Snowball 2016 will feature surprise entertainment throughout the night; a social media/photo booth by Tap Snap; formal pictures; dancing and music by Pro Show Entertainment and caricature drawings (no charge).

Purchase a Star on ‘Hollywood Boulevard’ for your date, friend or favorite teacher. Cost is $5. The name will be written on the star with your name listed as who it is from. Order online on Eventbrite (click on order now and scroll down to additional items) when you order your tickets.

Surprise your date with a gorgeous rose wrapped in cellophane upon your arrival at the dance. Order by Jan. 4th @ Midnight. The cost is $10. Single roses will be picked up at your arrival to the dance. Please plan to enter through Door D. You will need to show your ticket confirmation via phone or printed copy at the door. Order online on Eventbrite (click on order now and scroll down to additional items) when you order your tickets.

Enjoy an unforgettable evening ride in the horse-drawn 10-Passenger Opera Bus. A reserved time will be set for ticket holders. You will need to show your ticket confirmation via phone or printed copy. 

Ticket cost is $15 per person & limited to the first 120 people. Order online on Eventbrite (click on order now and scroll down to additional items) when you order your tickets.

Order a corsage/boutonniere package for $35 by Jan. 4 at Midnight. Pickup will be on Sunday, January 17, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., at Penn High School Door D. 

You will need to show your ticket confirmation via phone or printed copy at the door. 

Call Poppies at (574) 243-5703 to customize options. Order online on Eventbrite (click on order now and scroll down to additional items) when you order your tickets.

Join your fellow students on Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016, at the event of the year, Hollywood Nights, Snowball 2016!  There will be music, dancing, coffee bar, dessert bar, caricature drawings, carriage rides and surprise entertainment throughout the night. Snowball 2016 will be held at Penn High School, from 8 p.m to midnight, on Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016.

• Cost is $20 per ticket. Click here to purchase tickets. When you click on order now on the ticket website, scroll down to additional items to purchase a flower package, a ride on the horse-drawn opera carriage, a Star on ‘Hollywood Boulevard’, and/or a single rose wrapped in cellophane.
• Desserts
• Special features
• Social media. Twitter: @pennhspto and Facebook: pennpto 
• Email: Pennhspto@gmail.com
• Students must enter through Door D. Tickets for the event must be purchased in advance. 

• Students can bring guests, but the guests must be at least of high school age and under 21. 

• Everyone must have a current photo ID to get in the door.

• This annual fundraiser is brought to you by the Penn High School Parent Teacher Organization.

Thanks to one industrious engineering Penn High School student, South Bend’s HOPE Ministries received $1,400!

As a member of Everence, Kaitlin “Kait” Kelsey participated in the Everence Week of Generosity to secure the valuable donation for HOPE.

On Thursday (Dec. 17) morning, Kait presented Jessie Klein, Director of Community Relations for HOPE Ministries, with the check. Klein praised the all-female Intro to Engineering Design for their passion, compassion and ingenuity.

The sophomore STEM Academy student earned the donation by participating in Canstruction (the October food drive event held at University Park Mall which also benefited HOPE Ministries). Kait and her fellow all-female engineering classmates designed and built a “Rosie the Riveter” sculpture for the canned food drive/engineering event. The team chose Rosie the Riveter because they it illustrated their drive, initiative and power as young women. Kait and her team collected approximately 3,500 cans of corn, beans, soups and tuna to create Rosie the Riveter earning them the “Voters’ Choice” award and “Best Meal” award.

Each year, Everence offices across the country organize generosity events in order to give back to communities through the organizations that members care about. The funds come from a combination of the Everence corporate tithe, money Everence would otherwise pay in taxes and individual contributions.

The Michiana Everence Fraternal Chapter, a board of Everence members, organizes the Week of Generosity, which each year focuses on different areas within the eight-county region. This year, the board focused on St. Joseph County, Indiana, and Everence members volunteered at Transformation Ministries, Hope Ministries, Ten Thousand Villages, St. Joseph County Bridges out of Poverty, Southfield Villages, St. Joseph Habitat for Humanity and Food Bank of Northern Indiana.

About Everence
Everence helps individuals, organizations and congregations integrate finances with faith through a national team of advisors and representatives. Everence offers banking, insurance and financial services with community benefits and stewardship education. Everence is a ministry of Mennonite Church USA and other churches. To learn more, visit www.everence.com.

