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Penn AP Drawing students earn Scholastic honors

Penn High School AP Drawing students Ashton Hanover and Lucia Lozar have earned two of the five Northwest Indiana/Southwest Michigan Region’s American Vision Nominee awards through the Scholastic Art competition. Those are the top awards, selected from among all the Gold Key works in the area, which are selected from over 4,000 entries.

Hanover, a senior at Penn, also won a Notre Dame Award.

Both regional awards include scholarship checks.

Hanover was also awarded one of five National American Vision Medals, given to the top five artists selected from Indiana regions. These represent only two percent of all Scholastics Award winners. He will be invited to receive his medal this summer at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

The National American Vision also comes with a scholarship that is in addition to the financial awards from Notre Dame, and the Regional American Vision.

Hanover is the second student of Penn Art Instructor Anne Napoli in the past three years to earn a national award through Scholastic. Penn alum Charlie Sailor won one of only three National Herb Block Editorial Cartoon Awards for an artwork done in Penn’s Advanced Drawing Class when she was a senior. She received a $2,500 scholarship with the award at Carnegie Hall and then her artwork was displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art through the summer that year.

Penn students present at State Science Fair

Penn High School students participated at the State Science Fair hosted by Indiana University-Indianapolis on Saturday, March 28, 2026.

Presentations included:

Eleanor Niemier 9th grade: Cisplatin Effects on Gene Expression in Lung and Colon Cancer
Viosa Hernandez 9th grade: How do iPhones, iPads and WiFi affect the development of living organisms? A case study of Raphanus Sativus and Lepidium Sativum
Ethan Doane 12th Grade: Fighting bacteria with liposomes: a better way to deliver antibiotics

They presented their research to scientific experts who judged their presentations. Eleanor Niemier and Viosa Hernandez were two of-18 ninth grade projects at the State Fair this year and Ethan Doane was one of 12 senior projects at the state fair this year.

“Although they did not win any placements or advance to nationals this year, they all represented Penn High School extremely well and we are very proud of all their hard work,” Sponsor Antonia Boger-May said of the students.

Viosa Hernandez won a special award for her plant-based project: The Excellence in Environmental Science Senior Division from the Indiana Association of Environmental professionals.

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Penn Science Olympiad students earn Top 10 finishes at state

Penn Science Olympiad earned its first Top Ten finishes in two events at the Science Olympiad State competition at Northridge High School.

• Iniya Christopher & Alishba Syeda — 6th in Disease Detectives
• Joanna Lin & Emily Pearson — 8th in Botany

Penn’s season included a third-place finish at the Regional.

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Sreeja Bhattacharjee earns Scholastic National Silver Medal

Penn High School student Sreeja Bhattacharjee is a 2026 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards national winner.

Bhattacharjee is one of 12 students nationwide to earn a National Silver Medal.

She is Penn’s first Scholastic National winner since 2016.

Bhattacharjee won the Silver Medal for her portfolio “Earthbound” and her short story “Over Easy.”

Caelea Armstrong is the sponsor of Penn’s Literary Magazine, “Spectrum”, and is the instructor of the Creative Writing class.

Schafer Gear Works Names Penn Robotics Lab

Schafer Industries (click here to visit the company website) named the Penn High School robotics lab as part of the P-H-M Education Foundation’s Naming Rights campaign (click here for more information on this program).

Schafer Gear Works donated $25,000 payable over 5 years.

The lab will now be known as the Schafer Gear Works Robotics Lab.

Penn robotics and Penn graphic design students designed the graphic that features Schafer’s name on the garage door entry to the lab.

The P-H-M Board of School Trustees approved the donation and naming rights at its meeting on Monday, March 16 at Meadow’s Edge Elementary School. Schafer representatives Kelly Lowry, human resources manager, and Alex Beagles, production manager and former Penn student, were at the Board meeting.

Penn Freshmen Explore Future Careers at JA JobSpark Expo

Large room filled with people standing around tables, some of which have laptops on them; a stage with a speaker at one end Approximately 300 Penn High School freshmen stepped outside the classroom this week to explore future career possibilities at the JA JobSpark Career Expo, held at the Century Center in South Bend.

Joining hundreds of students from across the Michiana area, Penn students took part in hands-on activities designed to introduce them to real-world careers and local industries. The interactive format gave students a chance to try new skills, ask questions, and begin thinking about their future paths.

Throughout the expo, students rotated through a variety of stations representing different career fields. They tested their skills in trades like masonry, construction, roofing, and electrical work. Others practiced detecting counterfeit bills with First Source Bank, analyzed fingerprints in a mock crime lab with the South Bend Police Department, or explored careers in healthcare through physical therapy and dentistry activities.

