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Westminster Christian School senior Valeria Lay-Bernal was instrumental in starting the school’s Model United Nations club.
“We set it up, and in the two-and-a-half years since we did, the club has gone to seven conferences,” she says. “It brings students global and cultural awareness.”
Being in Model UN requires doing research into the topics discussed in the conferences which instills knowledge in the students about the world and how global issues work.
“You’re learning about a topic you wouldn’t learn about in school,” she says. “You’re trying to get your ideas across and make an argument. You have to think really fast. It builds skills that carry in everything you do. The satisfaction of learning so much is my favorite part.”
Lay-Bernal worked with Felipe Londono and Noah Lopez-Calleja on creating the club.
Last year, they organized and put on their own conference called Warrior MUN. In addition to Model UN, Lay-Bernal was secretary of the National Art Honor Society.
“Since seventh grade, I’ve been volunteering at the art and science camp at Westminster,” she says. “I was one of the head counselors for an art room. You had to teach the kids about why what they were making was important. It wasn’t a simple craft, there was a story to go along with it.”
The honor society helped with the art fair.
“I was one of the curators of the art fair in April 2021,” she says. “We set up a ton of exhibits.”
The fair included all visual art students – sculpture, photography and mixed media. There was also an elementary school component. Students displayed one or two pieces and AP Art students displayed their portfolios.
This year she was also president of the French Club. The club has organized French movie nights and members worked with the students in the elementary school French Club.
“There were ten to twelve third through fifth graders,” she says. “We do field trips and activities that promote French Culture.”
They’d also participate in picnics with French foods and talk about French culture. Last summer, she studied abroad in Paris for six weeks.
“I loved it,” she says.
While there, she took two hours of general French and then electives, including writing, art history, media culture and conversational French.
While in previous years she volunteered to work with the French Club elementary students, this year she switched to volunteering at the Author Academy with third graders. She helps the kids write journal entries and poetry.
“Third grade is the age where teachers lead you away from creative writing to informational or argumentative writing,” she says.
The Author Academy helps foster creativity for kids who love writing.
“Creative writing is something I’ve always loved,” she says. “This opportunity sprang up because I became an officer in National English Honor Society. We look at children’s books and see the techniques they use and show the kids how to use them. And we get to write.”
She worked along with senior Leila Barket, and sophomore McKenzie Floyd at the Author Academy.
Over her high school career, Lay-Bernal has been in student leadership, so she has participated in events that welcome new students and make high school special for all students. She has also been responsible for running the student activities’ Instagram account, which meant effectively communicating and engaging with the student body.
In the fall, Lay-Bernal will attend Northeastern University in Boston where she will major in International Business with a concentration on brand management & marketing.
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
