On January 25, 2025, BASIS Mesa held its second annual Model United Nations conference. This event brought together Model UN students from 11 high schools in the Phoenix metro area, including students from BASIS Chandler, BASIS Peoria, and BASIS Scottsdale.
The idea behind NovaMUN
The students of BASIS Mesa’s Model UN team wanted to create an event where delegates would be able to learn from each other without fear of making mistakes. Motivated by the unrealized potential of other conferences, they founded NovaMUN—named after BASIS Mesa’s mascot, the Supernovas.
“Last year’s inaugural NovaMUN conference was only open to BASIS students. This year, we were excited to bring together students from eleven different schools, either as delegates or chairs,” says Don Swantko, Faculty Advisor for the BASIS Mesa Model UN team.
“Our main goal of the conference was to establish more equitable judging of the delegates,” explains Swantko. “We ensured that all chairs were given detailed training and were evenly distributed by school per committee.”
The student leaders of the BASIS Mesa Model UN team handled the bulk of planning for this event, covering everything from communication to chair training and logistics. Overall, 11 schools participated in the 2025 conference. We are so proud of our BASIS Mesa Model UN team for making this such a great event for local high school students!
What do students learn at NovaMUN?
NovaMUN emphasizes skills such as organization, problem-solving, critical thinking, public speaking, and reducing bias. Not only will these skills prepare students for future conferences—they will also help students succeed in their other academic and social endeavors.
“Public speaking is a skill almost everyone needs in their careers,” says Swantko. “Our dedicated students in Model UN often find it easier to get internships and work opportunities, as they are already comfortable speaking in front of others.”
This year’s NovaMUN conference gave delegates the opportunity to explore the value of diplomacy and collaboration in our increasingly polarized world. Representing different UN countries, the student delegates addressed global topics such as climate change, human rights violations, trade negotiations, migration policies, and much more. Each topic was broken out into a formal session.
Throughout the conference, the delegates demonstrated their knowledge of UN session procedures such as panel moderation, voting, caucuses, motions, and points of inquiry.
Swantko notes that collaboration is a necessary skill for Model UN students. “During a conference like NovaMUN, students need to work with individuals that have different goals and opinions. Model UN teaches students how to deal with these types of situations, setting them up for real-world collaboration in the workplace.”
What’s next for the BASIS Mesa Model UN team?
“Our team is off to Madrid for a Model UN conference held over Spring Break,” says Swantko. “We have a few of our experienced members that are competing in English and even a few in fully Spanish committees. This is an amazing opportunity for our students to experience what Model UN conferences look like in other parts of the world.”
Moving forward, Swantko says that the BASIS Mesa Model UN team would like to get even more involved with the Model UN community in the Phoenix metro area, helping build an interconnected network between schools.
Christopher Lester, Head of School at BASIS Mesa, is excited to welcome new students to the NovaMUN conference next year. “We were thrilled with the turnout for this year’s event, and we look forward to holding another successful conference next year!”
BASIS Mesa is a proud part of the #1 public school network in the nation. We serve grades K–12 with an accelerated, STEM-inspired curriculum that prepares students for college success. If you’re interested in joining BASIS Mesa or another BASIS Charter School, we invite you to attend a school tour or Virtual Info Session. We are currently enrolling for the 2025–26 school year at all of our campuses!
