The National High School Strength Coaches Association (NHSSCA) named Penn Strength and Conditioning Coach Matt Cates the 2024 National Coach of the Year!

Last February Coach Cates was named the 2023 Great Lakes Regional Coach of the Year. In 2020, he became the State Director of NHSSCA for Indiana. In January 2022, Penn’s Strength and Conditioning program led by Coach Cates was awarded with a NHSSCA Program of Excellence School designation!

Coach Cates’ enthusiasm and dedication working with student-athletes has made him one of the most popular people at Penn High School. Coach Cates builds lasting relationships with students bringing out the best in them. He is a great motivator, making videos in 2021 to help students cope with the pandemic. Click to watch some of his videos on PHM’s TikTok account. At the start of the 2023-2024 school year, he was one of the teachers who spoke at the Freshman Class Meeting welcoming 9th graders to Penn. He got the biggest round of applause, even from the freshmen! Click to see the pictures.

Cates was chosen from four finalists. The award is given each year to a high school Strength Coach based on their achievements and contributions to their school community. Click here for more information on the award.

Coach Cates will be honored this summer at the national conference in Dallas as NHSSCA’s 2024 National Coach of the Year!

The 2024 FIN Mishawaka FRC District Event will once again be held at Penn High School March 1st – 3rd (open to the public on Saturday, March 2 and Sunday, March 3). The event will be held in Penn’s Main Arena. See below for a daily schedule:

Saturday, March 2

• 10:30 – 11:00 a.m., Opening Ceremonies
• 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m., Qualifying Matches (No matches during Lunch, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.)

Sunday, March 3

• 9:30 – 10:00 a.m., Opening Ceremonies
• 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., Qualifying Matches
• 12:30 – 1:00 p.m., Alliance Selections
• 1:00 – 2:00 p.m., Lunch
• 2:00 – 5:00 p.m., Playoff Matches & Awards Ceremony

Click here for the detailed daily schedule.

For elementary aged children, there’s also the Next Gen event from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. The event will be upstairs–above Penn’s Main Arena–in the Fitness Center. This event is open to all children, not just P-H-M students. Children have the opportunity to do hands-on STEM activities, even operate a robot! Click here for pictures from last year’s event.

This year’s game is CRESCENDO^SM presented by Haas; click here to view a video about the game. FIRST^© Robotics Competition teams will use their STEM skills and creative power to turn up the volume as they design, build, and program their robots for action-packed game play. Watch the game animation to inspire ideas.

During our 2023-2024 arts-inspired robotics season, FIRST^® IN SHOW^SM presented by Qualcomm, FIRST Robotics teams will celebrate the roles STEM skills play in the arts and design, and how these skills help build a world of endless possibilities for students. Click here to learn more about FIRST^® IN and the District event being held at Penn High School.

After 40 years with the Penn High School Football program, Hall of Famer Coach Cory Yeoman announced to Kingsmen student-athletes and assistant coaches this afternoon that he will be retiring as head coach and Penn teacher at the end of this school year.

In his address to the players and coaches, Coach Yeoman shared, “By far the best thing I have ever done as a coach or as a player is to surround myself with great people. You win with people! Thousands of people made this journey possible. Thank you to the Yeoman Family; for over 50 Years our Mom, wives and daughters have let us boys play and coach the game we love for the school we love.”

Coach Yeoman went on to say to his players, “I would like to thank the hundreds of tough Kingsmen players in the ‘long black line;’ I am so proud of you. I love you boys! It has been an honor being a member of ‘the long black line.’ It has been an honor to be one of ‘Gees’s boys.’ Go Penn Go!”

Click below to see a full photo gallery of Coach Yeoman.

Coach Yeoman spent his first 19 years as an Assistant Coach under Hall of Famer Coach Chris Geesman, and the past 21 years as Head Coach. Yeoman took over the Kingsmen program in 2003 and compiled a 208-56 record overall.

