Model United Nations, MUN for short, is the perfect club for students who have an interest in foreign policies, problem solving, and collaborative thinking. MUN, which  has been a club at Erie High School for the past almost five years, is a club for students to work together with students from across the state to solve international problems, just like how the real United Nations does.  

Members of this club can sign up to participate in a conference each month. The conferences are held at different schools throughout the state, and in April, Erie joins Skyline to host a conference at EHS.  At the conferences each student gets assigned a country to represent and a topic to help solve. The purpose is to act as a delegate from the real United Nations, and have knowledge of their policies and perspectives. 

Preparing for a conference can be a quite extensive process. Each delegate is required to turn in a one page essay known as a “Position Paper” which details their countries views on the issue and some possible solutions. The more prepared and knowledgeable the delegate is, the more productive and successful the conference will be. While this process may seem like a lot of work, many members say that it is their favorite part. “My favorite part is either researching the background of the country assigned to me or going to the conference and meeting new people.”

There are also four awards that can be won, and that look great on college applications; Best Delegate, Outstanding Delegate, Honorable Mention, and Best Position Paper. These awards are based on how well you perform, based on the judges standards. 

This year the Erie team has participated in conferences at Kent Denver, Valor Christian, and CU, and now they’re looking forward to their out of state trip. In the past the team has gone to Copenhagen, Denmark and Vancouver Canada. The international trips have been canceled for the past two years due to COVID, but now they are back in business. This March the team will be going to New York City to represent the country of Côte d’Ivoire in different councils. The team has been working on doing research for the past few weeks and our very prepared to represent Erie in the big city

The students that will be going on the trip include three seniors, one junior, and four freshmen. When asked about the conference Freshman Wyatt Ball stated; “I am looking forward to being in a multi day conference with people from multiple schools outside of Colorado. I have worked on preparing mentally for a larger, more complex conference than I am used to.” 

The club’s sponsor, Mrs. Trinkner, has been helping plan and organize the whole trip. Mrs. Trinkner has been joined by a parent volunteer, Chanel Adams, who has been creating an agenda and finding fun activities for the group to do while in New York. “I love traveling and I am somewhat familiar with NYC so I thought I could be a benefit for the group in organizing the travel and the touring that they would be doing.  I helped find affordable flights, transportation, and also tourist opportunities such as the 9/11 Memorial and Museum and the Natural History Museum.”

With only about a week left until the conference the team has submitted their position papers, and are putting the final touches on their research. The team has their itineraries set, and all that’s left to do is pack their bags with their suits, skirts, and other business outfits.