Penn students Chris Chen and David Guarraci placed second in Entrepreneurship TDME at the DECA International Career Development Conference. The event, April 27-30, in Anaheim, Calif., featured more than 23,000 students from around the world.

Chen and Guarraci, who are both Juniors, received the DECA international Glass Plaque. They are the first Penn DECA students to place at ICDC.

Penn’s Megan Zhang, Luna Liu and Zaina Arain were finalists in Franchise Business Plan, finishing in the Top 20 in that event.

Under the direction of Penn DECA sponsor Kyle Berres, 18 Penn students in various events and two groups made it to the finals in their category. Each category has 200-250 teams, who all qualified by placing in the Top 3 in their state. The teams of Chen and Guarraci, and Zhang, Lui and Arain are only the third and fourth Penn teams to reach the ICDC finals.

Click here for the awards show. Chen and Guarraci receive their award at 1:45:40.

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Penn High School’s Fine Arts Academy earned 11 nominations for the WAVE Awards, which celebrates area high school musical students and staff.

Penn’s nominations were for excellence in acting, direction and design in “The Music Man”.

Nominated students and staff will attend the WAVE Awards at 7 p.m., Wednesday, May 22, 2024, at Lake Michigan College’s Mendel Center. Nominated students are eligible for scholarships.

“We are incredibly proud of all of the hard work that resulted in such a spectacular production, and are thankful that it is being acknowledged in the community!” Penn Theatre Instructor Kathryn Hein said.

• Outstanding Costume Design in a Musical: “The Music Man”, Kathryn Hein.
• Outstanding Choreography in a Musical: “The Music Man”, Jenn Wolfe.
• Outstanding Orchestra (or a Band) in a Musical: “The Music Man”, Zach Coudret.
• Outstanding Musical Direction in a Musical: “The Music Man”, Andrew Nemeth.
• Outstanding Featured Ensemble in a Musical: “The Music Man”, Barbershop Quartet.
• Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical: Cailyn Freeman, “Amaryllis”.
• Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Musical: Justin Meacham, “Mayor Shinn”.
• Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical: Lucas Robertson, “Harold Hill” and Tess Kavadas, “Marian Paroo”.
• Outstanding Direction in a Musical: Danielle Black, “The Music Man”.
• Outstanding Musical Production: “The Music Man”, Penn High School.

Penn High School Orchestra and Choir students visited New York City during Spring Break for an amazing array of experiences.

A PHOTO GALLERY IS POSTED BELOW

CHOIR TRIP HIGHLIGHTS:

• Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Liberty Island
• 9/11 Memorial & Museum
• Freedom Tower (up to 102nd floor)
• Times Square
• Broadway show – Hadestown
• Broadway show – MJ the Musical
• Broadway cast dinner with members from MJ the Musical
• Chinatown/Little Italy
• Commissioned N.Y. Composer Rich Campbell to write music for us
• Workshopped with Rich Campbell at our hotel and then he was present for the performance
• Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Central Park
• Dinner/Dance Cruise
• Ellen’s Stardust Diner

According to Penn Choir instructor Andrew Nemeth, the Broadway cast dinner was absolutely a highlight for students. Cast members from MJ met Penn students for dinner and were able to speak with them about their journey to Broadway. One member,Apollo LeVine, is a graduate of Washington High School in South Bend. He was absolutely humbled to meet people from his hometown, and he even made a social media post about Penn students.

Part of the purpose of the Choir trip was to perform at St. John the Divine in Manhattan, the sixth largest church in the world. Nemeth and fellow Penn Choir instructor Allison Secaur visited the church in 2019 in anticipation of a 2020 trip, but that trip finally took place now. Students worked with composer Rich Campbell, who was commissioned to write a song specifically for Penn Choir. View the performance on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st6vsPSqEbM

There was an earthquake that struck in New Jersey shorty before our performance. Our students did not feel it, but there were aftershocks occurring while the Penn Choir was performing. Everyone was safe. In the recording on YouTube, you can hear the alarms going off every few minutes.