In his first season after replacing legendary Coach Geesman, Yeoman guided Penn to the 2003 State Championship Game. Yeoman also led Penn to Semi-state titles in 2017, 2015 and 2011. In addition to winning four Semi-state Championships, the Kingsmen have won nine regional crowns under Yeoman’s leadership, 13 sectional titles and 17 Northern Indiana Conference championships. 

“It’s hard to put into words what Coach Yeoman means to our school community. He’s been a staple of Penn High School for 40 years, as a student, a teacher, an assistant coach, and as our head football coach for 21 years,” said Penn Athletic Director Jeff Hart.

“More importantly, his unmatched legacy as a positive leader, mentor, and relationship-builder will be sorely missed in our building and beyond,” Hart continued.  “I’ve been fortunate to work closely with him for the last several years and I’ve seen up close his unique ability to have great success coaching with a servant’s heart while building lifelong relationships with staff and students. I’m blessed to call him a friend.”

Coach Yeoman bleeds black and gold and has always been a Kingsmen. He played for Penn, earning all-state honors at defensive tackle. In 1979, Coach Yeoman led a Kingsmen defense that only allowed 33 yards rushing a game. That Kingsmen team finished 11-1, winning an NIC Championship before losing to Hobart in the second round of the playoffs. Yeoman graduated from Penn in 1980. 

Coach Yeoman is in the Indiana Football Hall of Fame, the first Penn player nominated for the Hall.

“Coach Yeoman is a Kingsmen legend. He learned from the best [Coach Chris Geesman] and became the best,” said Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker. “Coach is highly respected across Indiana; and while we’ll miss him coaching on the sidelines, we know that he won’t be very far from Everwise Freed Field on Friday nights. Once a Kingsmen, always a Kingsmen!”

After his playing career at Penn, coach Yeoman played for Miami (Ohio) University. He was a roommate and teammate of the Baltimore Ravens Super Bowl winning head coach, John Harbaugh. Yeoman joined the Kingsmen coaching staff after graduation from Miami, and has been on the Kingsmen sidelines for 40 seasons.

After Penn’s 28-7 victory against the Mishawaka Cavemen on Friday, Aug. 25, 2023, Yeoman was named the Indianapolis Colts Indiana High School Coach of the Week. The victory against the archrival Cavemen also gave Yeoman his 200th career victory, making him only the second Kingsmen Football coach to reach that coveted plateau. 

Penn is now the only high school in Indiana to have two coaches meet this milestone. The first was longtime Kingsmen coach Chris Geesman (309 wins), who Coach Yeoman played under and coached with at the beginning of his career at Penn.

Yeoman is beloved and admired by his players and assistant coaches. He serves as a mentor to Penn students not only as a coach, but also as a Physical Education and Sports Performance teacher. Yeoman was also an Industrial Arts Teacher. Coach loves the interactions with students. For years, he’s assisted with Penn’s Commencements, helping line students up and assisting families whose children are being honored posthumously. Yeoman once said to a colleague “My favorite time of year is graduation; this is what it’s all about!”

Coach Yeoman’s last day will come at the end of the 2023-2024 school year. Coach looks forward to spending time with his grandchild, wife and family, and of course cheering for the Kingsmen on Friday nights.

Penn-Harris-Madison will begin an immediate search for a new Kingsmen Head Football Coach; the announcement is to be determined at a later date.

Coaching Profile of Cory Yeoman:

40 Years Coaching at Penn High School, 425 – 79

• 504 Games Coached at Penn High School
• 1984 – 2023 Seasons 
• 1984 – 2002 Assistant Coach, 217 – 23
• 2003 – 2023 Head Coach, 208 – 56 

Championships

• 36 X Northern Indiana Conference
• 24 X Sectional
• 17 Regionals
• 11 Semi-State
• 7 State Runners-up
• 4 State Championships

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The 2023 Homecoming Weekend will be bigger and better than ever! 

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2023

• Homecoming Parade
  • 5:00 p.m. Start
  • Final route details coming soon!

