If you’re a high school leader looking to start a Little League of Nations program with your school Model UN team, you’ve come to the right place. Taking initiative of any type can be intimidating, but we’re going to break this down into simple steps.

Contacting Teachers

You’ll have to start by getting in touch with one teacher from your high school. A likely option could be the faculty sponsor for your high school MUN team, but any teacher interested in lending a helping hand works well. Should administrative problems arise, you’ll need a faculty member to help you navigate the roadblocks and smooth over the process.

The second teacher you’ll need to contact is a teacher in the middle school you’re hoping to run your program with. This could be any member of the faculty, but it is important that they’re interested in running a Model UN program. 

To best respond to questions these teachers may have, I recommend having these two conversations in-person. 

Time and Place

During meetings, there are several logistics you’ll need to sort out. Come to your scheduled meeting with an idea of how you ideally envision each of these aspects, but it is just as important to remain flexible with school requirements and/or teacher requests. 

1. First is TIMING.

When are you going to meet with the middle schoolers? Would times during or after the school day be more convenient? What duration works best with the students’ school schedule? 

Recommendation: Look for natural breaks in the school day, or an after-school option. Pander to common student-teacher availability!

2. Second is LOCATION

Where will you hold sessions? What is the school’s requirement for adult supervision?

Recommendation: Make sure your location is accessible to the middle school students. Consider a room on their campus – perhaps your contact teacher’s classroom?

3. Finally, FREQUENCY 

How frequently would you like to run programs?

Recommendation: Your frequency has to work for two groups: your middle school students, and yourself! While you want to provide consistent and frequent opportunities for middle schoolers to engage, equally important is ensuring you’ll be adequately prepared for each session. Balance each carefully, and lean on your faulty support for guidance during this decision!

Building a Team

The final step to establishing your school branch is building up your team. Who else is interested in leading middle school Model UN sessions? Strongly consider reaching out to members of the high school Model UN team!

Once you have members recruited, you can begin delegating sessions. My strong recommendation is that you accompany any new member of your team for their first session to offer support, guidance, and direction. Of equal importance is that you communicate which members will be attending each session with your middle school teacher contact! 

As your team of high school student leaders grows in membership, it will fall on you as a member of team leadership to carefully coordinate between faculty leaders and students.