Pennsylvania High School United Nations Conference (PHUNC) students from Cranberry High School take their annual picture with the Penn State Nittany Lion. (Photography contributed by Gayle Mitchell)
Student Jenna Seigworth receives a $500 scholarship should she choose to attend Penn State. (Photography contributed by Gayle Mitchell)
Students attending PHUNC represent Cranberry High School well, being recognized in several areas. (Photography contributed by Gayle Mitchell)
By KRISTEN HOGUE
Student contributor
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 Nov. 8-10 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 given roles, such as Joe Gunn, a senior at Cranberry High School, 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, the Bear vs. Rising Sun Committee.
Cranberry High School sent 17 delegates to this event who were 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 the school decided to create its own event called CRUNC.
CRUNC is Cranberry’s version of PHUNC, but only consists of Cranberry High School students.
CRUNC took place on Dec. 18 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 28 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 a unique experience, filled with knowledge and, most importantly, fun.
Kristen Hogue is a student at Cranberry High School and a member of Cranberry Chronicles, the school’s journalism/publications class.