• Expo
  • 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
  • Meet area vendors that have a shared interest in supporting P-H-M School Corporation
  • Silent Auction, the proceeds benefit the PHM Education Foundation
• Fun Zone
  • 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
  • Wrist bands cost $5. Free Admission to the football game with wrist band purchase!
  • Inflatables, dunk tanks and more
• Penn vs St. Joseph Football Game
  • 7:30 p.m. kickoff
• FIREWORKS AFTER THE GAME! 

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2023

• Homecoming Dance (Sponsored by Ashley Rene’s Prom & Pageant)
  • 7:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.
  • Location: Everwise Freed Field
  • Click here to purchase tickets, $25 a person
  • Dress-to-Impress semi-formal/festive attire. Have fun with your look.
  • No heels are permitted on the field, only the dance floor
  • Outdoor Fun, Games, and Dancing
  • Music Mix provided by DJ CPTN Jack & DJ EVN
  • A variety of food trucks (additional to ticket cost) will be on hand to sell food items
  • All students must show ID

On Monday, June 5, 2023, Penn High School held our 64th Commencement; it was held at the University of Notre Dame. The Class of 2023 is made up of approximately 876 students. It was a wonderful time to celebrate the hard work and accomplishments of ALL of our graduates!

Highlights from the Class 0f 2023 include:

• $15 million in scholarships
• 446 earned Academic Honors diplomas
• 253 earned High Honors diplomas
• 41 earned Technical Honors diplomas
• 119 Early College Students
  • 106 earned ICC through Ivy Tech Community College
  • 89 earned Associates Degrees from Ivy Tech

Click here for more information about the Class of 2023. Click here to learn more about 17 Valedictorians and Salutatorians.

Click here to download a copy of the Commencement program.

The full ceremony was recorded and has been archived on the Penn Harris Madison YouTube channel. You can watch it below.

In addition to the fully produced program, we set up a camera to focus only on the students walking across the stage. If you want to see your graduate walk again, you can fast forward to their name in the alphabet and watch them in the video is below:

The official photos of every graduate were taken by Inter-State Photography and are available for purchase. Please refer to the Senior Parent Communications for the link and password.

Unofficial candid photos were taken by Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation staff. We have uploaded these candid photos to the photo gallery below. To download  these high-resolution jpg files for FREE from the photo gallery below, just simply click the “DOWNLOAD” button on the bottom right-hand corner of the photo while viewing it in the Photo Gallery function. 

Penn High School Principal Sean Galiher announced that 17 students have been named Valedictorians for the Class of 2023. Four students were named Salutatorians.

Valedictorians Sakina Al-Fadhl, Ryan Cheng, Tanya Datta, Eshaal Kizilbash, Gwyneth Lannon, David Luan, Reagan Ludwig, Zenia Qasim, Abigail Schroeder, Derick Shi, Sydney Szklarek, Grace Wang, Zichu Wang, Carl Xu, Allison Yu, Janet Yu and Madelyn Zavada, and Salutatorians Jillian Adams, Anna Buckler, Arda Kurama and Amelia Martin will represent the Class of 2023 at Penn’s Commencement Ceremony, 7 p.m., Monday, June 5, at the University of Notre Dame’s Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center.

Click here for Commencement information.

Valedictorians

Sakina Al-Fadhl

Parents: Gamilah Rajeh and Dahan Al-Fadhl

Elementary School: Prairie Vista

Middle School: Schmucker

College Plans: Majoring in Neuroscience at IU Bloomington

Career Plans: Plans to attend medical school

Activities/honors: National Honor Society, Penn Advocates for Thinking Healthy (PATH) Executive, Muslim Student Association (MSA) Vice-President, Academic Super Bowl, Medical Club, Freshman Mentoring, Model U.N., French Club, Violinist in Symphonic Orchestra, National Merit Finalist

