The Indiana Department of Education announced on Friday, May 26, 2017 the 2015-16 list of Four Star Schools and Penn HiIgh School, along with eight other P-H-M schools, have earned that distinction–the most the District has ever had!

P-H-M's other Four Star Schools are Discovery, Horizon, Madison, Mary Frank, Meadow's Edge, Northpoint, Prairie Vista and Schmucker. Meadow's Edge made the list for the first time; Meadow’s Edge is one of  P-H-M’s five Title 1 schools.

The Indiana Department of Education has named Penn a 4-Star School from 2012-2015.  Click here for more information on Penn High School’s “Points of Pride.”

To qualify as a Four Star School, a school must have received an “A” rating for the 2015-16 school year, tested at least 95% of students on ISTEP English/Language Arts and Math, and be in the top 25th percentile on ISTEP and ECA participation and passing rates. This list is based on 2015-16 school data. Click here to see the full list of criteria.

Penn-Harris Madison Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker announced this morning that after 22 years with the District, 11 as principal of Penn High School … Steve Hope will be taking over as Goshen Community School’s new Assistant Superintendent July 1, 2017.

“As a superintendent, I’ve admired Steve and enjoyed watching him develop into one of the finest principals and administrators I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with,” said Dr. Thacker in an email to staff.

Hope started at Penn in 1995 as an art teacher and within three years was named Dean of Students. He went on to serve in a number of leadership positions at Penn before becoming Principal: Director of Counseling, Assistant Principal and Associate Principal. During his tenure as Principal, he established Penn's academy structure through a Smaller Learning Community grant, which could arguably be one of the most prevailing reasons why Penn has emerged as one of the country’s most premier high schools. Penn now has a remarkable 97% graduation rate–the highest in the state among high schools with more than 500 students. In 2008, it was just 79%. These are just some of the reasons why Steve was named 2015-16 Indiana High School Principal of the Year. 

The list of championship titles and awards of both Penn students and staff is endless! Penn students outperform their peers on a regional, state, national and world level from STEM to fine arts, to academics to athletics on a regular basis!

“We all know what a fantastic leader Steve is,” Dr. Thacker went on to say. “He is a part of the P-H-M family and always will be. We take joy when one of our own succeeds. Please join me in congratulating him on a job well done, and thanking him for all he’s done to make Penn and our school district better. He’ll always be a Kingsman!”

Six teams of STEM Academy students and one team from Mishawaka High School competed in the final stage of the ADEC Penn Innovation Challenge yesterday (Tuesday, May 22) at ADEC Industries in Elkhart for the chance at winning a summer paid internship!

Penn Robotics and Engineering students were challenged to use their skills and knowledge to give back to the community. ADEC proudly advocates for and serves people with developmental and intellectual disabilities so they live lives full of choice and possibility. Along with a variety of services, ADEC also offers employment to its clients.

This unique challenge goes back to late April when 77 teams from both high schools presented their ideas and concepts. Teams were asked to focus on and find solutions to help ADEC client employees perform their jobs more efficiently, and thus hopefully increase their pay. ADEC asked the students to focus on these three core business areas to help their clients increase efficiency : Bake (Bow Wow Dog Biscuit production); Build (building sturdy furniture like benches or chests); or Balance (making custom wood signs with a CNC machine). ADEC then narrowed down the field to 10 finalists, one from Mishawaka and nine from Penn. 

Last week (May 15),  the Penn teams held their “build day” and devoted the entire school day to building their prototypes of tools. Six teams completed the task. On May 22,  all of the hard work over the last several weeks culminated for these remaining teams when the students presented their final projects to the ADEC panel of judges. 

Penn’s participants gave it their best as five of the teams chose the “Build” category to focus on. The other team focused on a simple solution to help workers count washers. Each team showcased their creative skills and ideas as the panel of judges intently listened and then asked questions of the participants. Click here for a more detailed description of all six Penn projects. 
(*Adobe Acrobat Reader will be required to view this pdf. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, please visit Adobe’s website, or click here, to download your free version. Or you can stop by the Education Resources Center at  55900 Bittersweet Rd., Mishawaka to pick up a copy.)

Judges deliberated for about half an hour while they made their decisions to award the top three teams. At the end of the day, P-H-M claimed first and third place, with Mishawaka taking second place.

First place winning team members are Ryan Doenges and Eddie Null. As first place winners, Ryan and Eddie will have an internship this summer at Sibley Machine, one of Penn’s Community Partners, who will host them and pay for their internship as they work on their project.

