Former State Representative Bill Huizenga will give the awards ceremony address during this year's Model United Nations at Hope College on Friday, March 6, starting at 3:50 p.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel.
Former State Representative Bill Huizenga will give the awards ceremony address during this year's Model United Nations at Hope College on Friday, March 6, starting at 3:50 p.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
The talk will be something of a homecoming for Huizenga. He participated in the Model United Nations, which is designed for high school students, as a student himself, while attending Holland Christian High School.
His talk will focus on leadership, relationships and preparing for the future economy as students enter the work field and advanced studies. Those attending his address are also welcome to attend the awards ceremony for the participating high school students, which will follow immediately afterward.
The purpose of Model United Nations is to give high school students an opportunity to take on the roles of professional diplomats with the goal of achieving a particular country's national objectives while fostering a desired international consensus for real solutions to the questions facing them. Some 650 high school students and faculty from the greater Midwest are attending the event, which is running Thursday-Friday, March 5-6. Hope College's department of political science sponsors the event.
Huizenga was elected to the Michigan legislature in 2002, serving until his term expired earlier this year. From 1996 to 2002 he was director of public policy for U.S. Representative Pete Hoekstra. A native of Zeeland, Huizenga is a graduate of Holland Christian High School and Calvin College.
Huizenga has extensive experience traveling abroad starting at a young age. In addition to studying in Spain for a semester during college, Huizenga has traveled throughout most of Europe and Eastern Europe, and has spent time in Central and South America.
During the past four years, Huizenga served on the Council of State Governments Mid-west/Canada Relations Committee and in 2006 was invited by the Mexican government to be a part of a Michigan delegation that studied U.S./Mexican trade and cultural relations. In 2007, Huizenga was chosen for the prestigious American Council of Young Political Leaders program which singles out political and community leaders who are under 40 years of age from around the country. ACYPL sends small delegations around the globe to experience new cultures and build relationships. Huizenga's delegation traveled to the Philippines.
Currently, Huizenga serves and the director of advancement and promotion for Zeeland Christian School, which is the site for El Puente, an innovative Spanish immersion program. ZCS also has a sister school relationship with a Christian school in Manila, Philippines.
Dimnent Memorial Chapel is located at 277 College Ave., on College Avenue at 12th Street.