Ryan Cheng

Parents: May Cheng and Steve Cheng

Elementary School (Earliest to Most Recent): Brookfield Elementary School (in Masury, Ohio), Plantation Park Elementary School (in Bossier City, Louisiana), Liberty Elementary School (in Mishawaka, Indiana)

Middle School: John Young Middle School (in Mishawaka, Indiana)

College Plans: New York University, planning to major in Data Science

Career Plans: Data analytics at Bloomberg or other major New York firms

Activities/Honors: Robotics [FIRST Tech Challenge (2019-2020), FIRST Robotics Competition (2021-2023)], Quiz Bowl (2019-2023), National Honor Society (2021-2023), National Merit Semi-Finalist (2023), U.S Presidential Scholars Nominee (2023)

Tanya Datta

Parents: Anjuli Datta and Suman Datta

Elementary school: Horizon

Middle school: Discovery

College plans: Cornell University

Career plans: Computer Science, Software Engineer

Activities/honors: Rising Star of Indiana Class of 2023, National Merit Finalist, U.S. Presidential Nominee and Candidate, AP Scholar with Distinction, Science Academic Superbowl Captain, TEAMS, National Honor Society, Kingsmen Tutor, Kingsmen Court, Girls Who Code, Research at Notre Dame

Eshaal Kizilbash

Parents: Aeliya Mir and Asad Kizilbash

Elementary school: Northpoint

Middle school: Discovery

College plans: Majoring in Neuroscience at Northwestern University

Career plans: Oncology

Activities/honors: Key Club President, Kingsmen Court Executive, National Honor Society, Science Academic Super Bowl, National Merit Finalist

Gwynth Lannon

Parents: Linnea Lannon and Kevin Lannon

Elementary school: Prairie Vista

Middle school: Schmucker

College plans: Notre Dame, to study English and physics

Career plans: Author, Professor, Editor

Activities/honors: Spectrum editor, Symphonic Orchestra, Orchestra Leadership, cross country Academic All-State, track and field, National Merit Finalist, AP Scholar with Distinction, National Honor Society, Tri-M Music Honor Society, Freshmen Mentor, Science National Honor Society, ISSMA district and state solo and ensemble Gold Medals, Dried Ink Contest Winner, Scholastic Art and Writing Awards Regional Silver and Gold Keys and National Silver Medal

David Luan

Parents: Yan Gao and Guanglei Luan

Elementary school: Northpoint

Middle school: Discovery

College plans: Neuroscience at University of Notre Dame

Career Plans: Doctor

Activities/honors: National Honor Society, DECA, Tennis, Kingsmen Tutor, TEAMS, TSA, Medical Club, Handwritten Hearts, Key Club, PACA

Reagan Ludwig

Parents: Jennifer Ludwig and David Ludwig

Elementary school: Prairie Vista

Middle school: Schmucker

College plans: Notre Dame

Career plans: Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physician

Activities/honors: Handwritten Hearts Club (president), Penn soccer and tennis, National Honor Society (vice-president), Freshmen Mentor, Girl Talk Mentor, Piano player, Special Outdoor Leisure Opportunities ski volunteer, St. Joseph Hospital volunteer, Key Club member, Penn Poetry Club member, Penn Girls Soccer Kingsman Award, National Merit Scholarship Finalist

Zenia Qasim

Parents: Saadia Qasim and Asghar Qasim

Elementary school: Northpoint

Middle school: Discovery

College plans: Indiana University; neuroscience and business

Career plans: Physician

Activities/honors: Key Club, National Honor Society, Freshmen Mentor, Kingsmen Tutor, MSA, Medical Club; awarded Burger King Scholarship

Abigail Schroeder

Parents: Manmam Schroeder and Eric Schroeder

Elementary school: Northpoint Elementary

Middle school: Discovery

College plans: Purdue University to study biomedical health sciences

Career plans: Gene Therapist

Activities/honors: Freshmen Mentoring (Executive), Chinese Club (Vice President), Kingsmen Tutoring Leader, National Honor Society, Key Club, English Academic Superbowl, Medical Club, AP Scholar with Distinction

