Six teams of STEM Academy students and one team from Mishawaka High School competed in the final stage of the ADEC Penn Innovation Challenge yesterday (Tuesday, May 22) at ADEC Industries in Elkhart for the chance at winning a summer paid internship!

Penn Robotics and Engineering students were challenged to use their skills and knowledge to give back to the community. ADEC proudly advocates for and serves people with developmental and intellectual disabilities so they live lives full of choice and possibility. Along with a variety of services, ADEC also offers employment to its clients.

This unique challenge goes back to late April when 77 teams from both high schools presented their ideas and concepts. Teams were asked to focus on and find solutions to help ADEC client employees perform their jobs more efficiently, and thus hopefully increase their pay. ADEC asked the students to focus on these three core business areas to help their clients increase efficiency : Bake (Bow Wow Dog Biscuit production); Build (building sturdy furniture like benches or chests); or Balance (making custom wood signs with a CNC machine). ADEC then narrowed down the field to 10 finalists, one from Mishawaka and nine from Penn. 

Last week (May 15),  the Penn teams held their “build day” and devoted the entire school day to building their prototypes of tools. Six teams completed the task. On May 22,  all of the hard work over the last several weeks culminated for these remaining teams when the students presented their final projects to the ADEC panel of judges. 

Penn’s participants gave it their best as five of the teams chose the “Build” category to focus on. The other team focused on a simple solution to help workers count washers. Each team showcased their creative skills and ideas as the panel of judges intently listened and then asked questions of the participants. Click here for a more detailed description of all six Penn projects. 
(*Adobe Acrobat Reader will be required to view this pdf. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, please visit Adobe’s website, or click here, to download your free version. Or you can stop by the Education Resources Center at  55900 Bittersweet Rd., Mishawaka to pick up a copy.)

Judges deliberated for about half an hour while they made their decisions to award the top three teams. At the end of the day, P-H-M claimed first and third place, with Mishawaka taking second place.

First place winning team members are Ryan Doenges and Eddie Null. As first place winners, Ryan and Eddie will have an internship this summer at Sibley Machine, one of Penn’s Community Partners, who will host them and pay for their internship as they work on their project.

Third place Penn student team members: Jeff Pawlik, Caroline Tiebout, Collin Mott, Michael Feeley and Hayden Carnine.

By COLE POLLYEA

Many families here at Penn High School have rich legacies at universities like Indiana University, Purdue, Ball State, or even schools such as Notre Dame and Michigan.

What is more uncommon is for families at Penn to have rich legacies at The Naval Academy, an East Coast Military Academy where admission is based on competitive applications as well as congressional appointment.

This is exactly what Penn has in the high-achieving McGuire family.

Logan McGuire will be the third of the McGuire boys to attend the Naval Academy after graduating from Penn. Without doubt, he has had a strong impact on Penn’s student body and has played a critical role in elevating the reputation of the school in his four years. Logan has four years of lacrosse under his belt, and this year, he hopes to lead the team to a successful state run as one of the team’s captains.

He has also been a part of Penn’s National Honor Society, DECA, Freshman Mentoring, Dream Commission Society, Key Club, and in late March of this year, was recognized as one of Penn’s 19 valedictorians, an incredible feat when it is taken into account that the 112th-ranked student in the class has a perfect 4.0. His GPA is a jaw-dropping 4.4286.

Logan acknowledges that Penn has played an integral role in his success along the way: “Penn provided me with many opportunities through classes and extracurriculars to explore my passions and subjects that I was curious about.”

Logan found out that he had been admitted to Naval Academy while first semester was still in session. Needless to say, Navy is an extremely selective institution with an acceptance rate of nine percent and an abundance of difficult tasks to complete in order to achieve acceptance.

Aside from having to present an overall compelling academic and extracurricular application, one of these tasks include interviewing with a former military officer as well as completing a physical fitness test under his/her supervision — “push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, shuttle run, one-mile run, and basketball throw,”  Logan recalled.

