On the weekend of November 19-20th, Tustin High School hosted another successful Model United Nations conference. The annual conference was attended by over 1200 students from 30 schools, including a delegation of fifteen students from the Czech Republic. Over two days, students acted as representatives from countries discussing current issues, such as Human Rights, International Criminal Law, Narcotics, Terror, the World Health Organization, and World Economics.
The conference is not only an opportunity for Model UN participants to meet students from other Californian high schools but is also a fundraiser to support the Tustin High MUN program.
Model United Nations is a simulation of the United Nations (hence the name “Model” UN) that has its participants (usually students) research a country, become its diplomats, protect its country’s interests while debating with other delegates, consult with other countries, form alliances, and ultimately form solutions to the issues being discussed. Its aim is to have students learn about the international community and how it functions to discuss topics like peace, security, human rights, etc.
In this conference, however, Tustin High went beyond the norm and included historical and even fictional events, including simulations of the American Civil War (with two committees, the Confederates and the Union), the Bay of Pigs Invasion (the CIA and Cuba), and the Lord of the Rings-based Council of Elrond.
The MUN program has functioned at Tustin High School since 1991, evolving from an extracurricular to a four-year academic curriculum that now includes over 300 students.