Derick Shi

Parents: Guoyun Liu and Zonggao Shi

Elementary school: Northpoint

Middle school: Discovery

College plans: University of Notre Dame, Computer Science

Career plans: Software engineer, data scientist, or AI engineer

Activities/honors: Discovery Middle School Mathcounts Head Coach, Math Academic Super Bowl Captain, Science Academic Super Bowl Captain, Technology Student Association Executive, Tests of Engineering Aptitude Mathematics and Science, National Honors Society, Key Club, Model United Nations, Notre Dame Center for Civic Innovation Intern, American Math Competition, Indiana Math League, Mathcon, Trine Math Competition, Inspirit AI Camp, National Merit Finalist, Spectrum Dried Ink Poetry Contest, AP Scholar with Distinction

Sydney Szklarek

Parents: Melanie Szklarek and David Szklarek

Elementary school: Prairie Vista

Middle school: Schmucker

College plans: Notre Dame

Career plans: Civil/Environmental Engineer

Activities/honors: Captain of Penn Girls Soccer, Student-Athlete Leadership Council, Lilly Endowment Scholar, National Honor Society, Vice President of Handwritten Hearts, Key Club, Leader of Discovery Girl Talk Club, Girls Golf, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Candidate for U.S Presidential Scholar, National Merit Commended Scholar, AP Scholar with Distinction, Soccer Academic All-State, 2022 Penn Girls Soccer Program Pillar Award

Grace Wang

Parents: Hong Zhu and Guoyao Wang

Elementary school: Prairie Vista

Middle school: Schmucker

College plans: University of Notre Dame majoring in Global Affairs

Career plans: Becoming a software developer with a focus in the ethics of algorithms and AI, or possibly the field of cybersecurity

Activities/honors: Key Club, PATH (executive), Model U.N., English Academic Super Bowl (state champions in 2021 and 2022), Fine Arts Academic Super Bowl, Marching Band (Section Leader), Band (Flute), Piano, Asian Student Union (Co-President), Pep Band, Freshmen Mentoring, Tri-M Music Honor Society, National Merit Finalist

Zichu Wang

Parents: Chu He and Ting Wang

Elementary school: Northpoint

Middle school: Discovery

College plans: Carnegie Mellon University, Business Major and Computer Science Minor

Career plans: Business/Economics Professor

Activities/honors: Lilly Endowment Scholar, National Merit Scholarship Winner, Indiana Elks Association Scholarship Winner, Coca Cola Foundation Scholarship Semifinalist, Indiana Rising Star, AP Scholar with Distinction, Notre Dame Center for Civic Innovation Intern, SBYSO Principal Violist, SBYSO 2023 Concerto Competition Winner, ISSMA State Solo Perfect Score, Model U.N. Executive, I.U. Model U.N. VIII FIFA Council 3rd Place Delegate, Discovery Middle School MathCounts Assistant Head Coach, Penn Tennis, Penn Tennis JV Invite No. 2 Doubles Tournament Champion, TSA Executive, Indiana TSA Conference 1st Place Coding, MathCon Honorable Mention, TEAMS Executive, TEAMS 3rd Place State, Science and Math Academic Superbowl, National Honor Society, Key Club, Indiana Math League, Kingsmen Tutor

Carl Xu

Parents: Alice Yang and Dale Xu

Elementary school: Mary Frank

Middle school: Discovery

College plans: Purdue

Career plans: Computer Hardware Engineer; Virtual Reality (VR) Start-up

Activities/honors: Hibachi Host

Allison Yu

Parents: Haiyan Yin and Richard Yu

Elementary school: Northpoint

Middle school: Discovery

College plans: Yale University, majoring in Economics & Mathematics

Career plans: PhD. in finance, Quantitative finance, professor

Activities/honors: Lilly Endowment Scholar, National Merit Scholar Finalist, Indiana Rising Star, AP Scholar with Distinction, Indiana Regional Academic All-Star, Presidential Scholar Candidate, Model U.N. Executive, Science Academic Super Bowl Team Captain, Kingsmen Court Executive, Discovery Middle School MathCounts Coach, Notre Dame Research Assistant, Research Assistant at I.U. Bureau of Business and Economic Research, MathCon, Kingsmen Tutoring, Key Club, National Honor Society

