Introduction to Model United Nations
Middle & Elementary School Divisions Homepage
Introduction to Model United Nations Middle & Elementary School Divisions Overview
Model United Nations is a popular extracurricular academic competition where students represent a country in a committee or program of the United Nations. Certain committees may also simulate other organizations or legislative bodies. Students discuss important topics in international affairs and then draft, debate, and vote on resolutions in a manner similar to delegates at the United Nations. At the annual IAC Middle & Elementary National Championships (held each Memorial Day weekend in Orlando) IAC organizes an Introduction to Model UN for interested students. This is a competition, and awards will be presented to the top students, but it is not considered a national championship. However, beginning at the 2026 National Championships, students who win awards in the Introduction to Model UN competitions (held on Friday and Saturday, May 22-23) qualify for the committees on Sunday, May 24 which are part of the preliminary rounds at the Model UN National Championships.
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Competition Format
The Introduction to Model United Nations is a simulation of the United Nations or other international bodies where students represent a country or play the role of a decision maker in a committee. The Introduction to Model United Nations is held exclusively at the IAC Middle & Elementary School National Championships, held annually in Orlando, FL on Memorial Day weekend.
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Intro to Model UN at the IAC Middle & Elementary School National Championships
The Introduction to Model UN consists of a 2.5 hour long session at the IAC Middle & Elementary School National Championships on Memorial Day Weekend at the Hyatt Regency Orlando. Uniquely, students taking part in the Intro to Model UN can choose to compete together with a friend, who can even be from a different school (though they must be in the same grade, with the exception of 4th and 5th graders who compete together in the same age division for this event). Students will be assigned a country or role to represent in a United Nations or other international deliberative body (e.g. NATO, a national cabinet, etc.).
For the National Championships in May 2026, there will be two topics that each age division will be debating. One of these is a Standard Committee which will be of the World Health Organization, and the topic will be “Preventing the Next Pandemic.” The second of these will be a Crisis Committee which will take the form of an emergency European Union summit as heads of state meet to discuss the impending fall of the Zelenskyy regime in Ukraine. For the 2026 National Championships, students will have 1-2 appointed blocks in the schedule for each topic. Which topic meets for each division in each block can be found on the Nationals schedule here.
Standard committees are committees where new events are not introduced during the session. For standard committees in particular, it is important that students are familiar with the topic at hand (if it is announced prior to the National Championships) and have properly researched it in advance, as they will not be dealing with counterfactual situations. Crisis committees posit a hypothetical scenario (though typically using world events as a premise), and then during the committee sessions, new information is introduced based on the decisions that students make in their roles in the committee. Background guides are provided for each topic, though students should consult other sources in their preparation as well.
Please note that particularly in the Standard Committee (World Health Organization), we will be introducing the basics of parliamentary procedure so that students are aware of how parliamentary procedure works. Parliamentary procedure serves to govern the rules of debating and voting at Model UN conferences, and we will be providing a tutorial on how it works in advance of the Intro to Model UN sessions.
Also, note that anyone who wins an award in any Intro to Model UN session in 2026 (or who won an award in an Intro to Model UN session in 2024 or 2025) is eligible to compete in the official 2026 Model UN National Championships. The Intro to Model UN sessions take place on Friday and Saturday on the IAC National Championships weekend. On Sunday, there are two surprise committees (so that students who sign up at the last minute are not at a disadvantage against students who have known the topic weeks in advance and have prepared for it), one being a standard committee, and one being a crisis committee. Students who win awards at these are then eligible to compete in the playoffs of the Model UN National Championships on Monday, May 25. Thus it is hypothetically possible for a student who has not ever competed before in a Model UN session to emerge as National Champion, provided they compete in the Intro to Model UN and win an award, then register for either or both of the Sunday surprise committees, and win at least one award in those. Note that while competing with a student from a different school or homeschool association is permitted in the Intro to Model UN program, it is not permitted at the National Championships (where students may compete either alone or with one other teammate from their school or homeschool association).
A full schedule of all National events is available here. For more information on the Model UN National Championships, please see its website.
