Organizing a high school Model United Nations or Model Congress program is not difficult and creates significant benefits for participating students. Model UN and Congress clubs can also increase these benefits by affiliating with the National Forensics League (NFL) and attending regional NFL events. Earning “speaker points,” participating students receive recognition on their graduation diplomas and can add an important extra curricular activity very appealing to colleges and universities.
How to Start a Model UN or Congress Program
Begin with a small, core group of students that are interested in debate and that keep up with current issues. Assign possible debate topics and separate the students into opposing groups. Ask the students to research the debate topics and formulate arguments.
Meetings should be on a regular basis, ideally once a week either before school or after school. If the school has a special time slot reserved strictly for club activity, hold meetings during these time periods. As students learn the appropriate parliamentary procedure protocols, begin to research venues to attend. Parliamentary procedure will vary between NFL regional events, Model United Nations, and Model Congress competitions.
Finding the Right Venue to Attend
Many colleges and universities host one or more Model United Nations conferences. The Model UN is a very popular high school debate event. Some Model UN conferences are far more competitive than others, despite the reputation of the institution hosting the event. For example, the Duke University Model UN is far less competitive and rigorous than ones hosted by the College of William and Mary or Georgia Tech. Shop around for all regional events.
Model Congress events, more intense and focused that Model UN competitions, are fewer. Most of these competitions are sponsored by Ivy League universities such as Harvard (the premier event as assessed by faculty advisors), Yale, Princeton, and Cornell. The Harvard Congress, however, hosts a west coast competition in San Francisco that is decidedly low key and offers a good “training ground” for Model Congress participants.
Local NFL competitions, of which there are many regional conferences in every state, also offer Model Congresses, albeit at a far more simplified version than those hosted by Ivy League institutions. However, these weekend competitions expose students to the rudimentary scope of political debate, adhere to a less rigorous Parliamentary Procedure, and enable first time students to gain valuable speaker experience.
The NFL website will enable teacher advisors and program moderators to find local competitions that feature a “Congress,” often only one day events such as on a Saturday. Attending these events is extremely affordable with low cost registration fees as opposed to national competitions like Harvard or Princeton.
Peer Leadership and Faculty Oversight
Developing a peer leadership group should be a goal for any faculty advisor assigned to moderate a Model UN or Model Congress program. Just as the college and university programs tend to be extra curricular activities led by and facilitated by students, so too should the high school program. One goal of any such high school program should be fostering leadership.
Oversight involves handling the financial aspects of the competitions and conferences and ensuring that the logistics (travel and possible overnight lodging) will run smoothly. Oversight also involves consistent and constant training. Until a peer leadership group, developed over several years of experience, can facilitate training (practice sessions, research, etc.), the faculty advisor must assume the burden of preparing participants.
Record keeping is essential since students earn “speaker points” with the NFL (assuming the faculty advisor has registered the school with the national group). These points will determine NFL rankings that are ultimately reflected on diploma endorsements.
Model UN or Model Congress participation is a worthwhile extra curricular that attracts notice by college admissions officials. With minimal work and effort, it is easy to develop a high school program that can be competitive.
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