Janet Yu

Parents: Lijun Bai and Liguo Yu

Elementary school: Northpoint

Middle school: Discovery

College plans: Notre Dame

Career plans: Computer Science

Activities/honors: Mathcon 10th grade Honorable Mention, Mathcon 11th grade Bronze Medalist, 2X AIME qualifier, 2022-2023 Jane Street AMC 12 A Certificate of Excellence, Indiana Math League state top-scorer, Math Superbowl member, Discovery Middle School Mathcounts Assistant Head Coach, NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing Certificate of Distinction, 2x Indiana State Debate Tournament Semifinalist, NSDA National Tournament Qualifier, Speech and Debate Team Captain, Discovery Middle School Debate Coach, U.S. Presidential Scholar Candidate, National Merit Scholarship winner, Rising Stars of Indiana Class of 2023, AP Scholar with Distinction, Kingsmen Tutoring Leader, Freshmen Mentor, Key Club member, National Honor Society member, bioinformatics research at IUSB

Madelyn Zavada

Parents: Nicole Zavada and Michael Zavada

Elementary school: Horizon

Middle school: Discovery

College plans: Purdue, with the intention of studying Computer Engineering

Career plans: Computer Engineering

Activities/honors: Captain of the English Academic Super Bowl team, state champions in 2021 Captain of the Social Studies Academic Super Bowl team Captain of the Interdisciplinary Academic Super Bowl team, state runner-up in 2022 Kingsmen Tutor/Kingsmen Tutor Leader Discovery Middle School MathCounts coach Member of Penn Coding Club Tutoring Spanish speaking students at Schmucker Middle School

Salutatorians

Allison Adams

Parents: Allison Adams and Robert Adams

Elementary School: Northpoint

Middle School: Discovery 

College Plans: Purdue University

Career Plans: Human Resources Management / Management Consulting

Activities/honors: Penn Robotics Team 135 Outreach Lead, 2X FIRST Robotics Dean’s List Semi-Finalist, CTE Presidential Scholar nominee for Penn High School

Anna Buckler

Parents: Megan and Michael Buckler

Elementary School: Sand Pine (Wesley Chapel, FL)

Middle School: Dr. John Long (Wesley Chapel, FL)

College Plans: Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame.

Career Plans: I plan to work in a Non-Profit Organization in a position that allows me to travel and advocate for others’ rights

Activities/Honors: Participated in Marching Band entire high school career, holding the positions of Section Leader and Assistant Section Leader junior and senior years, also been in Jazz Band and Symphonic Orchestra, as well as National Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society, and Tri-M, JV Girls Basketball Team for one year, earned the Most Outstanding Underclassman in AP Chemistry Award in 2022 and gold medals on both a solo and an ensemble piece for ISSMA in 2023

Arda Kurama

Parents: Cigdem Kurama and Yahya Kurama

Elementary school: Northpoint

Middle school: Discovery

College plans: Notre Dame

Career plans: Computer Science, Piano Performance

Activities/honors: Robotics FRC & FTC, Coding Club, TSA, Symphonic Winds, ISSMA

Amelia Martin

Parents: Kirsten and Patrick Martin

Elementary school: Montgomery Knolls Elementary School (Silver Spring, MD)

Middle school: Eastern Middle School (Silver Spring, MD)

College plans: UC Davis, majoring in Computer science engineering

Career plans: Earning a PhD surrounding AI and the ethics behind computer science, pursuing a career in academia to teach and research.

