A team of four first-year students representing New Mexico and UWC-USA placed fourth out of 45 teams during a national competition that tests students’ knowledge of international relations, current events and foreign policy issues.
UWC-USA garnered 88 points out of possible 100 during the Academic WorldQuest in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, April 27. Jasper High School from Plano, Texas, took the title with 94 points.
UWC-USA students Paul Joscha Ellsiepen ’20 of Germany, Alejandro Rene Ortiz Lopez ’20 of Venezuela, Karoline Soe Nedergaard ’20 of Denmark and Vidar Axel Oscar Önnerfors ’20 of Luxembourg received an all-expense paid trip to the competition after taking the state title in New Mexico earlier this spring.
Faculty sponsor Naomi Swinton is very proud of the students and grateful to the Santa Fe Council on International Relations, which organized and sponsored teams from New Mexico to participate.
“The event was very inspiring, demonstrating great knowledge among the students of current events, economics and global issues,” Swinton said. “Our team from UWC-USA worked hard to prepare and learned a lot in the process. I hope more schools from New Mexico will join in next year.”
The competition was based on 10 key global affairs issues and students are quizzed on 10 questions for each topic including how to deal with North Korea and the global refugee and migration crisis.