Model United Nations club holds first meeting of the year
The club, now open to all students, aims to expand students knowledge of government
January 16, 2023
The Model United Nations club held its first ever meeting Tuesday, Jan. 10. This is the second year that the school will be participating in Model UN, expanding to a club this year to allow more students to join. Meetings will be held from 3 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. every other Tuesday in English teacher Kristen Huang’s classroom, room A-201.
Club co-president senior Sarah Johnston breaks down what the club does.
“Model United Nations is an extracurricular activity offered to students in Mill Valley to learn about international politics and to practice public speaking skills,” Johnston said. “Essentially, what it is, is a simulation of the real United Nations for high school students. They get to draft resolutions, ask questions [and] give speeches.
Last year, the club was open only to students in the Voyagers program, the district’s gifted education program. This year, the opportunity will be open to all students. Sophomore Carter Tollman, a returning member of the club, is optimistic about the change.
“We did really well [last year],” Tollman said. “I’d like to continue that, and even though it’s a little bit different this year, I think it’s a really good opportunity. I’m glad that a lot of other students now are going to get the opportunity to participate.”
Last year, due to the activity being restricted to the Voyagers classroom, only six students participated. This meant the club only represented one country at their competition, Ireland. According to Tollman, expanding the club’s reach has also expanded the number of countries the team will represent in smaller groups, known as delegations.
New member junior Meron Abebe is looking forward to her experiences with the club.
“I’m looking forward to meeting new people, and obviously getting to defend a country’s policies,” Abebe said. “There’s a competition at [Johnson County Community College] in April, which I’m hyped for.”
Johnston believes that joining the club can be a valuable experience for students and that it can provide them with short-term benefits as well as long-term ones.
“Students should join Model United Nations because not only does it look great on resumes and college applications, but it also helps expand your worldview,” Johnston said. “[It] teaches you a lot of really useful skills that you can apply to other areas of school such as research, paper writing, or just public speaking in general.”
