For the third year in a row, Lambert’s Model United Nations (MUN) club is hosting what it calls “Mini MUN” – an in-house conference for middle schoolers. By signing up from middle schools in the area, students can attend Mini MUN right here at Lambert on February 24.

Model United Nations, also referred to as Model UN or simply MUN, is a club where students participate in a simulation of the actual United Nations (UN). Students join the club to attend conferences hosted by colleges where they can participate in this simulation with other students from across the state. Students representing countries’ delegations attend these conferences to participate in a variety of different UN committees and win awards. For MiniMUN, Lambert’s Model UN will do much the same thing – replacing colleges with Lambert’s club and high school students with middle schoolers. 

Delegates will participate in a variety of different committees, most based on actual UN organizations such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) or the World Health Organization (WHO) and one special committee called a crisis committee based on “Star Wars.” The crisis committee is a new addition this year, which is set in the world of “Star Wars” and allows participants to play fictional characters instead of countries as they deal with a crisis set in the fictional world of the movie series.

Around four nearby middle schools, including Riverwatch and Fulton Science Academy, have already signed up and plan to send their students to the conference. Other students can also sign up independently and come to the conference without representing a school. The club hopes that the conference will pass on their passion for Model UN as well as recruit new members at the high school level. 

“Just like colleges host them for high school students, a high school hosting one for middle schoolers is kind of paying it forward,” Model UN Secretary and Junior Celina Simone said. “We’re also trying to recruit middle school members who may come to high school after their eighth-grade year”

Celina, alongside Naina Agrawal and Janice Rho, is one of the three chairs that’s running this year’s conference. She emphasized how the conference can serve as a learning experience for both middle schoolers and high schoolers new to Model UN.

“For high schoolers…I think it’s really beneficial for you to come and just see how we roll, understand those dynamics between chair and delegates, and get the gist of parliamentary procedure,” Celina added. “And if you’re in middle school, you should definitely sign up to get introduced.”

Preparing for months, Model UN members have worked to serve a variety of roles in the conference. Club members will do everything from organizing individual committees as chairs to handling technology issues and even ensuring that kids have fun during the conference. The club looks forward to its third year providing this amazing opportunity for middle school and high school students alike!