United Nation’s 80th year inspires another year of PCHS’s Model U.N. Club

Taken at the United Nations in New York City, inside the Security Council room, now-Park City High School senior Augie Roepke and his brother, Root, Class of '25, Photo: TownLift // Michele Roepke

PARK CITY, Utah — This week, while the United Nations is holding its 80th session of the General Assembly inviting the leaders of over 175 nations to meet in-person in New York City, the Park City High School’s Model UN Club is beginning its newest year as well.

Today President Trump addressed the audience at the UN and this week the Park City High School will offer more than a dozen different clubs for all students to sign up for. One of those is the popular Model UN, an official sanctioned part of the United Nations.

The mission of Model UN is to educate participants about global issues, promote international understanding and cooperation by simulating the United Nations, and develop critical life skills like research, public speaking, negotiation, and diplomacy.

The Model UN Club student-leader assigns countries to the club members of the PCHS then the students proceed to do a deep dive into the issues facing those countries and the possible solutions to help make the world a better place.

Izzy Sussman is a junior at PCHS. She told TownLift, “I joined because I am interested in global relations.” Lila Jacoby, also a junior, told TownLift, “I will continue to stay in Model UN this year because it keeps me updated on current events within our world.”

Susanne Jacoby is the Chair of the Park City Education Foundation which raises funds to manage similar school clubs, she fondly remembers when she herself was a member of her small, New England High School’s Model UN Club with which she got to travel to not only Washington D.C. but also to New York City to visit the United Nations.

She likes this opportunity for her own daughter and all the Park City students because yes, they can take history class, yes they can take geography class, yes, they can take economics, sociology, geography classes, even on an AP level, however, Model UN is the place where all those concepts can be joined into one bigger-picture lesson. She’s grateful for the efforts of the Park City High School’s AP World History teacher, Paula MacKay, the club advisor and mentor.

The Park City High School club travels together to a participating Utah University, some years the U of U, some years BYU. There they meet with professors and students who have an entire class in the organization of Utah High School Model UN clubs. Those college students serve, among other tasks, as the judges for papers the high schoolers write about dedicated topics. For example, last year Sussman and Jacoby were assigned as model representatives of the World Health Organization and as such, were the winners of the writing contest. 

Both girls are looking forward to what they can learn from this years’ PCHS Model UN Club and then, in turn, apply to their future.