Weeks and months of preparation came down to four days for Wilbraham & Monson Academy’s Model Congress program, and once again, despite a grueling and pressure-packed environment, the Titans delivered.

Three students from WMA - Colin Moussette ’26, Thiago Pinho Mota ’28 and Max Li ’27 - were recognized for their performance at this year’s Harvard Model Congress, which was held in Boston, Massachusetts, Feb. 19-22. The 41st annual event drew more than 1,500 students from nearly 100 high schools from throughout the country.

Colin and Thiago both won Best Delegate Awards based on their efforts within their respective committees. Meanwhile, Max was an Honorable Mention recipient.

Colin served as President Donald J. Trump’s Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent. He said the “goal of my role was to address the economic needs of the nation regarding student loans and loan forgiveness plans while keeping the President's agenda in mind. Our topics ranged from student loan forgiveness to manufacturing and infrastructure across the USA.”

A rarity, Colin repeated as a Best Delegate winner. “Winning at (Harvard Model Congress) is always special, and I am beyond proud of the work we did as an entire community in preparation for our committee. While I am grateful for the victory, I am even more thankful for the experience and the opportunity to improve my oratory and public speaking skills. Being recognized for my dedication to speech and debate two years in a row at Harvard is a high honor, but I owe it all to Dr. (Anthony) Kandel and his desire to see the best in all of his pupils. There is simply no better way to end my time as Vice President of the program than with a win in his honor.”

Thiago portrayed Celeste Malloy, Utah’s 2nd Congressional District Representative. He worked “to allow states to use federal lands for diverse purposes (housing, resource extraction) and to increase pipeline infrastructure and safety throughout the United States.”

Even though this was Thiago’s first time participating in Model Congress, he used his experience from Model United Nations as guidance. “I was pretty relaxed in terms of expectations but nervous in terms of what was I supposed to do. Thankfully I adapted quickly and was able to participate and win an award at the conference, but it was pretty nerve-racking to get there. For me, the conference was an amazing time and I’m glad I was able to participate and represent WMA when winning the award.”

This was Max’s sixth year of participating in Model Congress. He served as Derek Theurer, President Trump’s Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, with his task “to maintain fiscal discipline, protect long-term solvency of the federal government, promote sustainable economic growth, and ensure taxpayer accountability.”

Max used his significant Model Congress experience, as well as his knowledge of the topic, to his advantage.

“Having participated for a long time, I found myself less focused on speaking the most and more focused on speaking with clarity and purpose,” Max explained. “Representing the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury allowed me to draw heavily on my background in business and economics. My experience studying markets and fiscal policy gave me a framework to approach debates with structure and discipline. In many ways, this role felt like a natural extension of the work I’ve already been doing outside the conference room. I was especially grateful for the opportunity to connect Model UN with the field I'm passionate about.”