Lastly of note was Ellen’s Stardust Diner – this is an incredible dining experience where the servers are aspiring Broadway actors. In the last two months alone they had 35 members that finally made it to Broadway. It was an incredibly unique experience for Penn students.

ORCHESTRA TRIP HIGHLIGHTS:

• Lady Liberty
• Battery Park
• Statue of Liberty
• Ellis Island
• Charging Bull Photo Op
• 9/11 Memorial
• The Oculus
• Radio City Tour
• Dinner at Dizzy’s Club
• Dizzy’s Early Set
• Museum of Modern Art
• Bryant Park
• New York Public Library
• Grand Central Station
• Gayle’s Broadway Rose
• Broadway Show: The Lion King
• Central Park
• The Met Museum
• Stella 34 Trattoria
• New York Philharmonic workshop
• The Met Opera: La Rondine

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Penn High School student Jayden Wang has been named a 2024 Regional Academic All-Star by the Indiana Association of School Principals. The award is sponsored by Purdue University.

Wang is among 50 students were recognized as Academic All-Star Regional Honorees. The students were selected from a field of 281 outstanding nominees from the state’s private and public accredited schools. Academic All-Star distinction recognizes seniors who excel in the classroom first and foremost, but who also are actively involved in their schools and communities, and take on leadership roles in those activities.

Wang is a Lilly Endowment Scholar, a U.S. Presidential Scholar Candidate, a National Merit Finalist. He is also a National Chemistry Olympiad National Qualifier and an AP Scholar. He placed First with Distinction at the Hoosier Piano State Competition.

Penn High School students excelled at the DECA State Championships, qualifying 20 students for the DECA International Championships, April 27-30, in Anaheim, California.

State Champions include Ayvah Bell, Joel Bell, Matthew Deahl, Stanley Liew, Amrit Kaur, Rhea Rhakra and Cameron Poznanski.

International Conference qualifiers

• Franchise Business Plan: 1. Ayvah Bell, Joel Bell
• Independent Business Plan: 2. Elizabeth Eshowsky
• Integrated Marketing Campaign – Product: 2. Avery Ferris, Lucy Salwin
• Integrated Marketing Campaign – Service: 3. Selin Bilgicer, Danielle Ciliberti, Mia Helm
• Community Giving Project: 2. Layla Berry, Ella Smoker
• Entrepreneurship TDME: 3. Chris Chen, David Guarraci
• Hospitality Services TDME: 1. Matthew Deahl, Stanley Liew
• Business Operations Research: 1. Amrit Kaur, Rhea Rhakra, Cameron Poznanski
• Business Law Team Event: 4. Lana Ealdama, Noah Schafer
   

2024_DECA Competitive_Event_Complete results

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Penn High School hosted the Mishawaka FIRST Indiana District Event on Saturday, March 2, and Sunday, March 3, 2024.

A Photo Gallery is posted below.

The weekend was a great success for both Penn Robotics teams, each of which being selected for playoff alliances. More than 2,500 fans attended the event in the Penn Main Arena.

Team 135 and Team 328 both performed very well, and Team 135 won the Quality Award for their robot design and performance.

Next up for Penn Robotics is a District event at Plainfield on Saturday, March 23, as Team 135 and 328 pursue state qualification.

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A total of 56 Penn High School students were honored in the annual Scholastic Arts regional competition.

A Gallery of some of the award-winning student work is posted below.

You can come check out the artwork yourself at the Penn Art Gallery, Saturday, March 2 from 12:00 – 3:00 p.m.

The prestigious Scholastic Awards program is the nation’s longest running awards program for students.

Penn students competed for Gold Key, Silver Key and Honorable Mention Awards. Gold Key winners are automatically considered for national awards and scholarships.

2024 Penn HS Scholastic Arts Winners

2024 Penn Scholastic Writing Winners

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The Penn Intermediate Jazz Ensemble, Advanced Jazz Ensemble and Kaleidoscope Jazz Combo all delivered excellent performances at the “Jazz in the Meadows” festival in Chicago. They also had the opportunity to receive feedback from a world-class panel of clinicians.

The Advanced Jazz Ensemble won the runner-up award in Class 4-A (largest schools).