Penn High School student Jack Bao said that it was just like taking another math test.

Only this test was in a room of about 250 other high school students, and it was at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

In their first year of competing in the prestigious MathCon national competition, Penn students made a masterful impact.

Bao emerged from the grinding 40 problems in 40 minutes national finals competition as the 12^th-grade national champion.

David Kim won the national championship at the 11^th-grade level.

“These two students are national champions because of their level of commitment to the extra-curricular math programs at Penn High School,” Penn High School math instructor Brad Grounds said of Bao and Kim.

Tina Lu was a ninth-grade Gold medal winner, Mason Lee was an 11^th-grade Bronze medal winner, and Corey Wang was a ninth-grade Bronze medal winner.

“Penn High school continues to produce successful students because of its promotion of these extra-curricular activities,” Grounds said.

MathCon is in its eighth year. The national event started out as an online middle school competition, and added high school competition in 2012.

This year, more than 45,000 students across the national competed in the initial online competition. The top 600 students were invited to the national finals in Chicago.

“It was really, really fun,” Bao said of the experience. “There were a ton of people, and we all love Math. Winning the national championship was something I hadn’t experienced before. It was a lot of fun.”

Bao said that the Math curriculum at Penn gave him an edge in winning the national championship.

“The MathCon 12^th-grade level has calculus on the test,” Bao said. “That was something I hadn’t seen before in other competitions. Since at Penn, I took calculus A, B and C, I was able to answer those questions.”

Penn High School STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) Academy Leader Rachel Fry commended Grounds and all of the participating students from Penn.

“As with many Penn experiences, our students' participation in the national MathCon was initiated by a student,” Fry said. “Mr. Brad Grounds was instrumental in learning about the event, and organized the group of students that participated.  It was incredible to see our STEM students take part in something for the first time, and for so many to walk away with such high honors.  This is evidence that the academic rigor being implemented to challenge our students is first-rate!”

No better day than National Teacher Appreciation Day to recognize a great teacher like Kristi Kaniewski-Ulrich! When Ulrich was called to a Schmucker classroom on Tuesday, May 3, she was not aware that friends, family and colleagues were waiting there to surprise her. They knew that she was about to be named HERO OF THE MONTH by the Michiana chapter of the national organization, Homes for Heroes. 

Ulrich had been selected for the honor in recognition of her commitment to the community and her service as a teacher and coach.  The plaque presented to her reads: Hero of the Month 2016: To Kristi Kaniewski Ulrich, For your dedication and commitment to your students, players, and community. Your work has been noticed and is very much appreciated. Thank you for being a hero! 

Ulrich teaches health and physical education at Schmucker Middle School. She is also coach of the state championship girls varsity basketball team at Penn High School. Clearly she is a busy woman, but she does it all with great enthusiasm. 

“I just have a passion for it (teaching at middle school) and then being able to go over to the high school in the afternoon and being able to teach and coach basketball—which I love a tremendous amount as well,” says Ulrich. “This is where I definitely want to be, this is something that I love to do each and every single day.”

WNDU-TV was also on hand to record the presentation. Watch that video here.

Homes for Heroes is a national organization that seeks to support public servants in the home buying and selling process, through professional support and discounted services. Locally, they strive to build connections and promote recognition in the community for public servants and military personnel. 

From the Homes for Heroes website: Our mission is to provide extraordinary savings to local heroes who provide extraordinary services to our community everyday. Heroes include military, police, fire, first responders, nurses, doctors, teachers and clergy.

Here are links to the Homes for Heroes Facebook page and website:

• https://www.facebook.com/MichianaHomesForHeroes/?fref=ts

• https://www.homesforheroes.com/

By Ari Kirsch

Penn High School student reporter

On Thursday, May 5, and Friday, May 6, members of the Penn High School community will have the opportunity to attend the spring choir concert for an enjoyable evening of choral music.

The concert is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. and will be held in Penn’s Center for Performing Arts.