Yet what is even more intimidating about the application process is that, in order to be admitted, one must earn a nomination from one of the state’s congresspeople. “(Your) applications are reviewed by their own boards and this board then chooses candidates to interview from that initial pool. After interviews, each congressperson can nominate 10 people to USNA,” Logan said. Without the nomination, it is impossible to be accepted.

Logan has two older brothers and both of them are attending the Naval Academy.

Kyle, the oldest, is a current sophomore and is majoring in Quantitative Economics. He is passionate about a number of roles within the Marine Corps, including pilot, Ground Intelligence, and Infantry. USNA graduates are required to serve a minimum of five years after graduating, and Kyle commented that “I'll need to get some time in my actual job before I can decide if I want to continue serving beyond my service obligation.”

As far as this actual job goes, Kyle attended the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University Bloomington for two years before transferring to the Naval Academy. There, he developed a keen interest in consulting and he indicates that “The Naval Academy hasn't really changed those aspirations.”

Connor, the next oldest brother, is a junior and also plans to major in Quantitative Economics, though he’s not sure that his civilian life will consist of a job relating to his major. Right now, he is not eliminating any options for his future, one of which could be using his GI bill to earn an MBA. Like Kyle, Connor is also very passionate about pursuing a career in the military. Here, he eloquently explains the position that he is serious about pursuing after the Naval Academy, a Marine Corps infantry officer:

“In its simplest form they're the ones on the front lines leading men into combat, but an infantry officer has to be capable of leading men in the three-block war — particularly in today's day and age. The first block is full-on combat. The second block is peacekeeping operations. The third block is humanitarian aid. As a Marine Corps infantry officer you are called upon to lead your men through all of these blocks, and sometimes you'll be working through all three blocks in a matter of hours. That's an immense leadership challenge and a high calling, and I'm looking forward to being a part of it all.”

It is clear that the McGuire brothers have had a profound influence on each other’s life choices up until this point. But the influence did not just stem from the brothers’ choices.

Logan’s parents also have a strong military background: “My father served for 12 years in the Marine Corps and was decommissioned as a Captain. My mother was in Air Force reserves for 3 1/2 years (medical school) and active duty for six years. She was decommissioned as a Major. Both of my half-sisters also served in the Air Force. Now, both of my brothers are at USNA.” He is soon to join them.

"We have always been proud of all of our sons because each of them have always been great young men.  As far as their Appointment to the Naval Academy, we would have to say we are more happy for them than proud, because they each set a goal of getting that Appointment and they each achieved that goal through their own hard work, dedication and discipline. We're also proud of their drive to serve their country and defend freedom for future generations," stated Mr. and Mrs. McGuire.  

When asked about how he feels about serving in the military, Logan responded with insight, gratitude, and maturity. He indicated that his motivation to serve is multi-layered. On one hand, he values his future military service because of the values it instilled in his parents, who he admires. And on the other hand, he views service as the appropriate way to pay back his country for providing him with all that it has, which he is grateful for.

Penn High School’s Isaac Loutzenhiser is again the State of Indiana's Individual State Champion in the Indiana  Wildlife Habitat Education Career Development Contest.

Loutzenhiser repeated as state champion in the 2017 competition. Only four other students statewide have achieved this accomplishment of repeating as a state champion, and all of them were from Penn High School.

Penn’s Elena Effertz placed second in the state.

Loutzenhiser and Effertz’s 1-2 finish, along with the scoring of teammates Coy Harris and Arithon Effertz, led to a third-place team showing for Penn in the 2017 State contest held at Purdue University's Wright Center for Forestry Research.

The contest consists of four parts an Identification Segment including up to 53 species of Indiana Wildlife; a 100 Question Test over the animal species, their habitats, feed, and behaviors; a Wildlife Habitat Management Practices section where the competitors match the appropriate practices for the animals selected for a specific site, and the Team Activity where the four members of the team create a Wildlife Management Plan for eight species of animals at a specific contest habitat site.

