Driving Diplomacy

In a historic “sweep,” Sacred Heart Schools, Atherton (SHS) took the highest honors in international diplomacy. Both the high school and middle school Model United Nations (MUN) teams won the highly coveted best delegation awards this season.

At the Berkeley MUN conference, Sacred Heart Preparatory (SHP) stood out among more than 2,000 global competitors to secure the “Best Club” Delegation award. Recognized as the equivalent of winning a season championship, the victory is a result of the collective excellence and preparation of the entire 50-student roster.

The award was bolstered by individual accolades, including four Commendation awards, one Research award, and two Outstanding awards. The milestone season is a testament to the dedication of faculty advisor Dan Allari, who has meticulously rebuilt the team from fewer than 20 students post-COVID to the thriving team it is today.

"This is a weekend that the club will definitely build on," said Allari. “The team showed a lot of grit… which makes [this award] even more remarkable and precious.” The leadership of seniors Brooke Soderbery, Duke Tom, Eduardo Tapper, and Abby Gruber, as well as juniors Saara Wallace and Graham Keller, really stood out; the students mentored a new wave of first-year delegates who “were a big part of our success,” said Allari.

The eighth grade “Gov Team” elective—revived this year by faculty moderator Nicole Rehberg after a five-year hiatus—capped its season with an outstanding performance at the Global Citizens Model UN in New York City over the weekend.

Competing against over 1,000 students from grades seven through 12, the middle schoolers were named "Best Delegation" in the small delegations category. “Competing against high schoolers is no easy task,” said Rehberg, yet the eighth graders demonstrated an unmatched level of preparation, resilience, and teamwork.

“This achievement truly reflects the months of dedication behind the scenes from researching, writing position papers, our early morning sessions, lunch meetings, and everything in between. Words really cannot express how proud I am of each and every one of them,” said Rehberg.

The landmark season is a direct result of the rigorous, tiered preparation on the SHS campus. In Rehberg’s elective, eighth graders start from scratch, auditioning for spots and diving into the UN’s history. As they transition to the SHP program under Allari, the intensity increases; novices master the fundamentals while veterans advance into complex negotiation, strategy, and leadership.

By stepping into the roles of researchers and spokespersons for their assigned countries, students gain invaluable skills that reach far beyond academic research—developing into confident, thoughtful, and diplomatic voices for the future.