PHUNC . . . What a Good Idea

Written by Kristen Hogue 1|10|20

PHUNC . . . What a Good Idea

By: Kristen Hogue 1|10|20

Photography contributed by Gayle Mitchell

PHUNC, the Pennsylvania High School United Nations Conference, is an event that brings students from across Pennsylvania together for one weekend in order to run a “fake” government.

This year, PHUNC was held on November 8th, 9th and 10th at Penn State University.

The “governments” are pinned against each other, as if they were “at war”, in order to see which team will come out on top.

The students are even given roles, such as Joe Gunn, a senior at Cranberry, who was assigned Oskar Ludvig Starck, the Vice Admiral of the Russian Naval Fleet. Gunn was given an honorable mention for 3rd place at the end of the event, along with his team, as part of the Bear vs. Rising Sun Committee.

Pennsylvania High School United Nations Conference (PHUNC) students from Cranberry High School take their annual picture with the Penn State Nittany Lion

Cranberry High School sent seventeen delegates to this event and was given a Philanthropy award for their participation.

One of these delegates, Jenna Seighworth, “received a $500 scholarship, which goes to one outstanding senior delegate, should they choose to attend Penn State.”

Cranberry saw PHUNC as a good way for students to gain exposure into the inner workings of a government set up, so we decided to create our own event called CRUNC.

CRUNC is Cranberry’s version of PHUNC, but only consists of Cranberry High School students.

It took place on December 18th in the Cranberry High School library.

This year, the committee for CRUNC was written by junior, Dylan Lu who stated: “It takes place in the future, after a civil war that broke out, following the 2020 election. The delegates, which will all be portraying leaders of extremist factions, will be attempting to create and structure a new United States.”

CRUNC had twenty-eight delegates and many of them were honored with awards, such as Garret Hogue with Best Delegate (1st) and Lucas Blum with Best Position Paper (1st).

Overall, these students were given quite a unique experience, filled with knowledge and, most importantly, fun.

Photo gallery

Student Jenna Seigworth receives $500 dollar scholarship should she choose to attend Penn State

Students attending PHUNC represent Cranberry High School well being recognized in several areas

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