After much discussion on the topic of Academic Recognition at Penn High School, the P-H-M School Board approved changes to the program at Penn High School on Thursday, Feb. 14.

Penn High School will begin to celebrate student academic success by incorporating a Latin Honors designation of Summa Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude and Cum Laude starting with the Class of 2020. This distinction is based on a student's grade-point average at the end of their seventh semester. This system will allow for more students to be recognized with honors at commencement. Penn High School will continue to honor Valedictorians and Salutatorians on a yearly basis. Student rank will no longer be included on report cards or transcripts beginning with the class of 2023.

We appreciated parent and student feedback along the way. Please refer to the details below for specifics on the Latin Honors system and a timeline for implementation. 

Penn High School’s Arena will be the launching pad for FIRST Robotics’ “Deep Space” Regional competition, on Saturday, March 9, and Sunday, March 10, 2019.

Opening Ceremonies are set for 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 9. Competition continues at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 10.

Next Generation presentations will be from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 9, in the East Balcony of the Arena.

In the video below, Penn Robotics Team 135 Coach Jim Langfeldt gives a preview of what fans can expect when they come out to watch the competition or bring their younger students to participate in the Next Gen area.

More information about the event can also be found by clicking here.

This is the third consecutive FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Regional competition Penn has hosted.

Robotics teams from nearly 40 high schools will converge at Penn for the event. Fans will be able to see the competitions play out, but also tour the staging area and watch students work on their robots and prepare for the competition.

“Attending one of these competitions is not only exciting to watch, but it teaches people how we truly are more than robots,” Penn Team 135 member Justin Ralston said. “All in one day at this event, we will have team members making robot repairs, driving, scouting, handling our media, and even giving presentations about what we do.”

Penn won the Chairman’s Award last season.

Under the direction of Penn Instructors James Langfeldt, Tara Pieters and Scott Shelhart, Team 135 has been competing in Robotics competitions for 22 years.

Ralston said that the Regional at Penn showcases the talents of high school students in the field of Robotics, as well as educating the community.

“People of all ages in the community are able to attend (the Regional) and see what exactly the FIRST program is all about, the ideals they spread, and the robots students work so hard to build,” Ralston said. “So through this entire process of trying to spread the ideals of FIRST and showcase our robotics programs, to us this event means another step to move forward in this process in this expanding field of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math).” 

Ralston is looking forward to developing skills in the Robotics event that will enhance his college and career readiness.

“Throughout my college and career life, I'll need to have many skills pertaining to cooperation, teamwork, and leadership, and I have the opportunity of gaining those experiences through this event,” Ralston said. “We will need to work together as a team to set up everything on Friday and compete Saturday and Sunday.

“From robot performance and fixes, to scouting, to drivers, to the Chairman's Award presentation, I have the opportunity of working with all these people to ensure everything is going smoothly and we showcase our work to the best of our abilities,” Ralston added.

In the Deep Space competition, according to Ralston, the playing field is built to simulate robots preparing to launch a spacecraft. Competitors must deploy "hatch panels" and "cargo" which are, respectively, large disks that attach to the walls of the rockets with velcro, and large kickballs that are placed into the sides of the rockets. At the end of the game, the robots can climb one of two different sized platforms to earn more points.

“One of the challenges we've faced is finding a good way to get our robot on top of these platforms,” Ralston said. “We went through many ideas and prototypes, all of which we were very unsure about. However, after some time, we further developed one concept and built several versions until it worked. We are now able to deploy an arm that grips onto both sides of the platforms and angles our whole 125 pound robot above the top of it.”

Penn High School students earned 16 Gold Key Awards in the annual Scholastic Art Awards competition.

Scholastic Art Awards is the largest (nationwide) and longest running (approximately 96 years) competition for junior and high school students in our country. It has gotten more selective and more prestigious over the years and the students who have work selected to be entered, even if not chosen for an award, should be extremely proud of doing such high quality work. There are three levels of awards: Gold Key, Silver Key, and Honorable Mention. The Gold Key winners will be sent to compete at the national level in New York City. Recognition at the national level usually brings with it many scholarship offers as well as tremendous honors.

All three levels will be hung for an impressive public exhibition in the Warner Gallery at the South Bend Museum of Art in the Century Center from February 1, until March 10. 

The Scholastic exhibit displays some of the finest you will see from junior and high school students and very worth the trip! Hope you can come see some of our students wonderful work.

Click here for a complete list of P-H-M Gold Key winners.

Penn High School is bringing the famed children’s book “Tuck Everlasting” to the stage. This musical adaptation is a show that the whole family can enjoy.

The Penn Fine Arts and Communications Academy is presenting, “Tuck Everlasting, the Musical” on the following dates:

• Friday, March 1, at 7:00 p.m.
• Saturday, March 2, 7:00 p.m.
• Sunday, March 3, 3:00 p.m.

The showings will be held within the Center for Performing Arts (enter through Door C).

Tickets are $10 pre-sale by clicking here to access Penn Theater’s TicketTracker.com online ticket store, or $12 at the door.
 

“Tuck Everlasting” is about a magical spring found deep in the woods that has the power to grant immortality. To drink or not to drink is the question that each character must answer for themselves.

On a deeper level the story wrestles with is living forever as desirable as many people think it is?

So make sure you bring out the whole family, you will not regret it!

No. 5 Penn (17-3) takes on No. 10 South Bend Riley (17-4) in a blockbuster match-up in the opening round of the Penn Boys Basketball Class 4-A Sectional on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019.

Penn defeated Riley, 63-61, at Riley on Saturday, Feb. 2, on a buzzer-beater basket by Noah Applegate.

