The erupting chaos of room 129 was silenced by the gavel brought down on the podium at the front of the class. Silence takes over as the student leaders resume their announcements. 

Model United Nations, often referred to as Model UN or MUN, is a group of students who replicate UN conferences as they represent different countries, people and organizations. They work to make solutions to world issues and practice public speaking. They recently completed the Austin High School Model UN conference Sept. 27 and had 36 delegates representing Westlake, with over 10 taking home awards. 

MUN, only becoming a class four years ago, has become an incubator for students interested in public speaking, negotiation and community. Alongside the student leaders, senior officer Vedant Sacheendran and senior officer Saransh Jain, senior secretary General Harper Quale oversees and plans events for the class. AP Gov teacher and MUN sponsor Jeff Antoon also oversees the class, allowing the students to learn from each other and help others grow together. 

“They teach the class and I oversee it,” Antoon said. “I make sure the class is a class. It’s an easy class, so when we have to do stuff they’re so used to wanting to do their own thing. That’s usually when the student leaders take over, and I let them lead.”

While Antoon provides general guidance and structure to the class for the students, the elected student leaders are primarily responsible for running the class and planning the schedule for what to tackle each day. 

”The biggest thing we do is creating the lessons and teaching them,” Sacheendran said. “MUN teaches a lot of core skills. It teaches about politics, geopolitics, economics and diplomacy. The biggest advantage is that it’s kind of taught naturally. We try to really emphasize teaching through activities.”

Since 2019, students have taken home over 75 both national and state awards and recognitions. 

“We’re growing from COVID, which destroyed everything right to now, so it’s the best year we’ve had,” Antoon said. “We have so many more students. We have officers that are showing up, and we’re winning awards.”

This season, the MUN team aims to build on its momentum, focusing on their speech and confidence in critical thinking. The awards achieved by the students highlight the time and effort they have put into the program and the impact attending conferences offers for them to boost their performance. Also, the life-long skills gained through taking MUN can create a strong foundation for students in every field of work. 

“As Secretary-General, I run our Monday club meetings, help teach and guide students in the class and coordinate our trips to conferences,” Quale said. “I also lead the planning for our own Westlake-hosted conference.”

Academically and personally, the students feel they gain an advantage by practicing diplomacy, critical thinking and persuasive public speaking. 

”We have about five or six conferences a year, and each one is a full-day activity, it’s like eight hours,” Jain said. “Students go and they represent countries, and they work together to solve problems.”

 Looking ahead, Antoon plans to continue expanding and developing the program alongside his student leaders. Currently, MUN is prepping for their upcoming Central Texas Model UN conference Nov. 8-9. Students are working on their extensive research and articulating their respective nations’ stances in preparation. 

“Ahead of time before every conference, each person will choose a committee they want to be in which will tackle a student topic, and they’ll already do the research and everything,” Sacheendran said. “So during that eight-hour period, they’ll be talking to the delegates, writing notes to them, negotiating and eventually writing a resolution that benefits the country they’re representing.” 

As MUN continues to gain traction both in the classroom and at conferences, its members have been setting their goals for what’s to come. Following the Central Texas conference, the students and leaders will shift their focus to preparing for this year’s national conference.

MUN officers encourage interested students to join and hope to get the community’s support to cheer them on as they aim to compete at their national conference in New York March 16-18.