All seven of the Penn High School choirs will be performing in the Spring event.

Penn choir students, under direction of Andrew Nemeth and Brent Holaway, as well as piano accompanist Andrew Napolitan, have prepared tremendously for the event, and are excited and ready to produce an evening of delightfully mesmerizing music.

To purchase tickets for Spring 2016 Performances, click here.

Penn High School’s Full Orchestra, Symphonic Band and Symphonic Winds each earned Gold Ratings with Distinction in the ISSMA (Indiana State School Music Association) Qualifier event on April 29-30.

The Penn Orchestra and Symphonic Winds qualified for the State Finals. Eight Orchestras and 16 bands from around the state qualify for this event annually. The Orchestra performs at Pike High School in Indianapolis at 12:25 p.m. in State Finals competition on Saturday, May 7. The band performs at Lawrence Central High School in Indianapolis at 6:10 p.m. on May 7.

“We are very pleased to have the Symphonic Band, Full Orchestra and Symphonic Winds each earn a Gold Rating with Distinction at the ISSMA Qualifying event last weekend,” Penn Fine Arts Academy leader Glenn Northern said. “The Orchestra, under the direction of Lavon Oke and Liz Cravens, had a wonderful performance, and earned its highest scores ever at this event.”

Penn’s Symphonic Band, under the direction of Northern and Chris Paulson, gave an outstanding performance of some very difficult band literature, according to Northern. The Symphonic Winds, also under the direction of Northern and Paulson, likewise turned in a memorable performance.

“All of our students and staff should be very proud of their hard work and their achievement,” Northern said of the Gold Ratings with Distinction performances.

The Indiana primary election takes place Tuesday, May 3, and that means the road to the White House is coming through the Michiana area!

A group of passionate Penn journalism students are on the Campaign Trail providing coverage on Penn News Network (PNN) to the rest of the P-H-M community. Since last Tuesday, April 26, three of the five Presidential Candidates have been made stops in our area, with Ted Cruz coming twice.

The students first covered Democratic Candidate Hillary Clinton’s visit to Mishawaka’s AM General Plant on April 26 (click here to see the Clinton coverage). Republican hopeful Ted Cruz held a rally the following Thursday, April 28, at the Century Center in downtown South Bend (click here to see the Cruz coverage). Democrat Bernie Sanders also held a rally at the Century Center on Sunday, May 1 … and the students were there covering it with the rest of the local media (click here to see the Sanders coverage).

This morning (Monday, May 2) Cruz came back to Michiana visiting Bravo Cave in Osceola, not far from Penn; however, with this event being during the school day, the students did not cover this event. But they will be back downtown this evening (Monday, May 2) when Republican Donald Trump rolls into town for his rally at the Century Center (click here to see the Trump coverage).

The Penn student reporters have even made the mainstream news themselves being profiled by WSBT-TV and ABC 57.

PNN has a daily report that is broadcast to Penn’s student body covering a variety of topics from school news to results of athletic games to weather to local and national issues. These reports along with feature stories are available on PNN’s website.

Penn High School sophomore Kennedy Parker was part of Penn’s DECA contingent to the 2016 International DECA Conference in Nashville, Tenn. Here is her first-hand account, along with a photo gallery of the event:

On Friday, April 22, six Penn students and emerging leaders traveled to Nashville, Tennessee for DECA’s International Career Development Conference, or ICDC. While in Nashville, the students had the opportunity to compete against, and collaborate with, students from all 50 states, as well as the countries of Canada, China, Spain, Mexico, and Germany.

DECA is a club that allows students to compete in events based on various aspects of business. Events can range from a prepared year-long advertising campaign for a company, role-play marketing interviews, financial consulting, to sports and entertainment marketing.

Penn’s chapter advisor, Mrs. McElwrath, said, “19,000 students from around the world attended the Competition with up to 180 students competing in each event category. Student scores are based on a 100 question comprehensive test and a paper & presentation in each category. Students have been working on papers and presentations since October and studying hard for the comprehensive tests.”

