A million things are going through your head, amazement, shock, and happiness, as you are called up to receive your award in front of hundreds of people. This was Ankeny High School (AHS) senior Kalini Cheddie’s experience as she received the Champion of Justice Award at Model United Nations’s (UN) Muscatine conference.

Cheddie has been in Model UN for two years. She decided to join during her junior year, due to her interest in political science and it being the only extracurricular offered in the field at AHS.

“I decided to join Model UN, as I like meeting people and having constructive debate with people who don’t necessarily share the same views as me and enjoy finding solutions to tough problems,” Cheddie said.

What is Model UN?

Model UN is a simulation of the General Assembly of the United Nations. Students will look at important issues in the world and draft amendments that benefit the country they are representing.

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“It is a simulation of the General Assembly of the United Nations. We get a country assigned to us and then we represent that country’s interests over the course of a few different committees,” Richardson said.

There are usually two Model UN conferences a year, one in the fall and the other in the spring. The fall conference is held in the state Capitol building, while the spring conference is held at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI).

“We have a fall conference held in the state Capitol and it’s a precursor conference where students get their training on initial parliamentary procedure. In the spring we do a two-day conference at UNII, that is always a wonderful experience,” Richardson said.

The two-day conference hosts 60-300 students. Students are then split into groups and a topic is randomly selected for students to draft amendments around. After all groups have drafted their resolutions, the chairs, people who lead the parliamentary procedure, submit choices for outstanding delegates.

“Students will go in prepared to discuss two different topics related to their committee and each committee has an umbrella topic like political security or social and humanitarian. They don’t know which they will talk about first, so they have to be prepared to talk about either,” Richardson said.

AHS has a Model UN branch that has been going on for several years. It is available for anyone to join regardless of experience in the political landscape. Students will be assigned to a country for a conference and then research and draft position papers. 

Topics for position papers change from conference to conference, but there are some topics that are constants like economics, politics, and social-humanitarian.

“We don’t know our topics until we learn about the conference, they change every year, but there are some familiar topics,” Richardson said.

Kendra Richardson has been teaching at Ankeny High School for eleven years and has been the Model UN advisor for seven years. She decided to become the Model UN coach based on the recommendation of a peer.

“They needed a person to coach Model UN and I thought it sounded interesting. It’s become something I really enjoy,” Richardson said.

The club does not meet all the time, but Richardson has time after school on Wednesday for students to seek assistance. She helps students get ready for conferences by giving students ideas on how to write their position papers, and advice at conferences, but does not directly help them find solutions.

“I might throw out ideas, but it’s ultimately on the students to plan out their strategy, write their position papers, and be the ones who do these negotiations. It’s a very student-led club,” Richardson said.

Model UN has been a great learning opportunity for students, it allows them to learn more about issues and topics in other countries, and it has also built up skills like communication which are vital to diplomacy.

“You learn how to communicate with people, navigate diplomatic arguments, and how to research obscure topics like cybercrime and human cruelty,” AHS senior Morgan Conklin said.

The team has won many awards for their work. At the fall conference last year, newcomers and AHS seniors Carter Ross and Finn Stukerjurgen, won outstanding delegates, in humanitarian and technology committees.

Richardson says she is very proud of her students in Model UN and finds them to be a favorite part of her job.

“I love the students who participate in it. They’re smart, driven, and passionate about global issues,” Richardson said. “The type of kid attracted to Model UN is the type of kid I want to run the world.” 

The Model UN team currently consists of five members, and is a reportedly tight-knit environment, as everyone gets along and uses each other for support. 

“They are super fun, outgoing, and super smart. It’s a very welcoming group. We bounce ideas off each other and offer support, it’s easy to write papers with that support system,” states Cheddie.

However, the team used to be bigger. During COVID-19 Model UN struggled, as big conferences shifted to virtual meetings, which failed to have the energy that in-person conferences had.

“We did virtual conferences and it sucked the fun out of it,” Richardson said. “The energy wasn’t there, and the connection-making wasn’t there.”

Despite this setback, Richardson plans to grow the Model UN team in the future and wants the team to attend an international conference in Chicago. 

Muscatine conference

Model UN usually only holds two conferences, but this year the team attended the new Muscatine Leadership Conference hosted by the Stanley Center for Peace and Security from January 29-30.

This event was unique as it brought students from China over to Iowa to attend the conference. 

“There were lots of Chinese students that flew in and it was fun to get to meet them and learn more about them,” Conklin said.

The Model UN team was assigned to represent China at the conference. The team split into different committees such as INTERPOL, World Intellectual Property Organization, and Crisis Committee. 

Cheddie along with her friend Conklin were involved in INTERPOL and drafted an exchange where a developing country would be provided resources to build up their electronic assets, making them less susceptible to cybercrime. This was in exchange for an alliance with the developed nation.

As a result of Cheddie’s and the Model UN team’s efforts, she would go on to win the Champion of Justice award. The award is given to students who promote developing nations with their policies and only one is given per committee.

“I was really surprised. I really thought Russia was going to get it,” she said.

Cheddie’s success

Cheddie has come a long way since she started her journey in Model UN. When she first started Model UN, it was very intimidating for her to author an amendment and speak up, but she has grown better at writing amendments and defending them.

“[Kalini] has grown by leaps and bounds by her ability not just to author amendments, but also defend them,” Richardson said.

Richardson also states that Cheddie’s tenacity and leadership were keys to her success.

“[Kalini] was really good about ensuring people were on the same page as her, she’s a leader and her tenacity is something I think people can learn from,” she said.

Cheddie’s presence has also had a profound effect on her peers. She can reportedly rally others to her side and inspire others to be at their best potential and to be confident about themselves.

“[Kalini] makes you want to be a smarter person and she pushes you to be your best,” Conklin said.

Cheddie says that she is grateful for all those who supported her along the way, especially her parents.

“I am thankful for the support of my peers. Morgan went around and helped push our agenda, but I also want to thank my parents, they have had the biggest impact in my life, they gave me values and principles to which I lead my life,” Cheddie said.

Model UN is something that Cheddie cherishes and she recommends that more people get involved with the club.

“Model UN has been something I enjoy, I’ve learned a lot about communication, made memories, and met so many new people,” Cheddie said “It’s low time commitment and super fun, [and] getting to meet new people makes it worth it.” 

Cheddie plans to use this award to help further her educational goals in college, as she plans to attend Iowa State University, and major in political science. In the future, she is currently looking at becoming a staffer to a representative along with owning her own apartment and adopting rescue animals.

“In the future, I want to become a staff member to a representative, not just to make money, but also to help improve people’s lives,” Cheddie said.