New York’s annual National High School Model United Nations (NHSMUN) conference draws around 5,000 students from more than 75 different countries.
National High School Model UN is an international conference hosting three to five thousand students in Midtown Manhattan every March. In this conference, high school students act as delegates for real countries in a simulated United Nations (UN) environment. Students debate global, real-world issues, write resolutions, and work to defend those resolutions.
AHS’s Model UN club students work tirelessly for months to prepare for the NHSMUN conference, where they push themselves with public speaking, negotiation, and research skills.
Leading the club are AHS’s very own Kayla Kawalick, Josh Berro, and Haylen Gonzalez-Pita, along with the student officers, Josie Jacobs, Khalil Khan Farooqi, Hallie Zilberman, and Jack Diaz.
Kayla Kawalick is a social studies teacher at AHS who has worked here since 2019. She began her role at the Model UN club in 2019.
“Model UN is a chance for students to step into the role of world leaders and diplomats… [to] research and debate global issues from the perspective of a specific country,” Kawalick said.
AHS’s Model UN club allows new members to learn the intricate process without being expected to already have knowledge of everything. Meetings commence every Monday during lunch in the library.
Our delegates recently attended this year’s NHSMUN from March 17 to 21, bringing 30 students from all grades.
“It’s really hard to… remember to argue for your country and not for yourself.… you have to really understand your country’s perspective and stick to it,” Hallie Zilberman said.
Model UN isn’t only about knowing facts off the top of your head. The experience helps students to understand how the real UN works and what skills are needed in the real United Nations.
“What makes Model UN great is that it develops a large number of skills… starting with research… and then negotiating… so I would say that some of the big ones are research, public speaking, and negotiating. And then, to an extent, writing because you have to write resolution papers as well.” Kawalick said.
