Model UN

In April, several of our Upper School students attended their first in-person Model UN Conference at Appleby College. While students participated in numerous online conferences last year and held their own internal debate as well, this was an exciting opportunity to go face-to-face with students from schools all over Southern Ontario.

Model UN is a miniature version of the United Nations. Students join a particular topic conference and are then assigned a country to represent. They don't get to choose their country or position, which pushes students to think from a multitude of perspectives, often taking a position they would not naturally hold. Students learn to debate following parliamentary procedures; they learn to work together with "countries" that have similar, but not equal, views; and they learn to hold their position against the opposing views held by other countries. Model UN not only embodies the IB philosophy of thinking from global perspectives, but also engaging with ideas and people who hold views they would never embrace themselves.

It's exciting to see this club grow at SJA. The Southern Ontario Model United Nations (SOMA) Model UN at the University of Toronto was held on April 24-26. Students experienced their first multi-day Model UN. Sarah S and Ilias F helped prepare the team this year. This was the 50th “iteration” of the SOMA.

SOMA attracts over 750 delegates across North America yearly, is one of the oldest and largest Model United Nations Assemblies in Canada and “fosters a constructive forum for discussion on complex global issues.”