Model United Nations, or MUN, has been one of the most popular after school activities since its debut. Ever since, the team has had some level of success in every conference.  They achieved best school at the McLean MUN conference.
It’s not surprising that the team has been successful, though, as most of the students are genuinely excited participants at meetings and conferences. At weekly meetings, you can find roughly 50 hard working students avidly rehearsing speeches they’ve prepared for conferences.
According to the Longfellow Model UN’s website, Longfellow’s Model UN team is one of the best in the area. Model UN is for students interested in learning about world issues and improving public speaking. Conferences are once per month.
Each conference has an opening ceremony where they explain everything participants need to know for the conference. Then, students go to different conference rooms and debate on topics. At conferences, students represent a country or world leader’s view on a particular topic or issue in the world.
Model UN isn’t only an immersing learning experience and after school club, it also provides many benefits that may prepare you for the future.
“Model UN helps you get better at debating and it’s based off of the real UN,” stated Lauren V., Longfellow’s MUNDirector of General Logistics. “You learn a lot about world issues and how to speak about them with your peers.”
Lauren also mentioned skills such as cooperation, since they are dealing with people from different schools, and research skills, since they have to prepare before going to conferences.
“The Board of Directors puts in a lot of work to make presentations beforehand,” Lauren expressed.
The presentations teach MUN participants how to write position papers and how to be better debaters.
Bennett B. is the president of Longfellow’s Model UN, and his mother also helps run the club. She directs behind the scenes jobs such as enrolling the team in Model UN conferences, taking care of transportation, preparing materials, and leading practices.
Overall, the team has been quite successful in past conferences. In addition to winning awards such as Best Middle School, they have several star players with independent recognition.