By JEFFREY HARPER

Penn’s Volleyball Team beat Warsaw, 3-0, on Monday, Sept. 11. The Kingsmen posted winning scores of  25-16, 25-14, 25-20.

Alyssa Torres led the Kingsmen with 12 kills, followed by Italia Fields with 10 kills and Rachel Rupert with 9 kills.

Naomi Willis led the team in assists with 27.

Rachel Hickey hustled for 18 digs, followed by Kylee Hixenbaugh with 12 and Julia Beers with 11.

Penn Varsity Volleyball defeated South Bend Clay 25-6, 25-10, and 25-5. The Kingsmen improved to 16-1.

Molly Pooler was dominant with 9 kills. Courtney North had 6 kills and Amari Torain had 5.

Naomi Willis was a key contributor to the three victories with 32 sets.

Julia Beers, Sophia Cruz, and Rachel Hickey were amazing on defense with a total of 47 defends between them. Cruz had 25, Hickey had 12, and Beers had 10.  

Students in the Penn High School Medical Interventions Class performed an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), which is used to diagnose disease by detecting antibodies.

The Medical Interventions Class, taught by Courtney Porter, is part of Penn’s Bio-Medical Sciences pathway. 

Penn is the first large, comprehensive public high school in Indiana to achieve the Indiana Department of Education full Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) certification.

Penn’s STEM Academy is the only full STEM-certified program in the “School within a School” model in Indiana.  

According to the Indiana Department of Education, Full STEM Certification is awarded to schools or programs that demonstrate a commitment to providing high quality STEM programs in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math, while preparing students for success in the 21st century. 

Penn is now one of 19 STEM-certified programs or schools in Indiana.

In recognition of Larry Beehler’s 31 years of service on the Penn-Harris-Madison Board of School Trustees, the Larry Beehler Ticket Center at TCU Freed Field will be dedicated before kickoff of Penn Football game Friday night, September 15. The dedication will take place on the field before the coin toss and kickoff. This wil be the first time the public will have a chance to see the new ticket center with the signage of the new name. Friday night is Penn’s Homecoming game vs. Adams High School.

The ticket center is part of the facility updates that took place over the summer at Penn High School’s football field. P-H-M’s Board of School Trustees voted to approve the name the ticket center after Larry Beehler at their meeting held on August 14. Anonymous donors established a naming rights partnership with the P-H-M Education Foundation to name the ticket center after Mr. Beehler.

Mr. Beehler is a graduate and class valedictorian of then Madison Township High School (Wakarusa), which is now Madison Elementary School, one of P-H-M’s 11 elementary schools. Larry and his wife of 55 years, Judy, are lifelong residents of the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation. In July of 1986, he was elected to the Board as the Madison Township representative and is currently serving his 31st year as a Board Member. During his time on the Board, Mr. Beehler served in leadership roles as Board Secretary for three years, Board Vice President for nine years, and Board President for six years. He has also served as P-H-M’s representative on several different Indiana School Boards Association (ISBA) boards, including as Board Policy Liaison and Legislative Liaison. He is also an active member of the National Schools Boards Association (NSBA).

During his time on the Board, Mr. Beehler’s roles have ranged from also serving on District Strategic Planning Committees to Smaller Learning Communities Achievement Design Committee for Penn High School. Mr. Beehler was nominated and received the Penn High School Distinguished Staff Award in 2010 sponsored by the Penn High School Alumni Association.

Aware of the P-H-M Education Foundation’s ongoing naming rights campaign, anonymous donors contacted the P-H-M Education Foundation wishing to contribute to the Foundation’s endowment. Wanting to also find a way to honor Mr. Beehler’s three decades of civil service and dedication to P-H-M, the naming rights partnership for the new ticket center was suggested. Per the agreement, the donors have donated $25,000 to the P-H-M Education Foundation endowment.

When a donor partners with PHMEF on the naming rights fundraising initiative, 80 percent of the donation goes into the Foundation’s endowment. This in turn provides alternative and additional funding for various co-curricular and extracurricular programs. The remaining 20 percent directly funds professional development initiatives for P-H-M teachers. Continuing education and training of educators is a major priority for P-H-M School District. The key to providing an excellent education is having excellent teachers. P-H-M teachers are excellent at what they do because of their passion, but also because of the ongoing professional development the District provides.

See the list below for a timeline of P-H-M Education Foundation’s other naming rights partners:

• In August 2014, P-H-M Education Foundation recognized two local families for their longtime support, in-kind donations and financial contributions to P-H-M educational programs:
  • The music rooms at all P-H-M's elementary schools were named after Jim and Julie Schwartz (represents $50,000 worth of donations over 10 years)
  • The Band Room at Penn High School was named after the Doshi family (represents $15,000 worth of donations over 10 years)
     
• Lionshead Specialty Tire and Wheel Penn High School Soccer Field
  Board approved September 2014
  $25,000 payable over 5 years
   
• Dar and Dot Wiekamp Penn High School Tennis Courts
  Board approved September 2014
  $25,000 payable over 5 years
   
• May Oberfell Lorber Penn High School Softball Field
  Board approved October 2014
  $25,000 payable over 5 years
   
• TCU Freed Field (Penn High School’s football stadium)
  Board approved June 22, 2015
  $400,000 payable over 12 years
  *This agreement was a continuation of a long standing partnership. TCU’s commitment represents more than the renaming of the high school football field. TCU is collaborating with P-H-M educators to develop financial literacy programs, scholarships, functions and activities.
   