Action starts with South Bend Adams (11-12) playing Mishawaka (11-9) at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 26. The Penn vs. Riley game will followed.

Semifinal action will be at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Friday, March 1. The Adams-Mishawaka winner will play South Bend Clay (4-16) at 6 p.m., followed by the meeting between the Penn-Riley winner and LaPorte (12-9)

The Sectional Championship Game is set for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 2.

Admission is $6 per session or $10 for an all-sessions pass.

The Penn Sectional winner advances to the Michigan City Regional on Saturday, March 9.

The Penn Boys Basketball Team defeated Plymouth, 79-67, on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2019.

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.

The Penn Girls Basketball Team played in the LaPorte Regional on Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019.

A Photo Gallery is posted below.

By EASTON MEYER

Student Reporter

On chilly Saturday last October, Penn High School student Sam Robinson walked into the Westin Hotel in Chicago to audition for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, the Los Angeles-based school that Anne Hathaway, Paul Rudd, Danny Devito and Sara Paulson each attended. Click to see the list of the Academy’s other famous actor/actress alumni.

Robinson had been working and preparing for this audition for a month and a half and spent the final week leading up to the audition rehearsing every day. Placed in a waiting room before his audition began, Robinson was able just sit with his thoughts, thinking about how hard he had worked to get to this point, feeling anxious, but even more so excited.

Robinson made eye contact with another person waiting to audition. No words were exchanged, but both of them knew what the other was going through. Robinson had no idea how long he had been waiting when a man approached him and asked, “Are you Sam?” Robinson replied “Yes I am!” and that's when Robinson knew his audition was about to begin.

Back when Robinson was just three years old, his family saw the natural performer in him. Robinson and his family were attending his sister’s dance recital. When Sam saw the fun dances and costumes, he knew he had to be a part of it and he couldn’t wait … literally. Robinson crawled his way up on stage and began to dance alongside them. Ever since, Robinson has had a strong drive and passion for live performance.

During his junior year, Robinson auditioned for Penn’s Spring Musical, “Shrek the Musical”, with low expectations. He knew he had a love for live performance, but at this point, he still hadn’t seen how incredibly gifted he actually was. To his amazement, Robinson landed the role of Donkey, a lead and crowd favorite.

Robinson put on a masterful performance as Donkey and left many people in awe and little did he know, captured the attention of some very important people, including scouts for Broadway World, who frequently scout high school plays.

Five months later in July, Sam received a letter from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, requesting his application and an audition. Robinson was shocked; he had not been looking for an opportunity like this, let alone expecting any letters in the mail asking for him to audition.

Robinson started working on his audition immediately. He spent weeks preparing two contrasting monologues and worked on cold-read exercises with his theatre teacher here at Penn, Ms. Crystal Ryan.

“(Ms. Ryan) opened my eyes to seeing my potential and has just been a great support system,” Robinson said.

Ms. Ryan worked with Robinson multiple times a week for many many weeks leading up to his audition. She saw his talent and work ethic emerge.

“(Sam) is an incredibly hard worker and has the ability to bring fresh ideas to the table every time he rehearses,” Ms. Ryan said. “When preparing for his auditions, he took each note given and built upon it to create two separate and exciting characters.”

The date of Robinson’s audition was upon him. He had worked weeks on his material, made his way to Chicago, and now sat in the audition room.

Robinson’s audition began with a brief interview, where the representatives from the school all got to know more about him. He then performed his two prepared contrasting monologues, where he showed his broad range in characterization.

Robinson was ready for a cold-read section. He would be given new material, where he would showcase his ability to create a character on the spot, but that is not what happened. Robinson was instead asked to partake in a role-playing experiment. He had not prepared for this, and was most definitely caught off guard, but he did not let it show in the slightest.

Displaying his ability to have versatility as an actor, Robinson captivated the school representatives with his performance.

His auditioned concluded, Robinson he walked out of the Westin Hotel knowing he had done his best and now all he could do was wait.

Twelve days after the audition, Robinson received another letter in the mail. The letter contained news of his admission. He not only was accepted into the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, but was rewarded with a significant scholarship.

Sam Robinson is the perfect model of a humble, determined, and hard-working individual, and Penn has been privileged to see him grow and flourish into an incredible performer.

This past Tuesday night Academic Letters were handed out to some of our more than 700+ Kingsmen student-athletes. Click here to view a photo gallery from the ceremony on our Facebook page.

At Penn, we're proud to say our students are students FIRST and then athletes! This fall they have achieved a combined 3.61 GPA!

Watch the video below to see how they achieve #PHMExcellence in the classroom first BEFORE they hit courts, fields, mats, pool, tracks, gridiron, etc.

Penn High's Girls Swim Team will seek IHSAA Gold at the State Championships on Friday, Feb. 8, 2019, and Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019.

Penn's State Finalists are:

200-yard medley relay: Alyssa Messenger, Isabella Costa, Gabriella Costa, Madilyn Ziegert (1:47.74).

50-yard freestyle: Madilyn Ziegert (23.64).

100-yard freestyle: Madilyn Ziegert (51.78).

200-yard freestyle: Nicole Kilbourne, Madison Bottorff, Gabriella Costa, Madilyn Ziegert (1:38.38).

100-yard backstroke: Alyssa Messenger 58.85.

Diving: Kayla Ryan (368.00), Bailey Betzer (380.90).

Prelims start at 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 8, at the Indiana University Natatorium on the IUPUI campus in Indianapolis.

Diving prelims and semis are scheduled for 9 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 9, at the I.U. Natatorium, and the Finals are set for 1 p.m.

The Finals will be live streamed at IHSAAtv.org.

Tickets are $8 for a single session and $15 for both days.