A new Model United Nations (MUN) club has started at Don Juan Avila Middle School, informing students about the program with activities surrounding how it would be like to take the class at Aliso Niguel.
Run by Daniel Robertson, a teacher at the DJAMS, the program aims to encourage students to take the class in high school to help keep the program at Aliso alive. Monique Reilly, the teacher for the MUN club at Aliso, is also working with Mr. Robertson in order to ensure that the program will become a success.
MUN is a course and also a club that students can participate in, whether they are interested in the class itself or attending conferences. It is a mock academic program for students to experience and participate in mock international diplomacy in the same way that the United Nations works worldwide.
Mrs. Reily says, “DJAMS is just in its infancy in starting a club on campus and will hopefully feed students into our programs that have some background knowledge of Model United Nations as coming in as a freshman.”
They hope that the program at DJAMS will allow for seniors to graduate and have underclassmen take up leadership positions at the club and allow for the program to continue and thrive.
MUN helps students to become more aware citizens, allowing for students to talk about contemporary global challenges. The club is also now A-G recognized, so colleges will now accept it as an academic elective.
Mrs. Reily says, “It looks great on a college application because it differentiates you from other college applicants, because not all schools have this program and because the program has been functioning nationally for over 70 years.”
Many college admissions officers recognize the program as a unique opportunity for students, especially for high school students to participate in. It allows for students to pursue deeper research and analysis in topics that they are interested in, whether it is gender studies, poverty or national security, so there is a lot of flexibility for students.
If the feeder club becomes a success and hopefully spreads to other middle schools, then hopefully, the MUN club at ANHS can host some conferences at the school too instead of only attending other schools’ conferences.
