As President Trump was sworn into office on January 20, seven Penn students were in D.C. to witness the history being made for the year 2017 at the 45th Presidential Inauguration in front of the Nation’s Capitol Building.

The students who went on the trip not only went to the inauguration, but toured a handful of museums and memorials such as The Holocaust Museum, The Air and Space Museum in the Smithsonian, the Arlington Cemetery; where they had the chance to see John F. Kennedy's final resting place as well as seeing the Changing of the Guard Ceremony at the Tomb of the unknown soldier.

The group also visited the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the World War II Memorial, the Pentagon Memorial, and The U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial. The group also toured Ford’s Theatre, where President Lincoln was assassinated, and was enlightened by the National Archives.

America is full with different people with different beliefs and religions, so it’s understandable that there would be a considerable amount of protests in the streets of Washington D.C.

“There was a women’s protest, which was really crowded,” said Kennedy Smith. “It was really cool though seeing democracy and the First Amendment in action, but because the crowd was so gigantic, it made me feel uneasy at times.”

Sydney Seigel appreciated the opportunity to be part of the event.

“This inauguration is definitely going to go down in history, and so the fact that I got to be a part of that, as well as part of the Woman's March the next day, is astounding,” Seigel said. “Experiencing the climate of both Inauguration day and the Protest the next day was definitely eye-opening.

“While the living history part was incredible; one of the best parts of the trip was meeting students from other schools and getting to know the small group that I went with.” 

When the students headed back to Indiana, Mrs. Pettine, the main supervisor of the trip, said that her goal is for Penn students to have an outstanding experience.

 “I hope they just enjoyed themselves and being in the space and place of our nation’s governance.” 

Penn High School’s Debate Team placed fourth in the state in competition in Kokomo on Saturday, Jan. 28.

Penn is the only school in the St. Joseph County that offers debate in general, so competition could be hard to hard at times, but the students were never bothered with the traveling and overnight trips.

“I always tell them to do their best and to represent themselves, along with Penn High School, well and they generally do,” Penn Speech and Debate teacher Mr. David Dutton said. “These students live up to the reputation and expectations that had been set up for them.”

Students who placed in the state debate competition were:

• Annie Zakrzewski and Bryce Yoder placed second for Public Forum Debate.

• Nicholas Casetti and Renee Yaseen both placed third for Policy Debate.

• The World School Debate team placed eighth and that team included Elizabeth Carrier, Hannah Keeler, Reis Kennedy, and Curtis Whitt.

• Payton Holland was an octa-finalist for the Lincoln Douglas debate.

• Student Congress semi-finalists: Dylan Quiggle, Cage Thompson, and Colin Lucero-Dixon.

Penn High School’s Symphonic and Chamber Orchestras treated guests to an evening of casual music in the school’s Instructional Materials Center. 

Penn student James Campbell captured the event with a photo gallery.

Next month, Penn High School will host the IN District – St. Joseph Tournament. Penn expects to host 32 teams for the qualifying FIRST Robotics Competition. The event will be held March 10-12 at Penn, the first time a district tournament has been held in northern Indiana.

It will take a lot of help to pull off a competition of this scale. Therefore, Penn Robotics Team 135 and the FIRST League are looking for volunteers! They need the community’s help in filling volunteer and coordinator positions for this major community tournament. Your reward for helping out?!? The satisfaction that you will be helping to motivate hundreds students pursue opportunities in science, technology and engineering!

Five of the 32 teams competing in the event are from local area schools:  ElkLogics Team 2867 (Elkhart Schools); Las Pumas 2197 (New Prairie High School); Memento Vitam Team 5484 (S.B. Career Academy); Riley WildBots Team 3865 (Riley High School); and Penn Robotics Team 135 (Penn High School).

The FIRST Robotics Competition is an annual competition that challenges high-school students, working alongside professional Mentors, to construct a robot for competition. The ultimate Sport for the Mind™ measures the effectiveness of each robot, the power of teamwork and collaboration, and each team's display of Gracious Professionalism ®. Through their participation, students experience the excitement of science, engineering, technology, and innovation; build well-rounded life capabilities such as self-confidence, communication, and leadership.

Interested volunteers should sign up via the link below for the Volunteer Information and Matching System (VIMS). After a screening process, VIMS matches and schedules volunteers with open event positions.