Third place Penn student team members: Jeff Pawlik, Caroline Tiebout, Collin Mott, Michael Feeley and Hayden Carnine.

By COLE POLLYEA

Many families here at Penn High School have rich legacies at universities like Indiana University, Purdue, Ball State, or even schools such as Notre Dame and Michigan.

What is more uncommon is for families at Penn to have rich legacies at The Naval Academy, an East Coast Military Academy where admission is based on competitive applications as well as congressional appointment.

This is exactly what Penn has in the high-achieving McGuire family.

Logan McGuire will be the third of the McGuire boys to attend the Naval Academy after graduating from Penn. Without doubt, he has had a strong impact on Penn’s student body and has played a critical role in elevating the reputation of the school in his four years. Logan has four years of lacrosse under his belt, and this year, he hopes to lead the team to a successful state run as one of the team’s captains.

He has also been a part of Penn’s National Honor Society, DECA, Freshman Mentoring, Dream Commission Society, Key Club, and in late March of this year, was recognized as one of Penn’s 19 valedictorians, an incredible feat when it is taken into account that the 112th-ranked student in the class has a perfect 4.0. His GPA is a jaw-dropping 4.4286.

Logan acknowledges that Penn has played an integral role in his success along the way: “Penn provided me with many opportunities through classes and extracurriculars to explore my passions and subjects that I was curious about.”

Logan found out that he had been admitted to Naval Academy while first semester was still in session. Needless to say, Navy is an extremely selective institution with an acceptance rate of nine percent and an abundance of difficult tasks to complete in order to achieve acceptance.

Aside from having to present an overall compelling academic and extracurricular application, one of these tasks include interviewing with a former military officer as well as completing a physical fitness test under his/her supervision — “push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, shuttle run, one-mile run, and basketball throw,”  Logan recalled.

Yet what is even more intimidating about the application process is that, in order to be admitted, one must earn a nomination from one of the state’s congresspeople. “(Your) applications are reviewed by their own boards and this board then chooses candidates to interview from that initial pool. After interviews, each congressperson can nominate 10 people to USNA,” Logan said. Without the nomination, it is impossible to be accepted.

Logan has two older brothers and both of them are attending the Naval Academy.

Kyle, the oldest, is a current sophomore and is majoring in Quantitative Economics. He is passionate about a number of roles within the Marine Corps, including pilot, Ground Intelligence, and Infantry. USNA graduates are required to serve a minimum of five years after graduating, and Kyle commented that “I'll need to get some time in my actual job before I can decide if I want to continue serving beyond my service obligation.”

As far as this actual job goes, Kyle attended the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University Bloomington for two years before transferring to the Naval Academy. There, he developed a keen interest in consulting and he indicates that “The Naval Academy hasn't really changed those aspirations.”

Connor, the next oldest brother, is a junior and also plans to major in Quantitative Economics, though he’s not sure that his civilian life will consist of a job relating to his major. Right now, he is not eliminating any options for his future, one of which could be using his GI bill to earn an MBA. Like Kyle, Connor is also very passionate about pursuing a career in the military. Here, he eloquently explains the position that he is serious about pursuing after the Naval Academy, a Marine Corps infantry officer:

“In its simplest form they're the ones on the front lines leading men into combat, but an infantry officer has to be capable of leading men in the three-block war — particularly in today's day and age. The first block is full-on combat. The second block is peacekeeping operations. The third block is humanitarian aid. As a Marine Corps infantry officer you are called upon to lead your men through all of these blocks, and sometimes you'll be working through all three blocks in a matter of hours. That's an immense leadership challenge and a high calling, and I'm looking forward to being a part of it all.”

It is clear that the McGuire brothers have had a profound influence on each other’s life choices up until this point. But the influence did not just stem from the brothers’ choices.

Logan’s parents also have a strong military background: “My father served for 12 years in the Marine Corps and was decommissioned as a Captain. My mother was in Air Force reserves for 3 1/2 years (medical school) and active duty for six years. She was decommissioned as a Major. Both of my half-sisters also served in the Air Force. Now, both of my brothers are at USNA.” He is soon to join them.

"We have always been proud of all of our sons because each of them have always been great young men.  As far as their Appointment to the Naval Academy, we would have to say we are more happy for them than proud, because they each set a goal of getting that Appointment and they each achieved that goal through their own hard work, dedication and discipline. We're also proud of their drive to serve their country and defend freedom for future generations," stated Mr. and Mrs. McGuire.  

