Parents - please share this email with your Ambassador if they don't have an email address of their own yet, and if they do have an address, remind them to check their inbox!
At the next meeting: We'll create our Russia Country Poster and learn more about Russia
What's Due: Country Scavenger Hunt Part 2 worksheet (see below); Parent Driver Packet for Training Conference Drivers.
What's overdue: Payment #2 (see info below)
1.) Country Poster: At the next meeting, we'll be making our Russia poster. To create it, we'll need you all to bring in some information. Here's a worksheet to gather the info that we'll need. Chances are that you've already looked up most of this for the handout you received earlier in February. All answers can be found via google search. This CIA Factbook entry about Russia is also worth spending time reviewing!
If you'd like to print out any pictures of Russian geography, culture, food, art, etc, to bring in to help decorate our poster, you are welcome to! Small pictures (4x6 or smaller) are best.
2.) Program Area Assignments: Here are this year's program area assignments. Program areas were assigned based in part on Ambassador preference and in part on Advisor assessment of the best fit for each Ambassador. We are only given a certain number of spots in each program area and we do factor in grade level as well. Included here are leadership opportunities (see next item):
3.) Leadership Opportunities: Want to make the most out of your MUN experience? Apply for leadership in your program area! We discussed this at a previous meeting but you can read about leadership opportunities here. Applications are found in your Reggo account. Here is a visual guide to finding them (note that the images are from last year so the positions have changed, but the way you find them has not!). (Ignore the "recommended background" part - don't count yourself out if you're new to MUN.) Applications are due by Tuesday, March 3 at 8pm.
3.) March 10 - Mandatory Pre-Conference Meeting for Ambassadors and Parent: Our March 10 meeting is mandatory for all Ambassadors and a parent/family member. This will be our pre-conference meeting where you'll receive details about the March 14-15 Training Conference. Here is some preview information:
Parent Corner
- We anticipate the conference starting around 10am on Saturday, March 14. We anticipate the conference ending around lunch time on Sunday, March 15. The schedule should be released next Monday.
- Ambassadors will be staying in cabins (by gender). We expect to be housed with our sister delegation, Gold Country. We will potentially be staying with additional delegations as well.
- Cabins are enclosed, have windows, heating, and bunk beds with mattresses. Ambassadors will need to bring a sleeping bag or bedding and a pillow. Bathrooms are either attached or adjacent to the cabins.
- There is no cell service at Camp Jones Gulch. Advisors may have periodic access to WiFi but don't expect to hear from your Ambassador while we are at camp. There are landlines for emergency use and a contact number will be included in pre-conference materials at the pre-conference meeting.
- It's a very short trip - Ambassadors won't need more than pajamas and a change of clothes for Sunday.
4.) Looking Way Ahead - Summit Hotel Lodging: Because it came up at last night's meeting - a reminder from the info session way back in December: At the MUN Summit in Los Angeles in April, Ambassadors will be housed up to 4-to-a-room. Hotels have 1 bed or 2 beds (they never have 4 beds). This means Ambassadors can 1) take turns sleeping in beds and camping out on the floor in the sleeping bags they'll be told to bring, 2) share beds, 3) parents can potentially book a roll-away bed based on availability and whether the statewide program provides that option this year. We have no control over whether we are assigned hotel rooms with 1 bed or 2 beds and we don't know until we show up to check-in what we have. Housing Ambassadors 2-to-a-room would be cost-prohibitive and logistically impossible to keep everyone in one hotel. Please begin preparing your Ambassador's expectations now for roommate life in April. This is part of the life-skills kids can learn in Y&G. They will likely have roommates someday in college or while they are young. Learning to keep one's things tidy and share a bathroom are real-world skills!
Parent Corner
- Conference Transportation Plans. Thanks for your patience as we finalize our transportation plans for this program year. Here is where we stand:
- March Training Conference: Thank you to those who have volunteered to drive in March. At this week's meeting, we'll have parent driver packets that you'll need to fill out. All volunteer drivers will also need to be fingerprinted. Instructions will be provided at this week's meeting as well.
- April Summit: We will be bus-pooling with a Bay Area delegation to and from Los Angeles. The bus will pick us up from the YMCA in Sacramento at about 6:30am on Thursday, April 23 and return us on Sunday evening, April 26. Final times and details will be in a future bulletin.
Reminders:
Volunteer Event Ideas. Do you have an idea for a community service or other volunteer event we can do as a delegation in the next month or so? Bonus if it is related to our chosen Sustainable Development Goal. Bring your ideas to the next meeting or send your advisors an email.
Payment #2 Due: the second program payment was due February 20. If you haven't yet, please bring your payment (or pay online) this week. Checks are payable to YMCA of Superior California and should have your Ambassador's name in the memo line.
Volunteer Event Ideas. Do you have an idea for a community service or other volunteer event we can do as a delegation in the next month or so? Bonus if it is related to our chosen Sustainable Development Goal. Bring your ideas to the next meeting or send your advisors an email.
Payment #2 Due: the second program payment was due February 20. If you haven't yet, please bring your payment (or pay online) this week. Checks are payable to YMCA of Superior California and should have your Ambassador's name in the memo line.
Resolutions Review: At previous meetings, we learned about "Resolutions" - which are the documents that members of the UN create to share their proposals for how to make the world a better place. Resolutions have two parts: Preambulatory Clauses and Operative Phrases. If you want to review Resolutions, check out the presentation here. To review the script for how we share resolutions in MUN, check out this link. These are the core of what Ambassadors work on who are in the General Assembly and Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) organs.
Thank you!
-Amanda Levy and Christiana Dominguez
Co-Lead Advisors, Sacramento Central MUN Delegation
Helpful Links:
Mark your calendars:
March 14-15: MUN Training Conference, Camp Jones Gulch
April 23-26: 19th MUN Summit, Los Angeles
We are committed to equal program access for all and are dedicated to ensuring the benefits of Y&G MLC and MUN are available to every student in our community without regard to financial need. No delegate should ever drop out or refrain from joining because of financial concerns. If you want to do this program, we want you to do this program. Please talk to us if your financial circumstances change during the program year. We're here to help.
