As many new clubs have popped up this year, it’s hard to know which ones to join. Model UN is a recent addition to the plethora of new clubs, and it’ll be a great education experience for those who wish to join.
“You’ll learn a lot about things that you won’t necessarily learn in any of your common classes. And also you’ll gain a lot of really good public speaking skills and research skills,” said Isaac Rudiger, one of the students running the club.
Model UN is inspired by the United Nations, and gives students the opportunity to role-play as members of the United Nations. Participating in this club is a perfect way to be an active citizen and better understand other countries’ governments. It’s run by Anna Thornton, Cindy Chen, Rudiger, Reagan Meyer and Sydney Brown in Sadie Adams’ room, 386, on Fridays at lunch. Weekend meetings will start closer to the competition, and will only be an hour or so.
“We pretend to be delegates from a country, and then debate with each other about foreign policy,” said Brown.
The Cleveland team will compete with other schools from around the state. The conference is hosted in Eugene April 26 -28. Every school represents different countries, and this year Cleveland’s been assigned to Iceland and Morocco. However, the designated country will change every year, in order to better educate students on various governments.
Initially, the student leaders had planned on just covering one country, but the amount of students who joined was higher than they anticipated, so the club has expanded to two countries now.
“I’m very excited that Model UN is finally at Cleveland, because it’s something I’ve wanted to participate in for a long time,” said sophomore Elliot Funk.
Sadly, applications closed on Oct. 15, but the club will be open to new members next year. This year, applications were done on a short Google form with just three questions.
“We have a short little application form, but you don’t have to write a massive essay or anything,” said Brown.
The club is mostly student run, but Adams, a history teacher, is the supervisor. In addition, they might receive assistance from previous Model UN participants.
“I know a few people who have formally done Model UN and they’ve all said that they’re willing to help coach us and stuff,” said Rudiger.
When asked what the club would teach students, Rudiger said, “Public policy experience and an insight as to what it would be like to be a politician from one of the countries in the United Nations.”
Overall, the experience will provide valuable insight to the inner workings of different governmental systems, as well as an opportunity to connect with others who find the topic interesting.