Penn’s team is coached by Mel Lenig.

Penn High School’s Academic Super Bowl Science Team, coached by Breanna Berkheiser, earned a state championship on May 6 in competition at Purdue University. The Penn Math team and the Penn Interdisciplinary team each placed second in the state.

At the state level, Baker Nasser, Matthew Shan, and Muqsit Buchh represented Penn in the science round of the competition.  Other students that were in attendance at the state competition were Haasan Kazi, Alvin Wang, Amy Bernard, Ali Sualeh, Seunghooon Sun, Corey Wang, Riya Patel, Emily Duchine, Tingyi Lu, and Chelsea Chen. 

Students that are involved with the team but not in attendance at the state competition are Sanjana Kulkarni, Annaliza Canda, Drason Chow, Fezaan Kazi, Daniel Kline, Komal Kumar, Michelle Kwok, Ahsan Siddiqui, Zainab Nasser, and Nikita Patel.

​"I am very pleased that the students' hard work paid off with their ultimate goal of winning a state championship,” Berkheiser said. “Competing for Science ASB is not just about the one year of work that gets put into learning and studying the content (although that is a very large part of it).  It is also a result of the students' own motivation to learn while previously taking a variety of rigorous science courses offered to them at Penn that have built up a solid foundation of scientific understanding. 

“This championship is also a result of many roles on our team working together,” Berkheiser continued.  “Although the "face" of the team in a competition can only be a few students, there are many important roles on the team that really worked together to result in taking the state title."
 

TCU/Freed Field will undergo construction this summer May 10 running through August. Beginning May 10, the parking area nearest the football field designated as Fitness Center parking will be utilized for construction and fencing has been installed.

Open Swim and Learn to Swim patrons, effective now – July 19, will need to enter Penn through the front at Door D. You will be able to use the Penn’s front parking lot. You will NOT have access to the back parking lot or Door E.

In June, the curved drive north of the field will be blocked for construction. The sidewalk will be available along this drive only. All traffic into the arena lot will be designated for construction, delivery and emergency traffic only during this 4-6 week period. Fitness Center parking will be available along the East Drive during this time.

On June 8-9, the North Drive access to Freed Field will be blocked for construction purposes. All access to the back (East) of Penn High School should be directed to Jefferson Road entrance.

Parents dropping off or picking up students from Kingsmen Athletic Summer Camps taking place at Freed Field or any other camps at Penn will need to use the Jefferson Road (East Side) or Front entrances.

Due to the construction, the Fitness Center entrance will move to Door H starting on June 8.  

Only delivery traffic and construction vehicles will be permitted in the Arena Lot during construction for safety of all and traffic logistics.

The Fitness Center entrance at Door H will be programmed the same as door G. Patrons visiting the Fitness Center should park in the lots south of the dock area only. Fitness Center parking will be permitted south of Door H after 3 p.m.

Principal Steve Hope and the Kingsmen Club honored the seven 2017 retiring educators at the Penn vs. South Bend St. Joseph baseball game on May 12.

Merilee Britt (Integrated Chemistry and Physics) has nine years of service at Penn High School.

Sue Campbell (Counseling Center receptionist) has 15.5 years of service at Penn High School.

Steve Cisczcon (Geography) has 33 years at Penn as both a teacher and Athletic trainer.

Karen Czarkowski (Visitors Booth and Attendance Aide) has 21 years of service at Penn.

David Dutton (Speech/Drama/English) has 20 years of service at Penn.

Becky Lutkus (Spanish) has 22 years of service at Penn.

Laura McKenzie (Math) has 12 years of service at Penn.

Penn High School students spent seven hours, an entire school day, on May 15 building prototypes of tools that could help people with disabilities perform their jobs more efficiently and increase their pay. The “Build Day” is part of a larger ADEC Penn Innovation Challenge that was created to challenge engineering and robotics students to put their skills to use and give back to the community. Community mentors came in to help the STEM Academy engineering students. 