VIMS link:

https://my.firstinspires.org/FIRSTPortal/Login/VIMS_Login.aspx

Facebook Group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/sjdistrict/

Event page:

http://www.indianafirst.org/2017-st-joseph-event

Penn’s quest for a second consecutive state championship in high school girls basketball came up short, as Northridge scored a 48-39 victory against the Kingsmen on Saturday, Feb. 4.

Freshman Reganne Pate led the Kingsmen with 13 points, including three 3-pointers.

Penn’s only senior, Lindsy Kline, scored eight points. Sara Doi scored seven points, and Chloe Foley scored six points.

Coach Kristi Kaniewski Ulrich’s Kingsmen finished the season with a 20-5 record, a remarkable accomplishment considering Penn only had one senior and three juniors on the roster, and had six freshmen on the roster. Penn graduated six student-athletes from last season’s team who are currently playing college athletics. 

PENN 39: Chloe Foley 6, Kelsi Carrico 0, Victoria Smith 0, Sara Doi 7, Reganne Pate 13, Makenzie Kilmer 0, Antreese Shelton 5, Lindsy Kline 8.

Northridge 48: Melinda Bontrager 4, Julaine Miller 3, Morgan Litwiller 2, Brooke McKinley 21, Carah Christner 3, Marci Miller 4, Meghan Cawood 0, Ayla Gray 0, Sierra Miller 0, Ashley Beckler 0, Kelsey Brickner 11.

PENN             8          16        24        39

Northridge     11        22        33        48

Three-pointers: Penn 6 (Pate 3, Foley 2, Doi 1), Northridge 4 (McKinley 3, Christner 1).

Penn High’s defending state champion Girls Basketball team eliminated Elkhart Central 45-28, on Friday, Feb. 3, to advance to the Class 4-A Sectional Championship game at Goshen. Penn will play the winner of the Warsaw-Northridge game.

Coach Kristi Kaniewski Ulrich’s Kingsmen will seek their seventh consecutive Sectional Championship. The tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday night at Goshen.

Penn will take a 20-4 record in the championship game. Elkhart Central finishes at 12-11.

Penn’s only senior, Lindsy Kline, led the Kingsmen with 19 points.

Junior point guard Sara Doi scored 13 points, and freshman Reganne Pate hit a pair of 3-pointers for six points.

Penn unleashed a stifling defense on Central. The Kingsmen shut out the Blue Blazers in the first quarter, and didn’t allow a field goal in the first 14 minutes and 16 seconds of the game.

Penn’s victory was its 26^th in a row against Elkhart Central.

PENN 45: Chloe Foley 0, Kelsi Carrico 0, Victoria Smith 3, Sara Doi 13, Reganne Pate 6, Makenzie Kilmer 2, Anne Goralczyk 2, Antreese Shelton 0, Marissa Trewhella 0, Lindsy Kline 19, Delayne Sanchez 0, Caroline Morris 0.

ELKHART CENTRAL 28: Katey Gaff 0, Mady Miller 0, Julee Miller 0, Trinitee Harris 11, Jordan Ware 2, Jayda Miller 0, Kristen Hunt 8, Abbey Miller 0, Tylar Roberson 7, Lauren Kollat 0, MaKayla Roundtree 0, Raleyah Ross 0, Aujanae Miller 0.

Penn                          6          23        33        45

Elkhart Central         0          6          18        28

Three-pointers: PENN 7 (Doi 3, Pate 2, Smith 1, Kline 1), Elkhart Central 2 (Hunt 2).

hart Central 2 (Hunt 2).

Penn High School Fine Arts Academy leader Glenn Northern announced that 21 students from Penn High School were recently selected to participate in the 2017 Indiana All State Band. The 21 selections more than doubles Penn’s previous best of 10 students earning the coveted distinction, and the 21 selections for the 2017 All-State Band is the most for one school.

Penn students named to the All-State Band were:

Michelle Tapp, Senior, Flute & Piano

Emma Leidy, Sophomore, Oboe & English Horn

Shurun Kim, Junior Clarinet

Chris Mazurek, Junior, Clarinet

Emily Schlundt, Sophomore, Clarinet

Ryan Klinedinst, Senior, Clarinet

Taya Tu, Senior, Contra-Alto Clarinet

Gannon Bennett, Junior, Trumpet

Nick Casetti, Junior, Trumpet

Hillary Carnall, Senior, French Horn

Peter Lehmann, Senior, Trombone

Ashton Hershberger, Junior, Trombone

Carly Carnall, Freshman, Trombone

Jacob Forte, Senior, Euphonium

Angel Muro, Senior, Tuba

Madison Simpkins, Senior, Tuba

David Richards, Junior, String Bass

Peter Campeau, Freshman, String Bass

Kendra Fuelling, Junior, Percussion

Michelle Miramontes, Senior, Percussion

Anna Vukmirovich, Senior, Percussion

These twenty-one students were selected from among 500 candidates through a highly competitive audition process held in early January.

