International School of Monterey

Model United Nations

MUN at ISM

The International School of Monterey, in partnership with MUN Impact, is committed to growing the MUN community on the Monterey Peninsula and to making this an accessible activity for youth in grades 6-12.

The MUN club at ISM is for grades 6-8, and is held every Thursday at lunch. Club activities will teach all the necessary MUN skills for successful participation in Model UN conferences, introduce the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and explore ways to connect academic knowledge to real-world action.

Annual Conference: ISM will host a one-day middle school conference each spring for schools in the region, with the eventual goal of having these events be student-run and directed.

Conference Details

Date: Saturday, April 11, 2026

Schedule:

Registration: 8:30 am

Opening Ceremony: 9:00 am

Closing Ceremony: 3:30 pm

Location: The International School of Monterey, 1720 Yosemite Street, Seaside.

Open to grade 6-8 students in Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties

Conference Theme

Quality Education for All, Everywhere

This year's conference will focus on issues related to educational access for all, with a special look at education for girls, refugees and internally displaced people. Additional topics related to SDG 14 (Life Below Water) and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions) may be added.

Leadership

Student Driven, Locally Inspired

ISMMUN aims to be one of the region's most powerful youth leadership incubators. The MUN conference will be largely run by local high school students, many of them graduates from the International School of Monterey itself. ISMMUN committee chairs, administrative staff, and conference leaders, the Secretariat, will be trained in the months leading up to the conference, with the goal of hosting a world-class educational experience for their younger peers.

Real World Relevance

Connecting to Global Youth

As part of the ISSMUN experience, delegates will have the optional opportunity to connect and support youth in Nigeria who are learning and discussing issues related to SDG 4: Education for All, Everywhere. Through the MUN Impact Kickstarter program, as well as the creation of a collaborative magazine with Nigerian youth, students will be able to share their ideas and experiences through the creation of a student publication sharing art, poetry, photography, and short essays focused on SDG 4.

Our Campus

Now in our twenty fourth year of operation as an elementary charter school, ISM has grown to an outstanding K-8 educational institution and Monterey County's first IB World School. From our home on the Manzanita School site in Seaside, we serve 426 students from our surrounding Monterey County communities.

From 2008-2023, ISM has been accredited by the Council of International Schools—the first public charter school among 420 CIS-accredited schools in the world and the only public school among 10 in the United States. CIS accreditation recognizes that our school has “achieved high standards of professional performance in international education and has a commitment to its continuing improvement.”

Also fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, ISM teaches toward our vision of “a world of understanding” through academic commitments to internationalism and understanding; a broad-based curriculum that includes the arts, physical education, and Spanish beginning in kindergarten; and an inquiry-based-instruction model that fosters student curiosity, initiative, and lifelong learning skills.

Our Model UN Program

ISM runs a middle school MUN club for students in grades 6-8. In the club students explore various global issues currently part of the United Nations Global Agenda for Sustainability, how to research those topics from the prospective of their 'adopted' country, and develop the confidence to speak and debate with their peers to reach consensus on these complex issues.

The club meets once a week. Semester 1 focuses on general MUN skill development. Semester 2 focuses on ISMMUN conference preparation, culminating is the International School of Monterey's Middle School Conference.

Launching MUN at ISM

Lisa Martin is an IB educator, a Model UN program developer, and a new resident of Seaside! Over the course of her career, she has taught in Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, and Qatar. She was the Executive Director of THIMUN Qatar from 2014-2018, the largest youth-driven MUN program in the world. She developed the first online MUN program in 2011, and during the pandemic, her non-profit, MUN Impact, served over 60,000 youth in over 120 countries. She is honored to be helping ISM develop a high-quality MUN program and bring this unique program to youth on the Monterey Peninsula.

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