Earlier this year, politically minded Darrick Wood School students, Lauren Bond and Tommy Velvick, decided to set up a Model United Nations (MUN) at the school. The MUN is a simulation of the real United Nations and students enjoy weekly meetings of lively debates, where resolutions are made on topical global issues.
I spoke to Tommy and Lauren about this venture. For Tommy, the MUN allowed him to act on his interest in geopolitics and the UN, and he thought “it would be very intriguing to replicate it in our school.” Not only this, but as many of the students who participate are A level Politics students, it proved a great opportunity to tie a club into their studies, in which the UN is a big part. Tommy explains “it’s like a debate, but with an added role-playing dimension.”
I asked what the benefits to the school would be and for both Lauren and Tommy, who stated that they are “really proud to be one of the only state schools to run a Model United Nations.” They believe that a programme as exciting as this shouldn’t just be left for those in private schools, who often devote more time to developing debating skills.
As the curators of this club, Tommy and Lauren have found great benefits themselves, learning valuable skills in leadership, flexibility and planning. Tommy explains how they often have to plan sessions close to delivery as it enables them to “tailor our sessions to what our delegates need.” He also adds that “it really taught us to be flexible and appreciate the progress that we all make as a group and has ultimately been a learning experience for all of us.”
Each week a topic is chosen, and each delegate (student) is assigned a country they must defend from the position that that country’s government takes. Delegates write a resolution on the topic and then there will be an opportunity to debate the resolution, make amendments to it, before a conclusive vote. Tommy pointed out the premise is very similar to the actual UN, except for very minor differences in procedure, for example “in the Model United Nations you can respond to a slanderous comment towards your country, but that doesn’t happen in the actual UN.”
Darrick Wood’s MUN currently consists of around 10 people. For Tommy “the great thing about MUN though, is that a debate between two people can be just as interesting, vigorous and intense as a debate where there’s 15 people. I think that’s part of the charm.”
Both Lauren and Tommy are delighted to see that the delegates are making lots of progress in their MUN skills and are now looking to go to conferences to put their skills to the test. Tommy explains “we are in the early stages of planning a trip to a conference in Berlin in February 2025, which would be amazing for our group.”
