The annual Penn High School Powder Puff Game was held on Wednesday, Sept. 26, at TCU/Freed Field.

The Junior Class won the Championship.

A Photo Gallery featuring the work of Penn student Bryce Stone is posted below.

Penn High School Principal Sean Galiher announced that 10 Penn students have earned National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist status.

Amy Bernard, Chelsea Chen, Noah Howell, Aidan Kaczanowski, Brandon King, Tingyi Lu, Sage Marchand, Corey Wang, Eric Wood and Tainle Zhang of Penn are among the 16,000 National Merit Semifinalists nationwide.

These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $32 million that will be offered next spring.

"We are very excited for these students,” Galiher said. “Becoming a National Merit Semifinalist is a fantastic achievement as this recognition is only reserved for less than one percent of the nation's seniors.  This accomplishment reflects the collective efforts of each student, their teachers and family.  Our teachers take great pride in challenging our students and preparing them through rigorous and relevant coursework."  

National Merit Scholarship winners of 2018 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join more than 330,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.

By Kyle Jordan/Student Reporter

Last tennis season, Penn Tennis Senior Sid Das suffered an injury, and he couldn’t play tennis for the whole season. He quickly realized he missed the team.

Das wanted to get back to meet his new teammates, and to play tennis again. When he came back for the 2018 season, he found out he was going to be one the team captains. It was intimidating to him at first, but as he got to meet everyone he really felt honored to be team captain. It is a big responsibility, but he enjoys being a role model for the younger players.

As well as enjoying tennis, Das also enjoys extra-curriculars and classes at Penn. In addition to pursing academic excellence, Das is on the executive board for Freshmen Mentoring, he is on Model UN, TEAMS, and the Speech Team.

Das said he really likes being involved in clubs, because you get to meet new people, and develop new skills that aren’t advertised.

An example was that Das got to learn leadership in tennis, which he didn’t expect going into the season.

Das enjoys tennis, his clubs, and his classes in school. All of his hard work has paid off for him. For college, Das has been looking into IU and Purdue, and he plans to go into biology or engineering.

By Jason Migas/Student Reporter

Penn High School quarterback Ron Powlus had one question for his doctor when they met after Powlus was informed at the age of nine that he had Type 1 Diabetes:

“Can I still play Football?”

Powlus has been an outstanding leader for the Kingsmen and a driving force in helping Penn’s Gold Rush Offense develop. He excels at Football even though he faces the challenge of dealing with Type 1 diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes means that Powlus’ body doesn’t produce insulin. He has to manually provide insulin to his body through shots.

Powlus’ love for football was apparent when he was talking, saying, “If I could play football forever, I would.”

Powlus said that he doesn’t worry about his medical condition when he’s on the field.

“I’ve learned my body pretty well, so I know when I can push through or know that I’m in trouble,” Powlus said. “And I know I’m in good hands at Penn. I couldn’t ask for a better training staff. Trish (Irvin) knows how to help, all of the managers are amazing and all know how and when to help. The coaching staff  knows, and I especially couldn’t ask for better teammates.”

Powlus has been an inspiration to other youngsters who have diabetes.

“Type One Diabetes isn’t the end of a story, but it can be just the beginning, like it was for me,” Powlus said. “My final advice for someone in a similar position is don’t ever let anything beat you, try your best and if that’s not good enough try again and again. Remember to do good, and disappear.”

Penn High School quarterback Ron Powlus knew he would have big shoes to fill following Ryan Lynch, who led the Kingsmen to the Class 6-A Football State Championship Game in the 2017 season.

Pressure to perform this season would be high, and being only a sophomore makes it that much more challenging for Powlus. The 6-3, 225-pound quarterback has been well prepared for this moment, but there are no easy games in Class 6-A, which is populated by Indiana’s largest schools and many high-level Division I prospects.

Powlus said one of the biggest challenges is “not having big-game experience like most guys I have to play against.”

Despite his lack of experience, Powlus noted that he “had a good senior class to model and emulate my game and actions after” and continued to say that it “was a huge help leading into this year.”

Powlus was raised in an athletic culture. His father, Ron Powlus, was a starting quarterback for the University of Notre Dame. He continued on be signed to the Tennessee Oilers, Detriot Lions, and Philadelphia Eagles. Powlus also had 10 years of coaching experience.

Powlus, who is the Interim Associate Athletics Director – Football Operations at Notre Dame, has passed down a lot of insight to his son and Ron Powlus described it as, “a blessing and a privilege.”

He compared his family to the likes of team, saying, “In my house it is like we are all on one big team. I get to go watch everyone’s game and they come watch mine whether it’s the (Discovery) Archers, Kingsmen, or the Fighting Irish.”

Powlus has nothing but high praise for his father. He said his Dad helps him with with all sorts of problems, football related or not.

“Whether its third-and-long with time running out, or getting out of a bad situation in life, he has been there to help guide me,” Powlus said of his father. “I wouldn’t be where I am without him.”

Students in Grades 3-8 and students enrolled in Biology at Penn will take ILEARN Indiana’s, new computer-adaptive standardized test, this spring (April 22 – May 17) replacing the state’s previous test, ISTEP+. To see what subjects students will be tested per their grade level, please click to visit the IDOE website. 

To help parents better understand how their children will be tested and to help them prepare their students for the test, the IDOE has put together a quick one page guide. Click here to download the pdf copy.