Activities/honors: Graduated a semester early and started working as a research assistant for Notre Dame; ran track and cross country and played basketball for two years at Penn.

We are happy to once again be able to hold Commencement at the University of Notre Dame’s Purcell Pavilion. There is no ticket requirement—meaning families are not limited on the amount of attendees. A livestream of Commencement will again be provided to friends and family not in attendance.

All Families have to do is return to this webpage on Penn’s website, Monday, June 5, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. The placeholder graphic above will be replaced by the embedded livestream from YouTube.

Share this link with family and friends who want to watch: https://penn.phmschools.org/2023PennGraduation

Families have received Commencement communication directly from Penn High School. Please click here to view those communications. 

Commencement is Monday, June 5 at at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. The ceremony begins promptly at 7:00 p.m. Doors open at 5:30 for attendees. Click here for details on student arrival time.

Due to parking lot construction project, the Joyce Parking Lot will NOT be available for parking. Please refer to the map above, or click here, to identify other parking lots. Notre Dame will be running shuttle buses from the various lots with drop off at Purcell Pavilion. Please factor this into your arrival time.

Please also note that Notre Dame requires ALL purses/bags to be searched before entering the arena. Backpacks, totes, and duffel bags are not allowed. Please see ND’s list of prohibited items include (or click here):

• Alcohol
• Animals (Service Dogs are permitted)
• Artificial noisemakers (including whistles)
• Cameras with lenses longer than six (6) inches
• Cans or glass bottles (including aerosols)
• Drones or Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS)
• Fireworks or explosives
• Food or beverage (except unopened plastic water bottles). Food is allowed as a medical necessity with proof.
• GoPro or selfie sticks
• Halloween-style masks
• Laser or pen pointers
• Signs, banners, and balloons
• Stadium chairs or seat backs (unless medical reason with documentation)
• Strollers
• Throwing of any object at any time (including footballs)
• Water vessels of any kind, including water bottles
• Use of tobacco products and e-cigarettes
• Use or possession of marijuana, and other illegal drugs
• Weapons/Firearms. WEAPONS OF ANY KIND ARE PROHIBITED ON CAMPUS
• Any other items deemed dangerous or inappropriate 

It’s also highly recommended that families make prior arrangements as to where to meet their seniors after the graduation ceremonies have ended. Please do not interrupt the procession as the graduates exit the Joyce Center. The graduates will be released to meet with family and friends after re-entering the field house.

We wish everyone a wonderful Commencement evening!

Penn started a tradition a few years ago having seniors go back to their elementary (and sometimes middle schools too) to say hello to their old teachers, visit their old classrooms, playground and even play a game or two! Click here to view some of the pictures we took at the Senior Parades that took place May 31 and June 1 at Bittersweet and Elm Road Elementary schools, as well as Grissom Middle School. 

We’ve also focused on just a small portion of our amazing members of the Class of 2023 (click here to see all that this class has accomplished). First up, we’ve been tracking the progress of the Penn High School Building & Trades program throughout the year. The program has been building homes since 1969. This year students built two homes, numbers 54 and 55! For students interested in going into construction or the trades after graduation, the program gives them invaluable experience. 

Watch the video below that shows the finished product as well as interviews with two seniors who talk about how the program has helped prepare them for the future.

Next, we meet Penn High School senior Josh Gatete. Josh has excelled on the basketball court and in the classroom where he has earned High Academic Honors. The son of immigrants, Josh will be studying and playing basketball at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Watch the video below to learn more about his story. 

To download high-resolution jpg files from the photo gallery below, just simply click the “DOWNLOAD” button on the bottom right-hand corner of the photo while viewing it in the Photo Gallery function. We are happy to provide this service to you, free of charge!

Penn High School’s Exceptional Education Academy Commencement Ceremony for the Class of 2023 was held on Thursday, May 25, in the Center for Performing Arts.

This ceremony honors the graduating students for their amazing achievements and accomplishments.

A Photo Gallery is posted below.