Penn partnered with ADEC to develop assistive technology devices that will help workers at ADEC Industries, a nonprofit company that provides packaging and assembly services while employing people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

ADEC had a real-world problem for students to work on: How to save jobs and increase wages at ADEC Industries. Clients at other ADEC locations have already been selling products like dog biscuits and wooden signs, but the demand is too high to keep the products stocked on the shelves.

ADEC presented three categories for Penn students to focus on and find solutions for:
 

• BAKE: ADEC’s Bow Wow Dog Biscuits are the nonprofits most popular product, so they sell out faster than clients can produce them.
• BUILD: ADEC clients make and sell sturdy furniture like benches and chests, but it is a time-consuming process taking a lot of one-on-one work
• BALANCE: Custom wood signs are a top seller in ADEC’s art store, but the process of locking in the wood for the CNC machine is tidious and confusing for some.

Over the past several months, 77 teams of students have toured ADEC’s facilities, talked with clients and came up with possible solutions to these challenge areas.  After two days of presentations the week of April 27, the 77 teams were whittled down to 10 finalist teams.

Teams from Mishawaka High School also presented alongside Penn students. Ultimately, one team from Mishawaka and nine from Penn were chosen as finalists to build their prototype. The team from Mishawaka worked on their prototype at Mishawaka High School.
 

The Teams had their entire school day to work on the prototypes of the designs. Next up for the students, on Monday, May 22, the students will pitch and present their prototypes to a panel of judges at ADEC offices in Elkhart.

From those final presentations on May 22, ADEC will choose one winning team. The students of the winning team will be offered paid internships this summer to work on their projects. Sibley Machine, one of Penn’s Community Partners, will host the students and pay for their internships.

The weather couldn’t have been better on Wednesday morning (May 10) for Penn Biology teacher John Gensic (2016 Teacher of the Year) and his nearly 100 Early College Biology students.

Gensic and his students departed on buses headed for Horizon, Elsie Rogers and Mary Frank Schools to plant dwarf fruit trees with the help of an estimated 324 elementary students. Today was the final step of the Phase 1 planting phase which began in the spring of 2016 at Horizon Elementary.

The “Giving Trees” project was the brainchild of Gensic, P-H-M’s 2016 Teacher of the Year and top 10 finalist for Indiana TOY. The project was made possible by a 2016 grant from the P-H-M Education Foundation . Funding this year was a combination of grant money, Gensic’s P-H-M TOY grant money from the Education Foundation, and a donation made by Springhope Farm.

The idea behind the project is for students to participate in a real world event that not only focuses on improving the local environment, but also provides food for the Penn-Harris-Madison school community. It is Gensic’s hope that all the students involved in the project, elementary and high school, will be inspired to become agents of change leading the charge for a healthy environment and community.

The “Giving Trees” project is a four-phase plan with Phase 1 completed on the final planting day on May 15 at Elm Road Elementary. Phases 2, 3 and 4 will be the harvesting of the fruit for use in P-H-M’s schools; and if all goes well, Gensic also hopes to provide fruit for the local community.

When all the planting is done, there will be a total of 64 fruit trees planted between Horizon, Mary Frank, Elsie Rogers and Elm Road. Out of the 64 trees, 40 are apple and 24 are pear trees.

Academically, this project will have the high school students focusing on Indiana Biology Standards 2 (matter cycles and energy transfer) and Biology Standard 3 (interdependence). The elementary students will also focus on Indiana Science and Language Arts Standards as a way to reinforce this great experience.

Please check out the pictures below taken at Elsie Rogers Elementary.

Penn High School Principal Steve Hope and Penn-Harris-Madison Supt. Dr. Jerry Thacker honored Penn High School’s Class of 2017 at Senior Recognition Night on Tuesday, May 9.

