The Model United Nations (MUN) class will take their 10th annual trip to New York City on Monday, March 5. They have been preparing and fundraising since the end of last school year in order to attend the nationally acclaimed conference.  

MUN is a student simulation of the proceedings of the United Nations. Students, referred to as Delegates, are assigned a country to represent. Each country has some of the United Nations’ numerous committees with pre-set problematic topics to debate associated with it.

The class researches the background of their assigned country, their country’s position on the debate topics, and prepares notes on possible solutions to the problems the country faces.

This year, the MUN class consists of eleven students and the country they have been given to represent in New York City is Slovenia. Since the class is smaller this year, the group has been given a smaller country.

Preparation for the conference includes intense study of the committee the student has been assigned and the topics associated with it.

Once deep research is conducted, each student then writes a ‘Position Paper’ to prepare them for conference. These essays are college level, written from the point of view of the country represented, and are about the committee topics assigned.

Debbie Smith is on her tenth year teaching MUN and shares her aspirations for the course.

“MUN is an honors course every qualified student should take at least once in their Sandpoint High experience,” Smith said.

Students have the opportunity to expand their knowledge with an experience described by the International High School Model United Nations Association as an “astounding educational experience and a trip of a lifetime.”