crallo, Author at Penn High School

Penn Bands Leader Glenn Northern to retire at end of 2024-2025 school year

Glenn Northern, who has guided Penn bands to a nationally regarded status, will hand over the conductor’s baton at the end of the 2024-2025 school year.

Northern’s retirement was announced by Penn High School Principal Dr. Sean Galiher.

Northern has carved out a remarkable legacy in his 36-year journey as an educator.

Serving the Penn-Harris-Madison community for 24 years, Northern has been the Director of Bands and Fine Arts Academy Leader for the past 14 years. Prior to that, he was the assistant band director at Penn for 10 years.

“My twenty-four years at Penn have been the highlight of my teaching career,” Northern said. “The students, colleagues and parents have been a joy to work with. I will miss everyone very much. I am so proud to have been a part of life at Penn High School for all of these years.”

Penn bands students have consistently earned Gold Ratings at ISSMA contests under Northern’s direction.

The Marching Kingsmen have an elite status among high school marching bands, competing in the Indiana State Marching Band Finals 20 times in the largest school Open Class A division. Penn’s Marching Band has performed in the Tournament of Roses Parade, the Orange Bowl Parade, the Fiesta Bowl Parade, the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade, and the Hollywood Christmas Parade.

Northern graduated from Ashtabula (Ohio) High School and the University of Evansville. He was named the Phi Beta Mu Outstanding Bandmaster in 2015 and Northern was named the Indiana Music Educators Association “High School Music Educator of the Year” in 2018.

The Penn High School Symphonic Winds, directed by Northern, were the 2015 Indiana State Champion Concert Band and the 2024 Indiana State Concert Band Champion Runner-Up.

CultureFest 2025

Penn High School hosted the Penn-Harris-Madison CultureFest on Thursday, March 20, 2025.

The third annual event, sponsored by Penn’s ENL program, showed the uniqueness of the P-H-M community.

Under the direction of Penn instructors Lauren Burnett, Bonnie Wolfgang and Korinne Hazen-Brown and the contributions of clubs, club sponsors, students, families, and community members, CultureFest 2025 was a tremendous success.

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Penn Jazz Ensemble qualifies for State

The Penn High School Advanced Jazz Ensemble qualified for the ISSMA State Finals for the fourth time in school history.

Penn’s Jazz Ensemble competed in the ISSMA Jazz State qualifier event at Goshen Junior High School.

Penn earned a spot as one of only nine groups from across the state of Indiana.

The State Jazz Finals will be held Friday, March 21, at Pike High School in Indianapolis.

Penn Speech places second at State

The Penn Team finished State Runner-Up in Class Triple A at the Indiana Speech State Finals.

PENN HIGHLIGHTS

Discussion- State Champion Sarah Ahmed

Sarah Ahmed — 1st Place
Sarah Rooney — 3rd Place

Dramatic Interpretation

Ella Glassburn — 6th Place

Impromptu Speaking

Chris Chen — 4th Place
Akul Bhambhani — 6th Place

International Extemporaneous Speaking

Akul Bhambhani — 2nd Place
Stanley Liew — 3rd Place

Poetry Interpretation

Jaanavi Kaushik — 5th Place

Program Oral Interpretation

Hannah Luck — 5th Place
Jaanavi Kaushik — 6th Place

United States Extemporaneous Speaking- State Champion Chris Chen

Chris Chen — 1st Place

Penn’s Teeple places in Top 5 in Live New Anchor event

Penn High School student Noah Teeple placed in the Top 5 of the Live News Anchor event in the Indiana Association of School Broadcasters state competition. Teeple was one of six students chosen throughout the state to participate in this prestigious event. His performance was judged upon delivery, story transitions, talking to audience, vocal credibility, gestures and mannerisms, confidence, professional appearance and overall impression.

Click below to watch an example of Teeple’s anchoring.

Teeple competed in Indianapolis at the WTHR-TV Studios. He was given a script 30 minutes prior to his air time, and then read it from a teleprompter live on air.

The PNN Broadcast earned Penn a fourth-place finish in the state.

“The SpongeBob Musical”

Penn High School Theatre presents “The SpongeBob Musical” on Friday, March 7, and Saturday, March 8, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, March 9, at 3 p.m.

A Photo Gallery is posted below.

Tickets are $12 online, and $14 at the door.

Click here to purchase tickets.

The SpongeBob Musical is a vibrant and imaginative stage adaptation of the beloved Nickelodeon cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants. With a book by Kyle Jarrow and an eclectic score featuring original songs by artists like David Bowie, Panic! at the Disco, and Cyndi Lauper, the musical brings Bikini Bottom to life in a fresh, theatrical way. The story follows SpongeBob and friends as they face the impending eruption of Mount Humongous, which threatens to destroy their underwater home. Through courage, teamwork, and optimism, SpongeBob proves that even the smallest sponge can make a big difference. Filled with humor, heart, and creative staging, The SpongeBob Musical is an energetic celebration of friendship, resilience, and the power of believing in oneself.

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Penn hosts Robotics Competition

Penn High School hosts an Indiana FIRST Robotics Competition on Saturday, March 1, and Sunday, March 2, 2025.

A Photo Gallery is posted below.

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NHS sponsors Blood Drive March 17-18

The National Honor Society is hosting its second Blood Drive of the school year for students and staff only on Monday, March 17, and Tuesday, March 18.

The drive will be happening again outside of Door C from 9 a.m. – 1:45 p.m. It is open to staff and students over the age of 16 years old.

Students who are 16 must have a parental consent form from Mrs. Starkweather in Room 144.

Students should only sign up to donate during a study hall or dismissal block.

Click here to sign-up for Monday, March 17 (Gold Day).

Click here to sign-up for Tuesday, March 18 (Black Day).

All blood donated will be going towards supporting the South Bend Medical Foundation. If you sign up to donate, you get entered in a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card.

See Mrs. Starkweather with any questions.

Penn hosts Robotics competition March 1-2

Penn High School will host the FIRST Robotics Competition 2025 – Reefscape – on Saturday, March 1, and Sunday, March 2.

Saturday’s competition will be from 10:30 a.m.-7 p.m., and Sunday’s events are scheduled from 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.

Attendance is free (concessions support the teams).

Two alliances of three robots each compete to score Coral (tubes) on the Reef and Algae (balls) in the Processor and Net. Near the end of the game, the robots hang on the Cages at the center of the field or park next to them.

Penn has two teams: Team 135, the Black Knights, and Team 328, the Golden Rooks.

Click here to watch a video for more information on the competition.

Penn places first at TSA competition

Penn High School placed first overall at the Technology Student Association Indiana State Conference competition held at Purdue University, February 14-15, 2025.

A Photo Gallery is posted below.

Individual results:

Audio Podcasting:

1st: Ishita Awasthi, Fiona Bao, Diya Lahane, and Vyomi Patel

2nd: Jacob Bognar and Carter Mitchell

Board Game Design:

1st: Kai King, Carter Mitchell, Hal Roach, and Mitchell Schindler

5th: Shivam Kalani, Kathy Lee, Harsh Patel, and Emily Shim

CAD 2D Architectural Design:

5th: William Wu

CAD 3D , Engineering Design:

1st: Raafe Rahman