Penn High School's Competition Poms Team qualified for the State Championships, which will be held on Friday, March 9, and Saturday, March 10.

The Poms qualified by placing third in the Northern Regional.

Rachel Wobbe and Kurumi Narasaki qualified for State as individuals.

“We did have a rather slow start to our season this year, but after numerous extra rehearsals, many hours of outside practice, and changes in choreography, their hard work paid off last Saturday at the Northern Regional Competition,” Minegar said. “We still have more changes in choreo and a LOT of hard work to go, but the girls are ready for this adventure! State finals here we come!”

The Penn Theatre Department performed “Shrek The Musical”.

A Photo Gallery is posted below.

The Indiana Department of Education released the list of Four Star Schools and six P-H-M schools have earned that distinction. P-H-M is in the Top 5 of Four Star Schools in the state, out of approximately 300 public school districts.

P-H-M's Four Star Schools for the 2016-17 school year are:

1. Discovery Middle School
2. Horizon Elementary School
3. Meadow’s Edge Elementary School
4. Northpointe Elementary School
5. Prairie Vista Elementary School
6. Penn High School 

​Meadow’s Edge is one of  P-H-M’s five Title I schools and is in the top 1% of Title I schools in the state to be named a Four Star School (one of 9 out of 900)! This is the second year in a row Meadow’s Edge has earned this recognition.

The IDOE's criteria to be named a Four Star School changed from the 2015-16 school year. To qualify for the 2016-17 recognition, a school must meet the following criteria:

• A school must have received an “A” for the 2016-2017 school year. 

• A school must have tested at least 95% of students on ISTEP English/Language Arts and Math. 

• Grade 3-8 & Grade 10 combined ISTEP Pass Percentage (Pass Percentage of English/Language Arts ISTEP + Pass Percentage of Math ISTEP) must be in Top 25th Percentile for each grade tested. (minimum of 10 students). 

• Grade 3-8 & Grade 10 Percent Passing Both ISTEP (Percent of students who passed both the English/Language Arts ISTEP + Math ISTEP) must be in the Top 25th Percentile. (minimum of 10 students).

Click here to see the full list of criteria.

Penn High’s Kingsmen rallied from a 13-point deficit and stunned Mishawaka on its own court, 52-48, in the opening round of the Class 4-A Mishawaka Sectional on Tuesday, Feb. 27.

Coach Al Rhodes’ Kingsmen avenged a 55-50 regular-season loss to Mishawaka.

Penn (14-9) takes on No. 2 South Bend Riley (22-0) at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, March 2, in the Mishawaka Sectional semi-final round. Mishawaka’s season ends at 14-9.

Mishawaka led 24-11 in the second quarter but the Kingsmen rallied to close to 26-20 at halftime.

Mishawaka owned a 34-31 lead with less than a minute left in the third quarter when Kingsmen point guard Drew Lutz unleashed a lightning bolt.

Lutz slugged the Cavemen for an electrifying 8-0 run in 35 seconds, nailing a 3, and then scoring on two coast-to-coast fastbreaks after making steals. The last fastbreak hoop was an And-1, and Lutz hit the free throw to give Penn a 39-34 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Penn took command in the second half, outscoring Mishawaka 32-22. The Kingsmen committed six turnovers in the first half, while Mishawaka only turned the ball over once and held an 11-2 edge in points off of turnovers. In the second half, Penn only turned the ball over five times, while force Mishawaka into eight turnovers. The Kingsmen outscored Mishawaka 15-3 in points off of turnovers in the second half.

Lutz finished with 17 points and dished out seven points. The Junior Point Guard ripped off three steals, and blocked four shots.

Beau Ludwick scored 15 points, including three daggers from 3-point range.

Noah Applegate scored 10 points and powered inside for seven rebounds.

PENN 52: Drew Lutz 17, Beau Ludwick 15, Luke Carlton 0, Noah Applegate 10, Noah Krathwohl 2, Kegan Hoskins 6, Jeffrey Hemmelgarn 2.

Mishawaka 48: Payton Johnson 3, Grant Jablonski 0, C.J. Fisher 0, Sam Shively 3, Isaiah Evans 0, Tresean Jefferies 7, A.J. Rosebush 2, Kenny Meniefield 0, Dylan Hall 13, John Binion 20.

PENN             9          11        16        16 – 52

Mishawaka    15        11        8          14 – 48

Three-pointers: PENN 4 (Beau Ludwick 3, Drew Lutz 1), Mishawaka 4 (Johnson 1, Shively 1, Jefferies 1, Hall 1).

The Penn Boys Basketball Team rallied from a 13-point deficit to defeat Mishawaka, 52-48, in the opening round of the Class 4-A Mishawaka Sectional on Tuesday, Feb. 27.

A Photo Gallery is posted below.

Penn High’s Kingsmen rallied from a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter to close to five points, but Merrillville held on for a 70-64 victory in the regular-season finale on Friday, Feb. 23.

Noah Applegate scored 22 points to lead the Kingsmen.

Drew Lutz scored 21 points and kicked out nine assists.

Penn’s lone senior, Noah Krathwohl, scored nine points on Senior Night.

Kegan Hoskins and Beau Ludwick scored six points each for Penn.

The Kingsmen open state tournament action at the Class 4-A Mishawaka Sectional on Tuesday, Feb. 27, against the host Cavemen. Tip-off is slated for 6:30 p.m.

PENN 64: Carter Hickey 0, Drew Lutz 21, Beau Ludwick 6, Luke Carlton 0, Noah Applegate 22, Noah Krathwohl 9, Kegan Hoskins 6, Jeffrey Hemmelgarn 0, Christian Marshall 0.

Merrillville 70: Keon Thompson 2, Cameron Wright 2, Braedan Stubbs 11, Jayon Holmes 13, Will Fulton 2, Rob Sanders 12, Darryon Bandy 28, Lavari Ruffin 0.

PENN             17        14        8          25 – 64

Merrillville      20        16        14        20 – 70

Three-pointers: PENN 6 (Drew Lutz 2, Beau Ludwick 2, Noah Applegate 2), Merrillville 5 (Sanders 3, Bandy 2).

The Penn Boys Basketball Team celebrated Senior Night in a game against Merrillville on Friday, Feb. 23.

A Photo Gallery is posted below.

The Penn Boys Basketball Team beat Plymouth 69-45 on Saturday, Feb. 17.

A Photo Gallery is posted below.

The Penn Boys Basketball Team defeated Jimtown, 60-37, on Tuesday, Feb. 20.

Penn-Harris-Madison Supt. Dr. Jerry Thacker and Principal Sean Galiher honored Penn’s Academic Award winners prior to the game.

A Photo Gallery is posted below.

The Penn Girls Basketball Team played against Zionsville in the Class 4-A Semi-state at LaPorte on Saturday, Feb. 17.

A Photo Gallery is posted below.