Penn students were very successful in their events,  gaining new business experience and many memorable moments. Here’s a quick recap of each student’s trip from their perspective.

Cassidy Jurkaites – Financial Consulting

Top 10 Presentation Score

Top 20 Finalist Overall

Competency Award (Top 15% in overall combined score for event category)

“My favorite DECA moment was sitting in the front row of the Grand Ole Opry and taking a selfie with Craig Morgan,” Jurkaites said. “People should join DECA for the skills that they can gain: professionalism, confidence, and the ability to speak with anyone you meet.”

Kyle Cather – Professional Selling

Competency Award (Top 15% in overall combined score for event category)

Social Media N@shville Live Correspondent

Read his published article about the Opening Ceremony here: http://www.decadirect.org/April-2016/The-Best-DECAICDC-Opening-Session-in-DECA-History/

Kacey Wood – Advertising Campaign

Competency Award (Top 15% in overall combined score for event category)

“DECA has not only taught me how to dress and present myself professionally, but it has opened up lifelong friendships and experiences that I will cherish,” Wood said.

Danielle Kovach – Hospitality & Tourism Professional Selling

Competency Award (Top 15% in overall combined score for event category)

“I love DECA,” Kovach shared. “ It has provided me with real life scenarios that have helped me get jobs, gain knowledge about the field of business and grow with my speaking abilities.”

Kendra Laidig – Elevate Academy

As the incoming Penn DECA President with aspirations to run for a State DECA Officer position, Kendra attended a 2-day leadership academy to prepare her for running our chapter in the 2016-2017 school year and for state elections in 2017.

“I was privileged to listen to past International Executive Presidents who gave their insight on how to lead a DECA chapter. I am so thankful for the opportunity to collaborate with over 300 chapter officers from all across the country to brainstorm new ways to recruit members, prepare for competition, and create a ‘culture of success’ in the DECA classroom.”

Kennedy Parker – Principles of Marketing

Competency Award (Top 15% in overall combined score for event category)

“This was my first year in DECA, and even in just one year I’ve learned so much. DECA has taught me about professionalism, marketing, business, communication skills, and confidence.”

This past year, Jurkaites was the president of Penn’s DECA chapter, Cather served as Vice President of Communications, Kovach served as Vice President of Corporate Relations, and Laidig served as Vice President of Marketing.

Next year, Laidig will be Penn’s DECA president, Parker will become Vice President of Marketing, and Wood will be Vice President of Leadership. These officers-to-be agree that the skills and knowledge gained at this year’s ICDC will greatly benefit their leadership positions next year.

Aside from competitions and conferences, these students had the opportunity to participate in several team building/tourist activities while in Nashville, including zip-lining and attending a concert at the Grand Ole Opry! See photos from the trip below. 

Here are some photos of the Nashville experience for Penn’s students:

Registered voters from Precincts 15 and 17 should enter at Door M, located on the south side of the school, facing Jefferson Rd. 

The first row of parking between doors L and M in the small Jefferson Rd. parking lot just east of Bittersweet Rd. will be reserved for voters. Voters will be restricted to the area set aside for voting just inside the Door M entrance, and will not have access to the rest of the school building. 

Registered voters may only use the polling location that serves their precinct, based on their home address. Here is a link to the precincts maps and polling location information provided by St. Joseph County. 

The Gala took place Saturday, April 23, 2016 at the Palais Royale Ballroom and PHMEF Executive Director Mari Linn Wise reports, “It was a smashing success!”

Friends of the school district gathered to celebrate the P-H-M Education Foundation’s two decades of accomplishments—having a great time and raising even more funds while they were at it!

The evening’s Roaring 20’s theme came through with plenty of glitz and glam. There were “flappers” in headbands and feather boas, and “dappers” in hats and spats. Chairperson Christine Rutherford and her staff of volunteers saw to the many details that made the evening memorable, including black and gold art deco touches, vintage costumes, designer cupcakes, and jazz music provided by Penn High students. 