When asked about how he feels about serving in the military, Logan responded with insight, gratitude, and maturity. He indicated that his motivation to serve is multi-layered. On one hand, he values his future military service because of the values it instilled in his parents, who he admires. And on the other hand, he views service as the appropriate way to pay back his country for providing him with all that it has, which he is grateful for.

Penn High School’s Isaac Loutzenhiser is again the State of Indiana's Individual State Champion in the Indiana  Wildlife Habitat Education Career Development Contest.

Loutzenhiser repeated as state champion in the 2017 competition. Only four other students statewide have achieved this accomplishment of repeating as a state champion, and all of them were from Penn High School.

Penn’s Elena Effertz placed second in the state.

Loutzenhiser and Effertz’s 1-2 finish, along with the scoring of teammates Coy Harris and Arithon Effertz, led to a third-place team showing for Penn in the 2017 State contest held at Purdue University's Wright Center for Forestry Research.

The contest consists of four parts an Identification Segment including up to 53 species of Indiana Wildlife; a 100 Question Test over the animal species, their habitats, feed, and behaviors; a Wildlife Habitat Management Practices section where the competitors match the appropriate practices for the animals selected for a specific site, and the Team Activity where the four members of the team create a Wildlife Management Plan for eight species of animals at a specific contest habitat site.

Penn’s team is coached by Mel Lenig.

Penn High School’s Academic Super Bowl Science Team, coached by Breanna Berkheiser, earned a state championship on May 6 in competition at Purdue University. The Penn Math team and the Penn Interdisciplinary team each placed second in the state.

At the state level, Baker Nasser, Matthew Shan, and Muqsit Buchh represented Penn in the science round of the competition.  Other students that were in attendance at the state competition were Haasan Kazi, Alvin Wang, Amy Bernard, Ali Sualeh, Seunghooon Sun, Corey Wang, Riya Patel, Emily Duchine, Tingyi Lu, and Chelsea Chen. 

Students that are involved with the team but not in attendance at the state competition are Sanjana Kulkarni, Annaliza Canda, Drason Chow, Fezaan Kazi, Daniel Kline, Komal Kumar, Michelle Kwok, Ahsan Siddiqui, Zainab Nasser, and Nikita Patel.

​"I am very pleased that the students' hard work paid off with their ultimate goal of winning a state championship,” Berkheiser said. “Competing for Science ASB is not just about the one year of work that gets put into learning and studying the content (although that is a very large part of it).  It is also a result of the students' own motivation to learn while previously taking a variety of rigorous science courses offered to them at Penn that have built up a solid foundation of scientific understanding. 

“This championship is also a result of many roles on our team working together,” Berkheiser continued.  “Although the "face" of the team in a competition can only be a few students, there are many important roles on the team that really worked together to result in taking the state title."
 

TCU/Freed Field will undergo construction this summer May 10 running through August. Beginning May 10, the parking area nearest the football field designated as Fitness Center parking will be utilized for construction and fencing has been installed.

Open Swim and Learn to Swim patrons, effective now – July 19, will need to enter Penn through the front at Door D. You will be able to use the Penn’s front parking lot. You will NOT have access to the back parking lot or Door E.

In June, the curved drive north of the field will be blocked for construction. The sidewalk will be available along this drive only. All traffic into the arena lot will be designated for construction, delivery and emergency traffic only during this 4-6 week period. Fitness Center parking will be available along the East Drive during this time.

On June 8-9, the North Drive access to Freed Field will be blocked for construction purposes. All access to the back (East) of Penn High School should be directed to Jefferson Road entrance.

Parents dropping off or picking up students from Kingsmen Athletic Summer Camps taking place at Freed Field or any other camps at Penn will need to use the Jefferson Road (East Side) or Front entrances.

Due to the construction, the Fitness Center entrance will move to Door H starting on June 8.  

Only delivery traffic and construction vehicles will be permitted in the Arena Lot during construction for safety of all and traffic logistics.

The Fitness Center entrance at Door H will be programmed the same as door G. Patrons visiting the Fitness Center should park in the lots south of the dock area only. Fitness Center parking will be permitted south of Door H after 3 p.m.

Principal Steve Hope and the Kingsmen Club honored the seven 2017 retiring educators at the Penn vs. South Bend St. Joseph baseball game on May 12.

Merilee Britt (Integrated Chemistry and Physics) has nine years of service at Penn High School.

