summarize their projects. At that time all winners will receive U.N. pins and certificates of achievement. The first prize is a scholarship to attend the Global Scholar international affairs summer program at Washington and Lee University in Virginia. Second and third prizes are cash awards.  

2008 Award Winners 

First place went to a team from East Chapel Hill High School: Jason Elangbam, Jun Hong, Alexander and Joshua Loyal for their project “United Nations Peace Keeping Reform.” The Contest Judging Committee was very impressed by how carefully and thoroughly they thought out the various reform proposals which were designed to improve the way the U.N. carries out its peacekeeping role. The Committee was also impressed by how well the team members worked together to prepare and present their project via PowerPoint. 

• Click here to view the PowerPoint presentation.

Second place went to Jiyoon Lee of Chapel Hill High for her project “Silent Tragedy.” The Contest Judging Committee was impressed by her imaginative proposals for improving how various U.N. agencies and non-governmental organizations work together to reduce infant mortality. The Committee also appreciated her eloquent presentation and her colorful PowerPoint slides. 

• Click here to see an essay version of her project.