Gorham High School students involved in the school’s model United Nations program have spent countless hours studying the workings of the United Nations.

In May, they’ll get the chance to see the real thing.

The Gorham students at have been studying international affairs as part of the program, and have traveled to participate in conferences in New England and Canada.

“It’s been terrific,” said Rachael Grady, a social studies teacher who implemented the model United Nations project at Gorham High School.

Soon, 15 Gorham students are going to get the chance to visit the United Nations building for real when they travel to New York City to participate in a conference with hundreds of other students from around the world.

But traveling isn’t new to Gorham’s model United Nations students. They have also participated in conferences in Montreal, Canada, and at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass.

Grady said Gorham “did wonderfully” at the Montreal conference. A Gorham’s Maia Flemming, earned an honorable mention in the conference attended by 2,000 students, the largest such conference in North America.

This spring, 15 students have signed up for a conference at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., on April 8.

In May, Gorham students will split up, with 17 participating in an event at the University of Southern Maine while a contingent goes to New York at the same time. Grady will accompany the group going to the USM conference while teacher Bob Bond goes with the group to the United Nations.

In a model United Nations conference at Gorham last week, students were divided into groups to make up the General Assembly, an economic and social council, an African Union, the Organization of American States and the Security Council. Principal John Drisko said juniors served as delegates and seniors chaired the sessions.

Each student studied the nation that they would represent in the exercise. “All students wrote a paper about their country,” said D.J. Joffe, who chaired the African Union along with Andy Hager and Brenna Nicely.

Nicely, who got involved with the model United Nations last year, said the project raises global awareness, as students are required to learn about other countries and present ideas. “The public speaking is nerve wracking, more so than the research,” Nicely said.

Junior Mike Hartford agreed with Nicely and said he found public speaking to be the most difficult part of the experience. For research, he followed current news and found the Internet to be a helpful research tool. “You learn a lot about a lot of other countries that you never heard about,” Hartford said.

Cathy Gilbert, who attended the conference in Gorham last week, said her daughter, Theresa Gilbert, represented St. Vincent.

She said the students were spending more time listening to world news, which would help them in future jobs. “I think they’ve done a great job. They’re really representing their countries well,” Cathy Gilbert said as she watched from the sidelines.

Grady said students learned public speaking, negotiating, research, organization and collaboration. The conference was also a good exercise in parliamentary procedure.

The Gorham conference drew people from outside the school. Matt Rothman, a senior at the University of Southern Maine, was on hand at the conference as an observer. He is a member of the university’s Model United Nations team.

Rothman, a Deering High School graduate, will help organize the university’s May conference. Twenty-two high schools and 360 students are set to attend that conference.

Alex Carter, a humanities teacher at the new Casco Bay High School in Portland, attended with a delegation of students. Carter said she and her ninth grade students went to observe the proceedings.

The model United Nations project has been rewarding for Grady as well as the students. Grady has heard from a former Gorham student who has applied for a job at the United Nations. “I feel these guys are going out to save the world,” Grady said.

(u.n. model 5) – Gorham students caucus in the Security Council of a Model United Nations conference last week at Gorham High School.Gorham students heading to the United Nations