Sammy Atkins blasted in a goal to help the Penn Kingsmen tie Concord, 1-1, in Boys Soccer action on Thursday, Aug. 17. 

Penn High School's Kingsmen opened the Boys Tennis season with a 5-0 victory against Northern Lakes Conference power Warsaw on Thursday, Aug. 17.

A.J. Antonelli led the charge with a 6-3, 6-2 victory at No. 1 singles against Warsaw's Colton Lind.

Will Thurin scored a 6-1, 6-0 victory at No. 2 singles against Bailey Buhrt.

Aiden Sucharetza completed the Kingsmen sweep at singles with a 6-0, 6-0 victory against Caleb Williams.

Eric Spaargaren and Aiden O'Day beat Spencer Britton and Nolan Knight, 6-4, 6-2, at No. 1 doubles.

Maity Spitters and Nick Casetti completed the shutout with a 6-2, 6-2 victory against Kyler Bartol and Reuben Williams at No. 2 doubles.

Next Wednesday, Aug. 23 is the first day for grades 1-12 (Thursday, August 24th for Kindergarten), but today Penn-Harris-Madison’s newest teachers had their first day of school!

It was a busy New Teacher Orientation Day for this group of creative, talented and energetic teachers. This year P-H-M hired 41 new elementary, middle and high school teachers, as well Exceptional Education professional staff.

These newest teachers joined the ranks of one of Indiana’s highest ranked public school districts. As an “A” rated school and Four Star School District, 100% of our teachers are rated “Highly Effective” or “Effective.” Ongoing professional development supports and empowers our teachers to then in turn provide an excellent education to our students!

Browse the new faces you’ll be seeing throughout the 2017-18 school year!

Group 1: Elementary

Group 2: Middle School

Group 3: Penn High School

Penn outlasted NorthWood, 25-11, 25-15, 23-25, 27-25, on Tuesday, Aug. 15, in the high school volleyball season opener for the Kingsmen.

Italia Fields and Alyssa Torres powered the Kingsmen attack with 10 and 9 kills respectively.

Rachel Hickey contributed 19 digs.

Penn (1-0) plays at Plymouth on Thursday.
 

Penn High School's Boys Soccer Team opened the 2017 campaign with a 1-1 tie against host Northridge on Tuesday, Aug. 15.

Daniel Gries scored the Kingsmen goal. Brandon Stahl contributed the assist.

Penn's Girls Golf Team improved its record to 6-0 by defeating Bremen and South Bend Clay on Tuesday, Aug. 15.

Penn edged Bremen, 184-186. Clay finished third at 315.

PENN 184: Lyvia Li 43, Grace Szklarek 44, Abbey Hamilton, 47 Ryen DeToro 50, Kelsey Collins 67.

In recognition of Larry Beehler’s 31 years of service on the Penn-Harris-Madison Board of School Trustees, anonymous donors have established a naming rights partnership with the P-H-M Education Foundation to name the newly constructed ticket center at TCU Freed Field.

The ticket center is part of the facility updates that took place over the summer at Penn High School’s football field. P-H-M’s Board of School Trustees voted to approve  the naming at their meeting (Monday, August 14, 2017) to name it the Larry Beehler Ticket Center.

Mr. Beehler is a graduate and class valedictorian of then Madison Township High School (Wakarusa), which is now Madison Elementary School, one of P-H-M’s 11 elementary schools. Larry and his wife of 55 years, Judy, are lifelong residents of the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation. In July of 1986, he was elected to the Board as the Madison Township representative and is currently serving his 31st year as a Board Member. During his time on the Board, Mr. Beehler served in leadership roles as Board Secretary for three years, Board Vice President for nine years, and Board President for six years. He has also served as P-H-M’s representative on several different Indiana School Boards Association (ISBA) boards, including as Board Policy Liaison and Legislative Liaison. He is also an active member of the National Schools Boards Association (NSBA).

“Working with Larry Beehler is such a privilege,” said Board President Gary Fox. “He has profound knowledge not just of Indiana law, education policies and best practices, but also of the school district’s history. He tirelessly serves the children and families of P-H-M; and although there is no one more humble, there is also no one more deserving of this honor than Larry Beehler.”
 

During his time on the Board, Mr. Beehler’s roles have ranged from also serving on District Strategic Planning Committees to Smaller Learning Communities Achievement Design Committee for Penn High School. Mr. Beehler was nominated and received the Penn High School Distinguished Staff Award in 2010 sponsored by the Penn High School Alumni Association.

“Larry has dedicated thousands of hours of his personal time serving on several P-H-M school committees, always looking out for what’s best for the students of P-H-M,” said Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker. “Our students have no greater champion than Larry Beehler! I’m thrilled that others in community also feel this way and we’ve found a way to honor Larry as the champion that he is!”

Aware of the P-H-M Education Foundation’s ongoing naming rights campaign, anonymous donors contacted the P-H-M Education Foundation wishing to contribute to the Foundation’s endowment. Wanting to also find a way to honor Mr. Beehler’s three decades of civil service and dedication to P-H-M, the naming rights partnership for the new ticket center was suggested. Per the agreement, the donors have donated $25,000 to the P-H-M Education Foundation endowment.

When a donor partners with PHMEF on the naming rights fundraising initiative, 80 percent of the donation goes into the Foundation’s endowment. This in turn provides alternative and additional funding for various co-curricular and extracurricular programs. The remaining 20 percent directly funds professional development initiatives for P-H-M teachers. Continuing education and training of educators is a major priority for P-H-M School District. The key to providing an excellent education is having excellent teachers. P-H-M teachers are excellent at what they do because of their passion, but also because of the ongoing professional development the District provides.

“The mission of the Education Foundation is to develop alternative sources of income to support education initiatives in the School Corporation by strengthening partnerships between the community and the District,” said PHMEF Executive Director Mari Linn Wise. “PHMEF enthusiastically does whatever we can to support education throughout the District through awarding innovative teaching grants, scholarships to students, staff development and other corporation-wide initiatives.”

Click here to see a fact sheet and timeline of the Education Foundation’s Naming Rights Initiative.

Penn’s Girls Golf Team shot a season-low 344 to finish in seventh place in the power-packed Western Invitational on Saturday, Aug. 12.

Lyvia Li and Grace Szklarek each finished in the Top 10 of the Western Invitational. Li shot a 78, and Szklarek shot an 84.

Abbey Hamilton shot an 88 and Ryen DeToro shot a 94.

Penn High's Girls Golf Team shot a 355 at the Crown Point Invitational, placing fourth in the event. The Kingsmen were only 14 strokes behind Lake Central, which won the match with a score of 341.

Lyvia Li led the Kingsmen with an 81, followed by Grace Szklarek with an 82.

Abbey Hamilton shot an 87.

Ryen DeToro shot a 105, and Camryn Murphy shot a 122.

Penn's Girls Golf Team placed sixth at the New Prairie Invitational at Legacy Hills Golf Course.

Valparaiso won the event with a score of 321. Penn's golfers shot a 398.

PENN (398): Lyvia Li 83, Abbey Hamilton 92, Ryen DeToro 102, Kelsey Collins 121, Hannah Urbanski 123.