On October 19th, Watertown High School’s Model UN (MUN) club went on a trip to New York and had an interview with an ambassador from Ethiopia along with a tour of the United Nations building. Model UN is a simulation of the work and committees of the actual United Nations organization that high school and college students all around the world can participate in. WHS is a part of the Model United Nations program that is based in CT, and includes 25 schools with nearly 750 kids involved. Mrs Kuegler, the WHS Model UN club leader, has been a part of this program on and off for about 18 years. 

The students of WHS are representing Mozambique this year, although because of scheduling, their meeting was with the mission for Ethiopia. Based on the fact that the countries shared similar topics and issues, the students were able to alter their questions to fit the outline of Ethiopia instead of Mozambique. When asked how the trip went, Keugler had said, “[it was] great, one of the best.” She was impressed with the amount of engagement students had, and the trip went just as she had hoped. She was proud of the student’s performance. Fortunately, the hardest part of planning—starting in September—is just making the list of names for each committee, for the mission in October, and the conference in December. 

Differing from previous years, the trip this year was seniors-only, as the date fell on PSAT day. The students also got to tour the United Nations building, this year being the first year they were able to do so. Something she’d want to change for next year would be to meet with the mission of the country they were assigned and have a longer day to do more things with the group in New York. The information gathered from the trip will be implemented into the student’s position papers that represent the country’s perspective on global issues.