Middle school students return from Montessori Model United Nations

[maxgallery id="33960"]A group of 18 seventh- and eighth-grade students from Richmond Montessori School returned Sunday from the 2018 Montessori Model United Nations conference in New York City, where they gathered with students from around the world to address concerns about topics such as peace and security, human rights, the rights of the child, child labor, the environment, food and hunger, economic development and globalization.

Montessori Model United Nations has partnered with the United Nations to create the program for adolescent Montessori students that enables students to learn about the operations of the United Nations and its role as the world’s largest international peacekeeping and humanitarian organization.

Through the process of role-playing, each student became a delegate of a selected nation. Richmond Montessori students represented the countries of Kuwait and Central African Republic. They wrote, presented and debated issues affecting their nation and peoples of the world. By assuming the character of a citizen of their selected country, they fully developed not only an understanding of the needs of a people and the importance of accepting differences, but they also learned to respect cultures, political views, and beliefs of others.

Richmond Montessori School believes that offering a learning path to self-discovery through multiple experiences from the earliest age up allows students to understand themselves and their unique place in the world. For RMS middle school students, a part of that experience includes participating in the Montessori Model United Nations Conference.

The “delegates” found resolutions to the world’s largest issues by working together with Montessori students from Kenya, China, Cayman Islands, Mexico, Costa Rica, Chile, Denmark, Russia, France, and more.

“These adolescents were able to come to consensus on terrorism, reduction of military budgets, diplomatic protection, atomic radiation, natural disasters due to climate change, and Palestinian refugees,” explains middle school teacher Parham Neal-Pishko.

They voted on draft resolutions in the UN General Assembly Hall. After hearing from his Excellency Michal Mlynár, UN Ambassador for Slovakia, the delegates were invited by MMUN Founder Judith Cunningham to "find what breaks their heart and make a change through local action."

“They will never forget the experience or their new international friends,” says Neal-Pishko.

Dr. Maria Montessori, the founder of the Montessori method of education, supported the work of the League of Nations and its successor, the United Nations, as a forum where peace could be created. She recognized that the hope for peace rests in the education of children.

Promoting engaged global citizenship and developing future leaders is fundamental to the mission of Richmond Montessori School.