The Class of 2017 features 19 Valedictorians – Muqsit Buchh, Balajimonesh Devireddy, Alex Dobbins, Will Gruber, Keegan Hurst, David Kim, Sanjana Kulkarni, Julia Kwak, Mason Lee, Hannah McGinness, Logan McGuire, Baker Nasser, Cole Pollyea, Peter Rutkowski, Hannah Selis, Matthew Shan, Emma Schultz, Evan Shreiner and Kacey Wood – will represent Penn’s Class of 2017 as valedictorians at the graduation ceremony on Friday, May 26 at the University of Notre Dame’s Purcell Pavilion.

The valedictorians boast a GPA range of 4.4904 to 4.3846. In addition, three of the students – Sam Battalio, Annaliza Canda and Michelle Tapp – were named salutatorians.

Penn’s Class of 2017, which includes 886 prospective graduates, has earned nearly $8.5 million in scholarships to date! The  graduating class  also features 12 National Merit Scholarship Finalists, 275 students who are set to earn a High Honors Diploma, 413 students who are in line to earn an Academic Honors Diploma, and 85 students who will earn a Technical Honors Diploma.

Kacey Wood, who will attend Indiana University, was named the Kingsman of the Year, an award determined by the senior students. Wood, one of this year’s valedictorians, attended Discovery Middle School and Northpoint Elementary School.

Nathanael Boone, who will attend Dartmouth University, was named the winner of the Schmucker Award, which is based on a vote by the Penn High School faculty and staff. Boone was a defensive lineman and named Region All-Star Team in January. He attended Schmucker Middle School and Elsie Rogers Elementary School. 

Reagan Johanson, who will attend Indiana University, was awarded the Donna and Dr. Jerry Thacker Scholarship. Johanson attended Schmucker Middle School and Prairie Vista Elementary School.

Baker Nasser, who will attend Indiana University, earned the prestigious Wells Scholarship.

Click here for the complete list of award and scholarship winners for the Class of 2017.

The Penn-Harris-Madison Education Foundation recently announced the recipients of the Spring 2017 grants—with grants totaling $16,640!

Traditional Grant Recipients

Kelso’s Kit: Tools for Kids – Horizon Elementary – Joann Hartline’ Grade K-5  —  300 students; Awarded: $636.73
Kelso’s Kit includes 23 comprehensive lessons that help children make good choices and solve conflicts on their own. The kit will give classroom teachers and/or college practicum students additional tools needed to help students with their everyday life difficulties.

iPod Touches for Walt Disney’s A/V Team

iPod Touches for Walt Disney’s A/V Team – Walt Disney Elementary – Robi Davidson, Emily Beeden; Grades K-4  —  510 students
Awarded: $597
The purchase of the iPods (3) will allow the AV team to record live broadcasts and to connect to other forms of media. In addition, the iPods will allow the team to explore new technologies such as music recording, computer coding, app review, and more extensive photo and video editing.

Wiggling Our Way to Success – Mary Frank Elementary – Lindsay Helman; Grades 3  —  40 students; Awarded: $1,432.34
Alternative seating at Mary Frank will support students who have difficulty focusing. In addition, these seats provide health benefits that include increased metabolism, motivation and engagement, creating better oxygen flow to the brain, and improve core strength.

Strumming Our Way To Musical Success – Horizon Elementary – Jon West and Jeannie Chettleburgh; Grades K-5 — 650 students
Awarded: $1,170
Recently, due to the increase use by pop performers, the Ukulele has quickly risen in popularity. The creates a phenomenon whereby students are expressing a desire to learn to play chords and sing with the Ukulele. The teachers intend to use this natural interest to continue to each the Indiana Music Standards using Ukuleles.

The Walking Classroom – Moran Elementary – Louise Black; Grades 5 — 80-90 students
Awarded: $3,950
Student learning is not limited to sitting in the classroom. This program would allow for a class to walk around/throughout the hallways while listening to pod-casts lessons. Each student audio device is preloaded with 111 pod-casts that are aligned with the 5th grade Common Core curriculum covering language arts, social studies, and health topics.

