Logan Tullai, Model UN club president and senior

What is Model UN and what does Model UN do throughout the school year?

“At Model UN competitions, you represent a country or a position and debate with other members of a committee to come to a resolution. It really teaches how to debate and resolve international, national and historical issues. The club meets every Thursday and conducts simulations that mirror the conferences we attend throughout the year.”

How is the club adapting to COVID-19?

“Last spring, we quickly transitioned our meetings to Zoom for the rest of the school year. This year, we have been able to have meetings in person every Thursday while also hosting a concurrent Zoom meeting so students can still participate in the meeting if they cannot come in person. The conferences we regularly attend went all virtual this year, but they went very smoothly and were still a great experience.”

Sandy Gardner, Model UN club sponsor 

How do conferences typically work?

“We go away on conferences. We didn’t this year but normally we do, we go away over weekends, about three or four times a year. And we get really close (and) travel together, so that seems to be a really fun atmosphere for kids to be in. We go to (colleges) like (Indiana University), Notre Dame and Vanderbilt. We used to go to Richmond, but we usually go pretty close, and we’ll get people from Kentucky, Florida, New York and local high schools (as well).”

How can students become involved in Model UN?

“We’re open to students coming in at any time during the year. It doesn’t have to be the beginning of the year. There’s not a certain number of hours that they have to be participating.  We welcome people and we just want people to come in and, you know, participate every week, but there is a Remind code (and) we do have some things on social media that are out there but they can contact me, and I can give them the Remind code and then they can be able to get linked in. And then we also have announcements that we have but it’s every Thursday, either in E224 or E208. We have meetings every week right now (that will continue) until the end of the year.”