View the full photo gallery here.

The highlight of the evening was the on-stage entertainment provided by teams of principals and assistant principals. Wise says, “PHMEF asked our principals and assistant principals to step outside their comfort zone to raise funds for our students by performing. P-H-M is so fortunate to have such caring administrators who want to raise funds for our students. Our winning Team Five closed out the night with a standing-ovation performance. Congratulations to all of the teams!”

Many parents, friends, staff members and community members who did not attend the Gala still supported it by casting $10 votes for their favorite teams of principals and assistant principals. On top of that giving, came a vote matching offer from Gary Fox for Crowe Horwath. He pledged to match each $10 vote, up to 100 votes for each team!

Here’s the final tally, including Mr. Fox’s generous support:

• Team 1 – 122 votes (Penn High)
• Team 2 – 217 votes (Horizon, P Vista, Northpoint)
• Team 3 – 437 votes (Elsie, W Disney, Bittersweet, Madison, Meadow’s)
• Team 4 – 223 votes (DMS, GMS, SMS)
• Team 5 – 451 votes (Mary Frank, Moran, Elm Road)
• Team 6 – 198 votes (Wildcard: Mr. Kauffman!)
• Total votes – 1,648

$16,480 was raised for P-H-M students and programs through votes alone!

Thousands of dollars in additional funds were raised through a silent auction conducted through online bidding, as well as live bidding to support the Summer Visual Arts Academy, and live bidding to underwrite PHMEF direct classroom grants. 

"I am overwhelmed by the support and generosity of the P-H-M community,” Wise states. “Our 20th Anniversary Gala was the first sit-down dinner in the Foundation’s history and it proved to be such a success. It was a night of fun and entertainment while raising much needed funds for our students.”

She continues, “Many thanks to the gala chair, Christine Rutherford, to the principals and assistant principals who showcased their talents, and to our families for their continued support.” 

The Foundation Board expresses special thanks to these five underwriters:  Gurley Leep Subaru, University of Notre Dame, Crowe Horwath, Jim and Julie Schwartz, and Gates Automotive Group.

Click here to view the Foundation’s timeline, charting 20 amazing years of contributions and growth. 

As soon as Penn High School broadcast instructor Kevin McNulty heard that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was going to make a campaign appearance at the AM General Commercial Assembly plant in Mishawaka on Tuesday, April 26, he quickly turned it into a learning experience for three Penn High School students.

McNulty was able to send a crew of Penn News Network students to AM General to cover Clinton’s appearance there. Click here to see the students coverage on PNN.

The students were also profiled by WSBT-TV and ABC 57:

“The minute I heard the news report, I started emailing and calling,” McNulty said of trying to arrange Clinton campaign appearance credentials for student reporters Emily Vetne, Cameron Carpenter, and Tyler Clifton of Penn Network News.

“In hearing my students talk to local media about the experience today (CBS, ABC, NBC affiliates), I know that they got a real-world, hands-on experience,” McNulty said. “They worked side-by-side in the press corps with professionals who do this for a living. Prior to that, the students only knew what we do by doing it in school, more of an assignment than a job.

“Now that they have seen the pros do it (repeatedly), they get it,” McNulty continued. “It's the First Amendment freedom, freedom of the press, and engaging in it is good work. I certainly selected the right kids too; they absorbed it all like sponges!”

Penn’s student reporters met Clinton, and also did interviews with Indiana Senator Joe Donnelly, and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Pictured above is PNN student reporter Emily Vetne interviewing Donnelly.

McNulty said that the learning moment made a significant impact on his students.

“Though they enjoyed all of it (including the secret service sweep, the conversations with local reporters, the introductions to state senators and state governors), I think those tete-a-tetes on camera proved to be the richest experiences,” McNulty said.

On Thursday, April 28, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz will hold a rally at the Century Center in downtown South Bend. The PNN students plan on covering that event as well.