Documenting Bat Activity in an Urban Habitat – Elm Road School – Jackie Anderson; Grade K-5 —  520 students
Awarded: $323.61
From a school’s FIRST Lego League team, this bat house is located on the edges of the school ground. A remote camera, with infrared lighting, will allow students to observe the natural patterns of bats.

Penn Orchestra – Barrage 8 –  Penn High – Ann Tschetter (P-H-M’s 2017 Teacher of the Year); Grades 9-12 —  20 students
Awarded: $450
Earlier in the year, Penn High School hosted an international string group – Barrage 8 – whose focus is to introduce student to the new eclectic and contemporary side of being a string performer. Furthermore, Penn currently houses contemporary music performing groups in band and choir, but not orchestra. This inspired the teacher to create a before or after-school group where students would take their classical training to a “show” format. Students will learn a wide variety of popular, ethnic jazz, and show tunes. The grant will support purchasing 5 musical instruments for students to perform.

Cafetorium Acoustic Development – Grissom Middle – Heather Baker; Grades 6-8 —  600 students
Awarded: $5,181.39
The school’s cafetorium is used for numerous events throughout the school year, including meetings and conferences. The current sound situation involves outdated technology and bare walls to enable a massive amount of reverb and echo. A new system would increase the quality for musical performances, student news programs, athletic events, and student body assemblies.

Serving Students with Calming Sensory Tools – Elm Road – Audrey Kim; Grades K-5 —  520 students
Awarded: $800
As an educational assistant, the teacher has helped students with anger and behavior issues using sensory tools. Students have enjoyed using manipulative tools to help them calm down. Creating boxes that are readily available for students to help channel their frustrations in appropriate ways.

EZ grant recipients ($250 or less)
 

• Occupational Therapy Materials: Mary Frank Elementary – Tess Weaver; Grade PreK-8; Awarded: $246.67
• Book Clubs in the Classroom – Not Just for Adults; Prairie Vista Elementary – Karen Hlade; Grade 5; Awarded: $244.43
• Electronics Components for Updated Physics Curriculum; Penn High School; Jonathan Lockwood; Grades 11-12; Awarded: $225
• Aquaponics Experiments to Promote a Sustainable Food Future; Penn High School – John Gensic; Grades 9-12; Awarded: $247.99
• It’s All About the Bass Bow; Discovery/P-H-M Middle School Orchestras – April Oppenheim; Grade 6-8; Awarded: $234
• Bike to Build Muscles! Walt Disney Elementary – Kathy Greve; Grades K; Awarded: $250
• Take a Stand; Discovery Middle – Murray Weaver; Grades 6-8; Awarded: $250
• Pay Attention! Elsie Rogers Elementary – Stefanie Hanks; Grade K-5; Awarded: $245
• Table Top Easels; Penn PALS/Elsie Rogers Preschool – Alison Minegar; Grades Preschool; Awarded $250

As a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization established in 1996, the PHMEF develops alternative sources of income to support learning while strengthening the partnership between schools and community.

Since the Foundation’s inception, more than $520,000 have been distributed in innovative teaching grants supporting P-H-M teachers, staff, and students. Click here to see the grants awarded Fall 2016. The Grants Committee is comprised of Foundation board members, community representatives, and a P-H-M administrator who evaluate each grant application.

Dedicated business leaders, administrators, and community volunteers, representing a cross-section of the school community, serve as the board of directors. PHMEF supports education through awarding innovative teaching grants, scholarships to students, staff development and other corporation-wide initiatives.

PHMEF’s funding comes from special events such as its premier Silver Mile Health & Fitness Fair, Donna & Dr. Jerry Thacker 5K Run/Walk for Education, the State of Indiana from the purchase of Read On Education License plates, Corporations for Education, Thank a Teacher, Entrance to Excellence bricks, and individual donations.