• The Zolman Tire Concession Stand (north Concession stand at TCU Freed Field)
  Board approved January 11, 2016
  $25,000 payable over 5 years with 12-year naming rights
   
• Jordan Automotive Group Baseball Field at Penn High School
  Board approved January 25, 2016
  $25,000 payable over 5 years with 12-year naming rights
   
• Tradewinds Restaurant Concession Stand (second floor concession stand, near the entrance to the pool and across the main gymnasium at Penn High School)
  Board approved March 28, 2016
  $25,000 payable over 5 years with 12-year naming rights
   
• Saint Joseph Health System Tennis Courts at Prairie Vista (the tennis courts at Prairie Vista Elementary School)
  Board approved Monday, July 25, 2016
  $10,000 payable within 30 days with 12-year naming rights
   
• Larry Beehler Ticket Center (at Penn High School’s TCU Freed Field)
  Board approved August 14, 2017
  $25,000 paid in full with 12-year naming rights

Penn maintained its unbeaten record in Northern Indiana Conference action, beating the South Bend Adams Eagles, 5-0, on Tuesday, Sept. 13. Penn is 5-0 in the NIC.

A.J. Antonelli defeated Tommy Han, 7-5, 6-0, at No. 1 singles

At No. 2 singles, Will Thurin defeated Donnell Williams, 6-1, 6-1.

Aidan Sucharetza completed the sweep at singles, beating Micheal Dunham, 6-0, 6-0, at No. 3 singles.

Aiden O'Day/Eric Spaargaren defeated Matthew Petersen/Ted Nagy, 6-1, 6-2, at No. 1 doubles.

In the No. 2 doubles match, Nick Casetti/Maity Spitters defeated Elliot Zyniewicz/Zach Fernandez, 6-2, 6-0.

Penn High's Kingsmen beat South Bend Washington, 5-0, in Boys Soccer on Monday, Sept. 11.

Micah Craig, Aron Janko, Brandon Stahl, Kyle Van Ooteghen, and Jeffrey Harper fired in goals for the Kingsmen.

Evan Mercurio and Eric Baker earned the shutout in goal.

The Penn High School Girls Volleyball Team beat Elkhart Central, 3-1.

Student photographers Alex Lara and Phillip Murphy produced a Photo Gallery of the  match. The Photo Gallery is posted below. 

The Penn High School Freshman Academy held a Tailgate Party on Thursday, Sept. 7. The event helped build Kingsmen community among the freshmen.

About 150 students enjoyed the opportunity to display school spirit and socialize with Freshman Academy faculty and other students.

The Tailgate Party preceded a Freshmen Football Game between the Penn Kingsmen and the archrival Mishawaka Cavemen. Penn won the game 33-0.

A Photo Gallery is posted below.

By CARSON COCQUYT

Student Reporter

Granting teachers the opportunity explore the world of education outside the United States is very promising. Given that the world offers such a great variety of culture, there is so much new knowledge to be gained abroad.

One of the ways an educator can explore and study in an unfamiliar country is through Fulbright Scholarship. This scholarship, which was proposed by Senator J. William Fulbright in 1945, sought to promote international learning for teaching professionals in the U.S.

There are more than 3,000 applicants who apply for a Fulbright Scholarship each year, but only just a handful of teaching faculty are awarded with the opportunity of a lifetime to research, study and teach in a country of their choice.

Eric Bowers, an AP European and AP U.S. History teacher and tennis coach at Penn High School, was one of the few applicants accepted into the program.

Bowers was assigned to visit Bavaria, Germany, and was permitted to study at Regensburg University.

Bowers spent a total of four weeks in Europe. Even though the scholarship only funded two weeks of the trip, Bowers decided to head to Europe and week early and stay a week late. By doing this, he was able to visit more countries other than just Germany.

During July, Bowers was in and out of countries daily, submerging himself a new culture each few days at a time. Click here to see the photo gallery below.

While in Germany, Bowers sat in on presentations, classes, and guest speakers at each level of study in Germany. His task in was to learn from the educators who live and work in Germany, and apply their work into his life back home at Penn.

Whenever he had freetime from his studies in the classroom, Bowers said he would, “walk the streets of Germany and get a taste for everything it had to offer. Whether it be visiting schools or local businesses, I saw a new aspect of life everywhere I went.”

One of the most eye-opening things Bowers witnessed on his trip was the Syrian Refugee camps located in Germany.

“I found it interesting that Germany was fond of welcoming the refugees into the country as they planned to help them assimilate into the population.”

It was situations like these that help Bowers realize the culture of Germany has endured great change since the World Wars they were responsible for.

Overall, Bowers truly did learn a lot about the system of education in Germany and the cultural life as well. By taking time out of his summer to do this trip, Bowers feels that it was worth it. The amount of knowledge he gained from the countries abroad have helped him understand the world better as a whole.

The biggest take-away that Bowers took from his trip was that he learned to accept new strategies of learning teaching in the classroom. Now that Mr. Bowers in back home, he can apply is experience and knowledge into the classroom at Penn High school.

By ERIC WOOD

The Kingsmen varsity volleyball team defeated the Jimtown Jimmies, 25-15, 24-26, 25-8, 25-11, on Thursday, Sept. 7.

Alyssa Torres and Rachel Rupert paced Penn’s attack with 11 kills each.

Naomi Willis’ 32 assists helped to boost the lethal Kingsmen offense. Willis also contributed 22 digs on the night.