For the first time in recent history, Latin’s Model Congress will attend two out-of-town conferences in one year. The first was Princeton Model Congress, which took place November 14-17.

At Model Congress conferences, delegates simulate being in either the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate. They debate and vote on legislation regarding their committee-specific topic, aiming to pass the delegates’ proposed bills.

In February, Latin delegates will take a flight to Harvard Model Congress.

Senior and Model Congress Co-Head Juliette Katz said, “It’s been a dream of mine since freshman year to be able to have two out-of-town conferences.”
Juliette credited Latin’s Model Congress’ expansion to their faculty advisor, Upper School history teacher Debbie Linder.

“We’ve been a dynamic duo. We’ve worked side-by-side,” Juliette said. “I had a vision, and Ms. Linder took that vision and helped me execute it in every way I wanted.”

In preparation for the Princeton event, Ms. Linder coached her students so they knew what to expect in committee, calculated costs, and coordinated logistics.

In the Princeton conference’s House Committee on Energy and Commerce, sophomore Marin Ralson debated climate change policy. Her favorite part of the conference was “seeing other people’s opinions from across the country.”

Marin noticed something different about the Princeton Model Congress. She voted based on her own principles. At Harvard Model Congress—which she attended last year—she voted based on the principles of their assigned congressperson. Conferences vary on this front, and Juliette said she prefers the way Princeton does it.

“That’s such a better way to train delegates,” she said. “It helps them because they aren’t confused about what they’re arguing.”

Senior Michael Kotcher, who was in the House Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, noted another difference between the Harvard and Princeton conferences.

At Harvard Model Congress, Michael “crafted and co-authored” the bills in committee, which he liked better, while at Princeton, delegates wrote bills beforehand.

While Michael would have preferred to work on bills during committee sessions, Juliette noticed the time spent writing legislation pay off. Every Latin student’s bill passed in their committees, and some went on to the Full House or Full Senate—a combination of multiple committees.

Latin had individual successes as well. Both Juliette and senior Asher Schenk received honorable mentions.

“I feel really good about the award,” Juliette said. “It’s so special to me because, like I said, my dream was always to expand Model Congress.”

Although the weekend at Princeton is over, Model Congress’s work is not. Looking ahead, the Model Congress heads are planning a conference only for Latin students, and 36 students will attend Harvard Model Congress in February. Of those,10 are new Model Congress members.

Juliette said, “It’s just a really special thing to see something that I’m passionate about grow.”