Left to right: Ranney School junior Mike Longo, senior Charlie Fabricant, sophomore Luke Denver-Moore, and senior Caroline Epstein hold their certificates and gavels from the recent Harvard Model Congress competition.
Press release from Ranney School
Students from Red Bank and Rumson were among four Ranney School upper schoolers who brought home recognitions — including two Best Delegate honors — at the annual Harvard Model Congress event, held February 23 and 24 in Boston, MA.
Luke Denver-Moore of Red Bank, Ranney Class of 2019, was recognized by his committee chair as the Best Delegate for his ability to guide his committee as they successfully passed a number of bills, including the Autonomous vehicular Ingenuity and Development Act, which he co-authored and pushed through both the House and Senate during the two-day event that provides select students with a working model of the federal legislation process.
Charlie Fabricant of West Allenhurst, Class of 2017, was also recognized as Best Delegate of the National Economic Council after authoring a Social Security reform bill that was passed into law toward the end of the conference. His 2017 classmate Caroline Epstein of Rumson earned an Honorable Mention certificate for her work on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which led to legislation affecting refugees and national security, as well as social media encryption and Secret Service reforms.
The work of Wall Township resident Mike Longo, Class of 2018, on the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee earned him an Honorable Mention. He co-authored and argued on behalf of several successful bills, including the Development Relief and Differentiation Act and the Patent Specificity and Education Act, both of which deal with patent law.
Advisor and history teacher Mark DiGiovanni, who chaperoned the students along with History Teacher Erin Adler, explained that the two-fold goal of the conference was achieved in that “Students learned about the convoluted intricacies of American government, and they developed essential leadership skills.”
“This conference served as a model of exactly what we aim to do with our students every day: provide project-based experiential learning,” he continued. “They had to develop policy based on briefing packets, taking into account the diverse viewpoints that would have to approve of the bill. Then, they had to argue in front of their committee and the entire assembled Senate or House for passage.”