Sue Campbell (Counseling Center receptionist) has 15.5 years of service at Penn High School.

Steve Cisczcon (Geography) has 33 years at Penn as both a teacher and Athletic trainer.

Karen Czarkowski (Visitors Booth and Attendance Aide) has 21 years of service at Penn.

David Dutton (Speech/Drama/English) has 20 years of service at Penn.

Becky Lutkus (Spanish) has 22 years of service at Penn.

Laura McKenzie (Math) has 12 years of service at Penn.

Penn High School students spent seven hours, an entire school day, on May 15 building prototypes of tools that could help people with disabilities perform their jobs more efficiently and increase their pay. The “Build Day” is part of a larger ADEC Penn Innovation Challenge that was created to challenge engineering and robotics students to put their skills to use and give back to the community. Community mentors came in to help the STEM Academy engineering students. 

Penn partnered with ADEC to develop assistive technology devices that will help workers at ADEC Industries, a nonprofit company that provides packaging and assembly services while employing people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

ADEC had a real-world problem for students to work on: How to save jobs and increase wages at ADEC Industries. Clients at other ADEC locations have already been selling products like dog biscuits and wooden signs, but the demand is too high to keep the products stocked on the shelves.

ADEC presented three categories for Penn students to focus on and find solutions for:
 

• BAKE: ADEC’s Bow Wow Dog Biscuits are the nonprofits most popular product, so they sell out faster than clients can produce them.
• BUILD: ADEC clients make and sell sturdy furniture like benches and chests, but it is a time-consuming process taking a lot of one-on-one work
• BALANCE: Custom wood signs are a top seller in ADEC’s art store, but the process of locking in the wood for the CNC machine is tidious and confusing for some.

Over the past several months, 77 teams of students have toured ADEC’s facilities, talked with clients and came up with possible solutions to these challenge areas.  After two days of presentations the week of April 27, the 77 teams were whittled down to 10 finalist teams.

Teams from Mishawaka High School also presented alongside Penn students. Ultimately, one team from Mishawaka and nine from Penn were chosen as finalists to build their prototype. The team from Mishawaka worked on their prototype at Mishawaka High School.
 

The Teams had their entire school day to work on the prototypes of the designs. Next up for the students, on Monday, May 22, the students will pitch and present their prototypes to a panel of judges at ADEC offices in Elkhart.

From those final presentations on May 22, ADEC will choose one winning team. The students of the winning team will be offered paid internships this summer to work on their projects. Sibley Machine, one of Penn’s Community Partners, will host the students and pay for their internships.

The weather couldn’t have been better on Wednesday morning (May 10) for Penn Biology teacher John Gensic (2016 Teacher of the Year) and his nearly 100 Early College Biology students.

Gensic and his students departed on buses headed for Horizon, Elsie Rogers and Mary Frank Schools to plant dwarf fruit trees with the help of an estimated 324 elementary students. Today was the final step of the Phase 1 planting phase which began in the spring of 2016 at Horizon Elementary.

The “Giving Trees” project was the brainchild of Gensic, P-H-M’s 2016 Teacher of the Year and top 10 finalist for Indiana TOY. The project was made possible by a 2016 grant from the P-H-M Education Foundation . Funding this year was a combination of grant money, Gensic’s P-H-M TOY grant money from the Education Foundation, and a donation made by Springhope Farm.

The idea behind the project is for students to participate in a real world event that not only focuses on improving the local environment, but also provides food for the Penn-Harris-Madison school community. It is Gensic’s hope that all the students involved in the project, elementary and high school, will be inspired to become agents of change leading the charge for a healthy environment and community.

The “Giving Trees” project is a four-phase plan with Phase 1 completed on the final planting day on May 15 at Elm Road Elementary. Phases 2, 3 and 4 will be the harvesting of the fruit for use in P-H-M’s schools; and if all goes well, Gensic also hopes to provide fruit for the local community.

When all the planting is done, there will be a total of 64 fruit trees planted between Horizon, Mary Frank, Elsie Rogers and Elm Road. Out of the 64 trees, 40 are apple and 24 are pear trees.

Academically, this project will have the high school students focusing on Indiana Biology Standards 2 (matter cycles and energy transfer) and Biology Standard 3 (interdependence). The elementary students will also focus on Indiana Science and Language Arts Standards as a way to reinforce this great experience.

Please check out the pictures below taken at Elsie Rogers Elementary.