Students in the All-State Bands are assigned to one of two bands: the All-State Band and the All-State Honor Band. One hundred seventy outstanding high school band members have been selected for participation in the 2017 Festival. Captain Michelle Rakers, from the United States Marine Band in Washington D.C. will conduct the Honor Band. Mr. Alfred Watkins from Lassiter High School in Georgia will conduct the All State Band.

All members will participate in a series of activities including seating auditions, sectionals, and full rehearsals from Friday, March 10, through Sunday, March 12. A grand finale concert will be presented to the public on Sunday, March 12, at 2:30 p.m. in the Elliot Hall of Music on the Purdue University campus. 

Penn’s Girls Swimming team turned in first-place efforts in six of the 11 events in the preliminary round of the Sectional on Thursday, Feb. 2. 

Kayla Molnar placed first in the 200-yard freestyle and 500 freestyle.

Meagan Ronci placed first in the 100 freestyle.

Kionna Clayton placed first in the 100 breaststroke.

Penn’s 200 freestyle relay and 400 freestyle relay were also first.

South Bend Riley had three firsts, and South Bend St. Joseph had two firsts.

The Diving is at 9 a.m. at Penn on Saturday, and the Swim Sectional is at 1 p.m. at Penn on Saturday.

Penn High’s defending state champion girls basketball team opened the Class 4-A state tournament with a 53-28 victory against sectional host Goshen on Tuesday.

Point guard Sara Doi scored 19 points – including 12-of-12 free throws in the fourth quarter – to lead the Kingsmen attack.

Penn’s lone senior, Lindsy Kline, scored 18 points.

Penn connected on 21-of-26 free throws, including 17-of-18 in the final quarter.

Reganne Pate scored 10 points for the Kingsmen.

Penn (19-4) returns to Goshen for sectional semifinal play on Friday at 6 p.m. against Elkhart Central (12-10). Goshen’s season ends at 8-15.

PENN 53: Chloe Foley 0, Kelsi Carrico 0, Victoria Smith 0, Sara Doi 19, Reganne Pate 10, Makenzie Kilmer 3, Anne Goralczyk 0, Antreese Shelton 2, Marissa Trewhella 0, Lindsy Kline 18, Delayne Sanchez 0, Caroline Morris 1.

Goshen 28: Ashton Ellis 7, Josie Walters 4, Jordan Nemeth 2, Megan Harmelink 0, Aylissa Trosper 6, Regan Mast 3, Maggie Gallagher 4, Lizzy Kirkton 2, Hailey Mast 0, Nyla Dean 0, Remya Johnson 0, Breanna Boocher 0.

PENN        14     10     8       21 – 53

Goshen     6       3       7       12 – 28

Three-pointers: PENN 5 (Pate 2, Doi 1, Kilmer 1, Kline 1), Goshen 2 (Walters 1, Ellis 1).

Penn High School sophomore Noah Applegate scored a career-high 33 points, but the Kingsmen suffered a 78-69 loss to No. 7 South Bend Riley on Thursday, Feb. 2.

Riley improved to 15-0 overall and 8-0 in the Northern Indiana Conference.

Penn is 8-8 overall and 5-3 in the NIC.

Applegate, a 6-foot-5 wing, scored his 33 points on 10-of-17 shooting and a perfect 13-of-13 free throws.

Senior point guard Brian Doslak scored 11 points for Penn.

Riley's Damezi Anderson scored 21 points, and Maurice Scott, Jr. scored 18 points.

PENN 69: Drew Lutz 6, Drew Schneider 2, Brian Doslak 11, Beau Ludwick 5, Noah Applegate 33, Noah Krathwohl 3, Matthew McCown 3, Connor Schneider 6.

Riley 78: Maurice Scott, Jr. 18, Jalen Jennings 4, Shamar Dillard 13, Damezi Anderson 21, Roland Austin 6, Rylan Grundy 3, Nate Marino 2, Marlon Taylor 8, Ty'Juan Reid 3.

PENN          16   12   14   27 – 69

Riley             19   17   19   23 – 78

Three-pointers: PENN 4 (Doslak 3, Ludwick 1); Riley 3 (Scott 1, Dillard 1, Anderson 1).