Gavel to gavel! Foote School delegates show conviction and purpose at Model Congress

By Rick Menning

NEW YORK -- Undeterred by a packed 11th-floor gymnasium as hundreds of students from schools throughout the New York City metropolitan area gathered at The Chapin School on Manhattan's Upper East Side one week ago Saturday, The Foote School delegation sat focused and with a resolve to succeed.

With a perfect view of the Queens landscape including Flushing Meadows Corona Park and the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center off in the distance, the large throng of delegates joined their respective committee groups ready to present their bills in this year's prestigious Model Congress competition.

Congressional delegation! Students from The Foote School were shining stars at the recent Model Congress competition in New York City. (Photo courtesy of The Foote School.)

And like the adrenaline rush of professional athletes competing at that major United States Tennis Association complex each fall in the U.S. Open, The Foote School representatives had the look of determined warriors ready to head into battle and prevail.

After the 9 a.m. opening ceremony and for the next three hours -- with only a short snack break halfway through the initial proceedings -- the Falcons' delegation hammered home point after point relative to their bills and why each and every one should advance to the full sessions that afternoon.

With command posts scattered over five floors of classrooms at the expansive/high rise all-girls school fronting Carl Schurz Park and Gracie Mansion, each committee of delegates presented their bills, answered questions, respectfully argued the pros and cons and made their cases for passage and further deliberation after lunch.

Under the direction of Liam Considine, who has been working with The Foote School participants for their Model Congress moment since the middle of September, the formally dressed committee members hardly flinched as moderators, teachers and administrators walked into classrooms unannounced to check in on the deliberations.

And as the noon hour came and the school cafeterias began serving the midday meal, Considine beamed with pride as one Falcons' student after another walked in with huge smiles. Even those who did not have the best of news regarding their bills were happy with their efforts.

"Nearly all of our bills passed in committee -- a remarkable achievement," Considine said. "Still, it’s worth noting that even bills that did not advance were compelling, well-crafted, and thought-provoking. Our goal is to spark real debate and showcase student creativity, not merely to pass legislation."

And the best was yet to come as several Foote School bills advanced to the full sessions in much larger classrooms and even the fourth-floor library. It was awe inspiring to watch as The Foote School delegates brought pride not only to New Haven but also Connecticut and New England with their performance.

When the final gavels sounded at each of the full sessions, the students went back upstairs to the gymnasium for a closing ceremony that four delegates from The Foote School will not soon forget.

Glowing with their gavels

Eighth-graders Slater Boms, Tovah Berkowitz and Lorelai Burke were each awarded with a Golden Gavel of Legislative Excellence and were greeted with loud cheers from among the capacity audience. Meanwhile, fellow eighth-grader Kia Bourne received top recognition as an honorable mention recipient.

"To me, being a Foote student who wins a Golden Gavel feels really monumental," said Boms, who is attending Choate in the fall. "Last year, nobody from The Foote School was awarded a gavel, and the year before Foote did not participate in the competition so this to me feels like it is really prodigious."

Like her fellow delegates who woke up before the sun came up and boarded a limousine for the trip to New York City, Boms had prepared for the big day with many hours of research and note-taking.

"This was a game changer when it came to making arguments ... I used concrete facts ... and put myself into the debate. There were many times when I would do a pro rebuttal and then make a con argument (or vice versa, etc.) which showed the Chair (the facilitator of the debate) that I could see an argument on both sides and I stretched my mind to debate a side I didn’t believe in. I spoke loudly and expressed my ideas effectively and clearly."

One personal highlight for Boms at the Model Congress was during a debate of a bill that was to reform student loans.

"This bill had multiple sides of the argument, making it fun and engaging to debate," she noted." I debated both sides but even after the debate, how I stood on reforming student loans was still murky. It pushed me to do further research ... and form an educated opinion."

Falcons' bills soar to finals

The following bills were selected by their respective committees for presentation in the full afternoon sessions. Out of the 22 committees with delegates from 11 schools, The Foote School had a strong presence in the plenary sessions.

A Bill for Protection of Children from Grooming and Exploitation on Online Services (Teo Antonello and Jack Ginnetti)

An Act to Make Getting a Green Card Easier (Tovah Berkowitz)

A Resolution to Amend the Constitution to Require Congressional Approval for Pardons (Levi Lucarelli-Apatow)

A Bill to Ban Solitary Confinement as a Form of Punishment (Cleo Roche and Maryam Zagmout)

In the case of their bill, Cleo Roche and Maryam Zagmout saw high drama and near passage as solid arguments on both sides caused four abstentions that proved pivotal in the narrow 5-4 defeat within the fourth-floor library.

At one point, a host Chapin School delegate passionately spoke in favor of Roche and Zagmout's bill which nearly tipped the scales.

Saturday live from New York

"Saturday (May 10) was a remarkable day for The Foote School delegation at Model Congress," Considine said. "I’m so proud of how our students conducted themselves and made the most of all the opportunities the day had to offer. It’s a privilege to work with such thoughtful and talented young people in a school like ours."

A call to order! Our Foote School Model Congress Delegation!

(In alphabetical order): Teo Antonello, Justin Aseme, Dar Assaf, Tovah Berkowitz, Slater Boms, Kia Bourne, Avery Bruce, Lorelai Burke, Sofia Caliendo, Lucien De La Cruz y Carmin, Alara Deniz, Georgie Esselstyn, Zazie Gazzola, Jack Ginnetti, Silvia Gozar-Zimbrean, Alora Hanson, Abe Harris-Sturges, Dylan Hawkins, Gage Lang, Zee Lang, Owen Lasater, Eve Laskin-Tievsky, Ari Lopez, Levi Lucarelli-Apatow, Roo Myers, Cleo Roche, Alexandra Rouwenhorst, Esther Schonberger, Gage Seymour, Annabel Sheehan, Kayo Smith-Souza, Maryam Zagmout. (Unable to attend: Prince Starling).