Working With Chicago Public Schools

One of the things I do in my free time is work with the Chicago Public School District to bring Model United Nations to schools that can't afford it otherwise. I do this through my volunteer work with the United Nations Association, and this is my second year helping host the Global Classrooms: Chicago Conference. I really like working with CPS because it is one of the largest school districts in the country, and definitely one that does not have the money to afford strong MUN programs.

Today I met with the head of Global Studies for CPS to discuss ways to help teachers bring MUN to the classroom. Most CPS teachers have zero MUN experience, and thus have a really hard time teaching their students about it. CPS provides only a single MUN trainer for the entire school district, so there is very little attention given to each school. This means that most students are very unprepared when Conference rolls around, mostly because they just haven't really learned enough.

What I'm trying to do is help teachers better understand what Model UN is and how they can use it to supplement Global Studies curriculum. At the end of the month I will be giving a presentation for teachers planning on bringing their students to our Conference this spring, explaining some fun ways they can introduce MUN to their students. Among the different methods to be discussed, my favorite, the Fruits vs. Vegetbales debate will be simulated as an example for teacher.

In doing this work I hope that I can help teachers feel more comfortable helping their students with MUN and I hope I can give them a few tools to motivate their students to get further involved in the program.

Its really rewarding work, and my goal is to have the usual school that wins our Conference not win this year... not because they don't deserve it but because many other schools put in strong efforts too!

xoxox Nora