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Crisis Committee – European Union: Ukraine and the Fall of Zelenskyy – Background Guide Available Soon
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Standard Committee – WHO: Preventing The Next Pandemic – Background Guide Available Here
On the Nationals Schedule you will see that there are three separate Intro to Model UN blocks (Blocks 1 and 2 are divided into Friday and Saturday sessions; students must take part in both). Please make sure you do not sign up for a Model UN block where you have a conflict. Prior to the opening of registration for all events at IAC National Championships, it will be announced which topics will run in each block for each age division.
How Model UN Works
The Model UN Wikipedia Article gives a good overview of Model UN as an activity. This short video also gives a good synopsis, while the website www.bestdelegate.com is generally regarded as the hub for Model UN on the internet. Because our Model UN competition is meant as a short introduction, delegates (that’s the term used for students competing in Model UN) will not need to write position papers, wear business attire, or be expected to have done extensive research on their assigned country’s positions on the topic to which they are assigned.
However, delegates will be expected to read a background guide which we will prepare on their assigned topic, attend a brief training session online in advance of Nationals weekend, and come with a willingness to engage in debate on important topics in global affairs.
Timeline
4. At Nationals – Please note that two of the blocks are at 1hr and 15 minute sessions over two days. The third block is offered in one 2hr 30 minute stretch. The awards will be presented immediately at the end of the session, so you will not need to attend any further award ceremony. Please note that the Intro to Model UN is not open to parents until the awards ceremony at the very end of the session, when they will be invited into the committee room.
What to Expect
In our Intro to Model UN, we will begin by taking role, and then we will open a speakers’ list, though given the 2.5 hour timeframe (typical Model UN conferences last for several days), the time will be initially limited to 30 seconds. This is a chance for delegates to see which other countries might be potential allies in drafting a resolution on the topic. After all countries have had a chance to speak once, the chair of each committee will entertain motions for caucusing. This is a chance to suspend formal debate, and then to meet with other students. The committee chair will help encourage delegates to formulate resolutions that can then be brought to the floor for debate. Towards the end of the session, the chair will encourage resolutions to be finalized, and then brought to a vote. While helping to write and support a resolution that is passed is a critical part of Model UN, what is more important is the ability to collaborate, build consensus, and contribute to debate. At the end of the session, the Chair will award prizes to the top delegates, including the traditional gavel which is given at Model UN conferences to the Best Delegate.
Leadership Committee
IAC Model UN Program Coordinator – Audra Dankwardt audra@iacompetitions.com
IAC Model UN Program Advisor – Shravan Balaji
IAC Senior Director of Strategic Planning – Jay Wickliff
IAC Executive Director – David Madden
Audra is a PhD student in educational psychology in Massachusetts, who has worked as a committe chair for the Intro to Model UN sessions for the past two years, and has coordinated historical, geographical, and environmental simulations at the International History Olympiad, International Geography Championships, and International Environmental Science Olympiad.
During his time as an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, Shravan was named to the National Collegiate Model UN All-Star Team. Shravan has coordinated historical simulations (which are similar to Model UN) at three separate International History Olympiads and currently works in the field of renewable energy investments in New York City.
Jay Wickliff advised the Model UN team while teaching social studies at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, VA, which has been ranked as the top high school in the USA. He has also worked for the past two years on the Intro to Model UN sessions, and in simulations at IAC’s world championship level events.
IAC’s Executive Director, David Madden, competed in Model UN and won various awards while doing so at Ridgewood High School in New Jersey, on the Model UN team at Princeton University as an undergraduate and Public Policy Studies major, and on the team at the Free University of Berlin, Germany while studying for his master’s degree in international relations.
Shravan and David will be assisted by an experienced staff of Model UN veterans who will be your committee chairs next May in Orlando.
Costs, Registration, and Contact
The cost to take part in the Intro to Model UN Program at the National Championships is $99 per topic. It is possible to do both topics in 2026, though please note conflicts on the schedule here. Registration for the National Championships is done on this page once it opens in November. Nationals weekend will also feature many other events, including the Opening Ceremonies, a Family Quiz Night, Universal Studios Night, various talks and receptions, and the Jeopardy! Charity Games. A full schedule of the Nationals Events is available here.
For all questions on the Intro to Model UN competition at the IAC Middle and Elementary School National Championships, please email audra@iacompetitions.com.