Students also experienced creative and service-based careers, including hairdressing, food preparation with Taco Bell and Arby’s, and even reading from a teleprompter with WNDU 16 News. Additional stations allowed students to take professional headshots, try out recreational activities like Frisbee golf, and explore products from local manufacturers such as Barletta and Lippert.

The trip was organized by Penn’s Director of Counseling, John Westra, whose efforts helped make this opportunity possible for students.

Experiences like JobSpark give students an early look at potential career paths while connecting classroom learning to real-world opportunities right here in the local community.

People working on a roof, one person is standing on top of the roof while others are working underneath.

Woman standing in front of a car display, holding a microphone, addressing an audience.

Two women in hard hats working on a construction site, one holding a hammer, standing next to a wooden structure.

Large room filled with people standing around tables, some of which have laptops on them; a stage with a speaker at one end

People standing around a table with papers on it at an event.

People gathered around a table at an event, looking at items on display, possibly signing up for something or writing on

Five young men posing together in a room, all wearing yellow lanyards around their necks and holding blue bags, standing in

People gathered around a table at an event, examining items on display, including a badge and a sign that reads "BPD Crime

Two people working on a construction project at a convention center.

Three young men in a room, one holding hands with another while the third looks on, all wearing backpacks and casual

People inside a boat on display at a convention, gathered around an open roof area.

People in a gymnasium playing basketball. One person is jumping to catch the ball while others watch from the sidelines.

People standing in front of a booth at an event, engaging in conversation.

Penn Early College Students Attend Logan Center Field Trip

Group of people posing in front of a wall. Penn High School Early College students recently visited the South Bend Logan Center as part of a field trip focused on learning about disabilities and community resources.

Students from all four grade levels in the Early College program attended, joining approximately 200 students from other area schools.

During the visit, students participated in activities and presentations that introduced them to the services and support the Logan Center provides for individuals with disabilities. The experience offered students an opportunity to learn more about the importance of inclusion and accessibility in the community.

The field trip is one of several opportunities for Early College students to engage in learning beyond the classroom and connect their studies to real-world experiences.

Penn places third in Speech State Tournament

Penn High School hosted the 2026 Speech State Tournament.

Photo Gallery posted below.

Penn, coached by Jeremy Starkweather, placed third in the Triple A Class.

PENN HIGHLIGHTS:

Finalists

Andrew Dell- State Runner-Up – Dramatic Interpretation

James Mason- State Runner-Up – Broadcasting

Semi-Finalists

Mugisha Gihozo – Original Performance

Hannah Luck – Poetry

Veerinder Turna – Discussion

Quarter-Finalists

Malika Mosley and Yolanis Fair – Original Performance

Hannah Luck – Programmed Oral Interpretation

Aiden Kennedy – Broadcasting

Kaiyi Zhao – International Extemp

Alex Geyer – Informative

Sobrin Fitwi – Informative

Rebeca Ramirez – United States Extemp

Mia Helm – Discussion

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Penn DECA students excel at State

Penn’s DECA chapter competed at the State Career Development Conference in Indianapolis. Due to their outstanding performance at SCDC, 31 Penn students qualified for the International Career Development Conference, the most in chapter history.

Photos posted below

Receiving competency awards:

(85%+ on roleplay exam)

1) Mia Helm
2) David Ha
3) Joseph Imdieke
4) Connor Geoghegan

5) Danielle Ciliberti

International Career Development Conference Qualifiers:

State Champions:
Melody Matviyiv and Gracie Rowe (Business Services Operations Research)

Jennifer Chen and Marium Chaudry (International Business Plan)

Veerinder Turna and Vardaan Turna (Sports and Entertainment Marketing Operations Research)

Second Place:
Kaiyi Zhou and Joshua Seluzhitsky (Buying and Merchandising Operations Research)

Yuxuan Lin and Caitlyn McCrink (Innovation Plan)

Layla Hurley and Victoria Sanchez (Integrated Marketing Campaign – Event)

Danielle Ciliberti and Olivia Wu (Integrated Marketing Campaign – Service)

Gabi Martinez-Morales and Nia Lawson-Mitchell (Community Awareness Project)

Navya Ramanujan and Charlotte Chung (Marketing Management Team Decision Making)

Third Place:
Aarna Pathak and Ayvah Bell (Finance Operations Research)

Veer Verma and Mariam Ahmed (Hospitality and Tourism Operations Research)

Ishita Masetty and Abhijay Masetty (Franchise Business Plan)

Emma Wei and Alice Zhang (International Business Plan)