About HOPE Ministries
Hope Ministries is more than just a homeless shelter. Its vision, mission and philosophy is to heal the whole person, not just treat the symptoms. So while providing basic material needs to residents, such as shelter, food and clothing; the faith-based center also provides counseling services for families, job readiness, addiction recovery and an adult education program. To learn more about HOPE Ministries, visit www.hopesb.org. 

In an effort to get more female students interested in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics), Penn’s STEM Academy held its WIT (Women in Technology) Day on Tuesday, Dec. 8.  During the 4-hour open house structured event, P-H-M female eighth grade students from the District’s three middle schools (Discovery, Grissom and Schmucker) and current Penn freshmen girls were invited to learn more about Penn’s STEM programs. Browse the pictures below.

Students visited classrooms, participated in science demonstrations and experiments, visited the robotics lab, learned more about STEM careers and how classes at Penn could help them prepare.  Students also heard from current Penn female students enrolled in the STEM Academy, which allowed the 8^th and 9^th graders to talk to them about their own rewarding STEM experiences.

Penn’s unique Academy structure allows students to pursue fields of interest in supportive learning environments.

Leaps, pirouettes and flowing transitions will converge to create a symphony of motion on the Penn High School Center for the Performing Arts stage in the Student Choreography Showcase on Wednesday, Dec. 16, at 7 p.m.

Tickets for the Student Choreography Showcase are $5 and are available online at www.ticketracker.com or one hour before the show at the ticket office.

According to Penn dance instructor Jenn Wolfe, Student Choreography Showcase displays the talents of the Dance Choreography III/IV and Advanced Dance I/II dancers. The students choreographed their own pieces. There are 21 pieces, and each piece is between two and three minutes.  

Now in its eighth year, the Student Choreography Showcase evolved from the Advanced Dance Class. Wolfe created the event originally for her class, but was inspired to make it a public event.

“I had several parents comment on how they would love to see what the students created, and I wanted the students to be able to share what they had been working so hard on,” Wolfe said. “With the development of this new class, I was able to push the students further into the role of the choreographer and create a real-world experience.”

Penn student Kimber Powers loves the challenge of creating a dance.

“When you’re put into the project of having to create your own dance, it gives you the teacher’s perspective,” Powers said. “It’s not, “I need to learn this,” it’s “I need to do this to teach someone else.” You have to change the way you’re looking at things. This is preparing you to develop your mindset of not only seeing it as a student, but as a teacher, how to choreograph and all of the different dance elements that come into play.

“What I love about the Dance Showcase is it’s an opportunity to show the community all of the work and progress we’ve been doing in our Dance Class,” Powers said. “It’s all hard work. We all have to learn technique. We all have to learn the new steps to four or five different dances. It’s a way for us to have a rewarding, fun final, and offer a performance to the community and Penn High School.”

Wolfe said that the event allows students to step into the role of a dancer and a choreographer. The event is the final exam for the students.

“It is a way for them to demonstrate the mastery of the dance standards we have worked on all first semester,” Wolfe said. “They have worked hard for the last month on all performance aspects such as choosing and editing music, finding costumes and creating a dance of their own to perform for an audience.   

“One unique part of this performance is that is student-created and student-run,” Wolfe said. “I have only given guidance and typed what they told me to type into the program and cue sheet. 

“Another unique aspect is seeing the difference in the choreography created within the same style.  Not all of the dancers have a strong dance background yet they choreograph like they have danced forever.  I love seeing what the students can create and how they can put movements together.”

This year’s performances will include Tap, Modern, Contemporary, Jazz and Hip-hop dance.

Powers loves that students take ownership of the project, and hone their skills of creativity and collaboration.

“You have to work together to put in all of the motion, put in all of the different ideas, combine all of the different styles,” Powers said. “It’s your dance. You own your performance. It’s all of the skills you’ve learned in the past three or four years being put on display.”

Powers said that the Student Choreography Showcase is one of many reasons that make Penn’s Fine Arts Academy one of the best in the state. She said she appreciates that the Penn community supports the Arts as part of the curriculum at Penn.

“It’s a shame that there are schools that don’t have the Arts as part of the curriculum,” Powers said. “The Arts are especially important for every student to take a part in. It’s a way to express yourself that you can’t in any other class. You may excel in Engolish, you may excel in Science, you may excel in Math … however, the Arts are a way to express yourself and say, ‘Hey, this is all of the hard work I’ve done. This is truly who I am.’

“It’s a way to express feelings and emotions that you can’t do in a classroom. It’s a chance to get out of the classroom normal setting and say, “This is who I am. This is me. Let’s take a stand and show people that.”