The Bernards High School delegation to Harvard Model Congress recently returned from the 41st edition of the meeting in Boston, Massachusetts. Thirty-two students, including both seniors and juniors, attended the meeting, led by teacher chaperones Mr. Kaplan, Ms. Pietroluongo, and Nurse Urena. This year’s conference was a particularly memorable one, as the group was forced to make an early departure due to the incoming snow storm that was set to hit the east coast on what would have been the last day of the conference.
Harvard Model Congress is a worldwide program that takes place every year in five locations: Boston, San Francisco, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Each year the location for the European, Asian and Middle Eastern delegation changes, with the 2026 congress meeting in Madrid, Tokyo, and Qatar respectively. Students from around the nation participate in the Boston edition of the congress which takes place in the Sheridan Hotel.
On Thursday morning at 7:30, the group found their seats on the bus and got ready for the four hour drive up to Boston. After calling attendance and a quick rendition of “Happy Birthday” for Mr. Kaplan, the group was on the road.
After a brief lunch break at a rest stop in Connecticut, the group arrived at the Boston Sheridan Hotel where they dropped off their luggage in the hotel rooms and attended the opening ceremony. This year’s ceremony was headlined by keynote speaker Andrea Campbell, the current Attorney General of Massachusetts.
Following the introduction ceremony it was time for the thirty-two students to split up into their respective committees, where after a few opening ice breakers it was time for Harvard Model Congress to truly begin. This year’s delegation for Bernards High School had a ratio of twenty-one seniors to eleven juniors, all split up into eight rooms of four students each. Sixteen of the thirty-two students were first time attendees.
Sixten Alstrom, a senior and first time attendee, said that before his first committee meeting he was “kind of nervous but mostly excited”.
That feeling of nervous-excitement filled the air as students from all across the world met together for the first time on Thursday afternoon. Thursday’s schedule included two committee sessions from 3:45-5:30 and 7:30-9:30. BHS students were given free reign of nearby restaurants for dinner during the two hour break between committee sessions.
Following the end of the second committee meeting, the group went back up to the fourteenth floor of the hotel to get some much needed rest for the upcoming day. Friday, also known as “Harvard Day” for the delegates, provides the opportunity for students to tour the campus of Harvard University. At 9:00 in the morning Mr. Kaplan took a group of students to Harvard to tour the campus and nearby area. Though the Harvard experience was not required, fourteen of the thirty-two students chose to go.
Charlie Quinn ‘27 was one of those students who opted for the tour of campus, saying “I really wanted to see the campus and enjoy being in Boston during our short trip there”. Quinn said that his favorite part of the tour was “going into the bookstore with friends.”
Many of the seniors who had already spent last year’s Harvard Day touring the campus decided to explore around Boston instead, mainly nearby Newbury street.
Jessica Fu ‘26 was one of these seniors, who said her “favorite store on Newbury Street was Newbury Comics…it was amazing to see the wide variety of merchandise that the store offered.”
After returning to the conference, committee sessions began again at 1:00 and did not conclude fully until 6:30 that evening. BHS students continued to work tirelessly to create and pass legislation, finding incredible success in doing so. Friday night the group went for their first “family dinner” at Fire and Ice, a hibachi buffet-style restaurant that has become an HMC favorite for the Bernards High School delegation each year.
Saturday was a full day of committee sessions, beginning at 9:30. The morning included the first full sessions for the Senate and the House of Representatives, where committees combined and presented a variety of bills to a larger group. Following full-session and lunch the committees returned to regular meetings for their last committee session of the Congress.
Near the end of lunch, however, Mr. Kaplan called for a meeting in the lobby to tell the group some news. Due to the impending storm set to hit the area the following day, the group was now going to leave that night following the final dinner. This meant that the group would miss the last day, which included one last full committee session, the closing ceremonies, and the “delegate social”, a dance held on Saturday night every year.
Mr. Kaplan said that “After tracking the forecast, consulting with my amazing chaperones and administration, and contacting the bus company, leaving on Saturday was the only way to ensure total safety for a group of students that I truly love.”
With this new information, it meant that the students had one last chance to make the most of the weekend in their final committee sessions. At 5:00, committee sessions completed, and the delegates raced to their rooms to frantically pack and change for dinner and the bus ride home.
Dinner was at Maggianos, another tradition for Bernards while at HMC. Immediately following dinner the group went back to the hotel and loaded onto the bus for the four hour drive back to Bernardsville.
Despite the early exit, Bernards High School still brought home multiple awards. Charlie Quinn ‘27, Ana Borbolla-Menare ‘26 and Jack Ecklund ‘26 won best delegate awards, and seniors Andrew Tropp and Lorelei Traynor brought home honorable mentions.
Mr. Kaplan praised this year’s delegation, saying “This year’s group set themselves apart because of their inclusivity and adaptability. Everyone truly looked out for one another and nobody was left out”, highlighting the drive back home as one of his favorite memories of the trip.
What could have been a sad drive back, full of sorrow, turned into a joyful, karaoke filled night as the group celebrated another successful trip to Harvard Model Congress.
