There are lots of clubs at LHS, and many have been around for a long time. Some like Model UN are brand new.
Model UN was founded by two students, sophomore Emily Nguyen and junior Clara Walker. They founded the club last year, but the club started up and running this school year. Both Walker and Nguyen wanted to found MUN, since there isn’t another Model UN club in the district.
“Honestly, I had always wanted to do a MUN at this school, but hadn’t taken the initiative so I was very very happy to be involved,” Walker said.
Model UN is a club for people who want to be involved with politics, government or are just interested in learning more about current events. The club mimics what the United Nations actually does. Students get the chance to discuss world issues and they write papers to help resolve those issues.
“We participate in ‘mock sessions’ in which you vote on certain issues as the country you choose,” Walker says. “We also have other events like SLAMUN [St. Louis Model UN], which is about working in committees to solve a more pressing issue in a smaller amount of time.”
Since both Walker and Nguyen founded the club, they both run meetings to talk about issues at hand. Nguyen’s job for MUN is making slideshows for each meeting as well as finding opportunities for people in the club.
“I lead the cabinet discussion that we have with our leadership team,” Nguyen said.
MUN meets every Wednesday during Blue SOAR time in Mrs. Hickerson’s room every two weeks. Sometimes they don’t have meetings because they need them. The atmosphere in MUN is very uplifting and inviting according to Walker. She says that it’s really wonderful “to see students excited about a club I helped start.” Both Walker and Nguyen say that their public speaking has really improved since they founded MUN.
“It has really helped me like public speaking more and speak more comfortably with people that I don’t really know,” Nguyen said. “Especially because it puts you in an environment where you’re meeting other people that you have never talked to before, so it kind of forces you to go out there.”
Walker says that meetings are always fun and they have very collaborative discussions. “We have made really good memories at our meetings, like the rainbow dog attendance and making a cake pop poster in less than 20 minutes. It’s so fun.”