The ISTEP+ Grade 10 assessment will be administered during the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 school years. Click here for more information on the transition from the ISTEP+ Grade10 assessment to the College Entrance Exam.

IREAD-3 for Grade 3 will continue as is. Click for more details.

Starting this spring, the Indiana Department of Education will also transition to a new test to assess students with significant cognitive disabilities in Grades 3-8 and 10. IAM is the new summative accountability assessment. Click here for more details on IAM.

Click to view all the testing dates on the P-H-M Corporate Calendar or reference the 2018-19 P-H-M District Activities Wall Calendar.

The Penn Girls Soccer Team defeated Leo, 6-0, in the Canterbury Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018.

A Photo Gallery is posted below.

*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 Football Team earned a 48-14 victory against South Bend Adams on Friday, Sept. 14, 2018.

A Photo Gallery is posted below.

*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.

Standing under the bright lights of one of Chicago’s expansive McCormick Place exhibition halls, Penn High School Junior Braden Huffman stood at the controls of a robot that was constructed by students on Penn’s Team 135 Robotics crew. Huffman explained how to operate the robot to students from one of Chicago’s public high schools, and then let those students take over the controls to maneuver the robot through a series of tasks.

A few feet away, Penn Senior Julia Fisher let a high school student from Wisconsin take a turn driving the robot T-shirt launcher designed and constructed by Penn Team 135 members.

Penn High School was one of two schools in North America invited to present at the International Manufacturing Trade Show the week of Sept. 10-15. The bi-annual event attracted more than 115,000 visitors from more than 117 countries at one of the world’s premiere manufacturing technology shows (Click to view the Photo Gallery of the event posted below).

“The biggest gain for Penn students attending the trade show is the ability to interact with the largest machining companies in the world,” Penn Robotics instructor James Langfeldt said. “There is no other place to experience what you can experience than at IMTS.  A primary goal of Penn-Harris-Madison Schools and Penn Robotics is to prepare our future STEM leaders – there is no better place to join in the conversation than at IMTS.”

Langfeldt said that the opportunity to present gave Penn students a special learning opportunity that focused on relevance in the world of technology.

“Students presenting learn how to effectively communicate your program to many others from across the world,” Langfeldt said.  “This work started last spring with organizing the content, planning and executing a media plan, maintaining high expectations on effective communication skills, and organizing the entire trip for six days at IMTS, all being done by students on Team 135.”

According to Penn Robotics student Braden Huffman Huffman, Team 135’s mission is to create a new generation of problem solvers and to inspire young minds through diverse experiences.

“At IMTS specifically, we were showcasing the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) program and its benefit to students, schools, and communities,” Huffman said.

“Team 135 is spearheading a nationwide program entitled Mission to Engineer,” Huffman explained. “This program started four years ago when our team developed a prosthetic arm for a young girl in the P-H-M community, which we followed up with two more similar projects for other children in the following years.

“We are now in the process of expanding this Mission to more than ourselves allowing more children in need to be paired with makers. Attending events such as IMTS, we are able to communicate with other teams, schools, and business, as potential makers.”

Penn Team 135 students alternated presenting to other students and professionals in the manufacturing technology field. That way, students could have a chance to explore other exhibits and learn about the latest innovations.

“I believe our biggest learning objective being measured out on the show floor is largely where the latest trends are moving in advanced manufacturing and what the world’s leading companies are doing to stay on the cutting edge,” Langfeldt said.

“I sat in a conference yesterday and listened to Tony Stewart [co-owner of Stewart Haas Racing].  He and his team explained the unique partnership he has with his entire machine shop making almost every piece of the race car on their own. 

“I was blown away at the level of creativity and precision that goes into this process.  Also quite proud to say our process at Penn High School is quite similar with regard to how we design and build on Team 135.”

Huffman, who plans to attend Purdue University and work toward a degree in Aerospace Engineering, used the trade show to speak with engineers in the field and see innovations he may use in his career.

Penn Team 135 students were invited to the trade show to teach others about high school robotics programs, but they were also eager learners.

Huffman was on the look out to help Team 135 Robotics when he was not presenting.

“Although Team 135 was at IMTS to run a booth, we also were looking for new technologies and ideas that we could implement at Penn High School and better our STEM program,” Huffman said.

In addition to Penn Team 135 students presenting at the trade show, more than 100 STEM Academy students from Penn attended the event as part of a field trip.

*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 TCU/Freed Field will showcase some of the top high school Marching Bands in Indiana on Saturday, Sept. 22, at the Carnival of Bands.

Click here for the Carnival of Bands Schedule.

Penn’s Marching Kingsmen will offer a special exhibition performance at 9:05 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 22.

The purpose of the event is to give area bands an opportunity to perform and receive evaluative feedback on their progress as an ensemble.

Penn will welcome 29 high school Marching Bands and more than 4,500 student performers.

Penn’s Marching Kingsmen will perform “As the Bell Tolls”, a story of redemption and personal growth.

“For our students, we learn the value of teamwork, collaboration, and problem-solving as we work through the challenges of hosting our friends from neighboring schools,” Penn Fine Arts Academy Leader and Marching Kingsmen Director Glenn Northern said.

The show schedule for the 2018-19 school year has been set, with the first show of the season kicking off on Wednesday, Sept. 12 at 6:30. Click here for the full schedule.

Patrons are now able to reserve and purchase tickets online through the P-H-M ​RevTrak Web Store. More  details online at www.phmschools.org/dvt.