A few times a year, the P-H-M Board of School Trustees holds their board meetings off-site at one of P-H-M’s 15 schools as a way to highlight for the Board and the community the education accomplishments and academic achievements taking place in the spotlight school. Click to see the full photo gallery below.

Monday, February 26 was Penn High School’s turn to shine!

Penn Principal Dr. Sean Galiher, Associate Principal Rachel Fry, Assistant Principals Sarah Hendricks, Jeanie Mitchell, and Josiah Parker, along with Athletic Director Jeff Hart, presented 2023-2024 first semester achievement report, which included data and information on academics, attendance, and athletics, along with recognitions of State Championship and Runners-Up teams, great teachers, mentors and coaches. Click here to see Principal Galiher’s full Board Presentation.

Intermingled in the presentations were performances by Penn Fine Arts groups like the student stars of the school musical, “The Music Man,” a quartet, the Jazz Band, and a tap dancer. Choir teacher Andrew Nemeth used the student performances to quiz Board Members on their musical knowledge with “Name that Tune.”  Click the YouTube link below to hear.

Some of the main highlights of Principal Galiher’s presentation to the Board highlighted Penn’s 98.12% graduation rate for 2023 and is on track to have the same for 2024. Looking at the freshmen class, 94.51% are “on-track” after 1st semester of the 2023-24 SY. The rest of Penn students are also doing well: 94.4% for sophomores, 94.6% for juniors, and 93.4% for seniors. The Class of 2024 is projected to have 52.4% graduate with Honors Diplomas.

In September of this school year, Penn was named a 2023 Cognia^® School of Distinction. Cognia is a global nonprofit school improvement organization grounded in research-based performance standards. They accredit 40,000 public and private schools in 90 countries; only 96 schools globally were recognized as Schools of Distinction, and Penn High School was among them, and the only high school in Indiana!

Cognia’s Mid-Atlantic Director Jennifer Horvath traveled from the Louisville, Kentucky to address the School Board and explain Cognia’s rigorous accreditation process. Ms. Horvath praised Penn High School for teacher and administration collaboration, along with the school’s climate and culture. Cognia student surveys showed that students feel safe, valued, and supported by their teachers. Click here to hear Ms. Horvath’s comments.

Associate Principal Fry presented on AP and dual credit enrollment and the Early College Academy. Currently at 1,816 students out of Penn’s @3,500 total students are taking AP courses; and 678 students of the Class of 2024 are enrolled in dual credit classes.

For the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years, Penn High School ranked FIRST in the state with the highest number of students earning ICC (Indiana College Core) or AGS (Associate of General Studies) certificates earned! This was just one of the reasons why the IDOE recognized Penn with Excellence in College Readiness Award along with a $250,000 grant!

Debate Team teacher and coach Mr. Jeremy Starkweather, sporting a new haircut thanks to his team’s State Championship win, presented his student winners.

Along with the Debate Team, the other State Championship team, Spell Bowl, was also recognized. Both the Girls and Boys Swim/Dive teams were also recognized fresh off IHSAA State Championships returning as State Runners-Up. For the first time in Penn’s history, both teams were State Runners-Up in the same year! Lily Christianson is the State Champion in 50-Freestyle, 100-Freestyle, and was a member of the 200-Freestyle Relay Team with Kaia Podlin, Alayna Riggins, and Molly Barnes.

The Board thanked retiring Hall of Fame Head Football Coach Cory Yeoman for his 40 years of service to Penn High School, and also recognized the Yeoman family in attendance.

Penn Strength and Conditioning Coach Matt Cates named the 2024 National Coach of the Year by the National High School Strength Coaches Association (NHSSCA) was also honored.

Many more student and staff accomplishments along with supporting data were shared with the Board. Click here to see Principal Galiher’s full Board Presentation.

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The Penn Intermediate Jazz Ensemble, Advanced Jazz Ensemble and Kaleidoscope Jazz Combo all delivered excellent performances at the “Jazz in the Meadows” festival in Chicago. They also had the opportunity to receive feedback from a world-class panel of clinicians.

The Advanced Jazz Ensemble won the runner-up award in Class 4-A (largest schools). 

Penn’s school musical this year is “The Music Man.”

You won’t want to miss Penn’s talented student performers as they act out the play that follows fast-talking traveling salesman, Harold Hill, as he cons the people of River City, Iowa, into buying instruments and uniforms for a boys’ band that he vows to organize – this, despite the fact that he doesn’t know a trombone from a treble clef!

This year’s musical also includes the talents of a few P-H-M elementary and middle school students:

• Mary Cortes, 5th grade, Prairie Vista Elementary School
• Maxwell MacMillan, 5th grade, Mary Frank Elementary School
• Anniston Steele, 7th grade, Grissom Middle School
• Ezra Carrico, Katherine Hawkins, Benjamin Robertson and Noah Rohde, all in 8th grade, Schmucker Middle School

Click here to see the playbill.

This isn’t the first year Penn’s musicals have included students from younger grades. In 2016, younger students also participated in “Mary Poppins.” But this is the first year in recent memory to have this many!

Visit bit.ly/PennMusicMan to purchase tickets.

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The National High School Strength Coaches Association (NHSSCA) named Penn Strength and Conditioning Coach Matt Cates the 2024 National Coach of the Year!

Last February Coach Cates was named the 2023 Great Lakes Regional Coach of the Year. In 2020, he became the State Director of NHSSCA for Indiana. In January 2022, Penn’s Strength and Conditioning program led by Coach Cates was awarded with a NHSSCA Program of Excellence School designation!

Coach Cates’ enthusiasm and dedication working with student-athletes has made him one of the most popular people at Penn High School. Coach Cates builds lasting relationships with students bringing out the best in them. He is a great motivator, making videos in 2021 to help students cope with the pandemic. Click to watch some of his videos on PHM’s TikTok account. At the start of the 2023-2024 school year, he was one of the teachers who spoke at the Freshman Class Meeting welcoming 9th graders to Penn. He got the biggest round of applause, even from the freshmen! Click to see the pictures.

Cates was chosen from four finalists. The award is given each year to a high school Strength Coach based on their achievements and contributions to their school community. Click here for more information on the award.

Coach Cates will be honored this summer at the national conference in Dallas as NHSSCA’s 2024 National Coach of the Year!

The 2024 FIN Mishawaka FRC District Event will once again be held at Penn High School March 1st – 3rd (open to the public on Saturday, March 2 and Sunday, March 3). The event will be held in Penn’s Main Arena. See below for a daily schedule:

Saturday, March 2

• 10:30 – 11:00 a.m., Opening Ceremonies
• 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m., Qualifying Matches (No matches during Lunch, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.)

Sunday, March 3

• 9:30 – 10:00 a.m., Opening Ceremonies
• 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., Qualifying Matches
• 12:30 – 1:00 p.m., Alliance Selections
• 1:00 – 2:00 p.m., Lunch
• 2:00 – 5:00 p.m., Playoff Matches & Awards Ceremony

Click here for the detailed daily schedule.

For elementary aged children, there’s also the Next Gen event from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. The event will be upstairs–above Penn’s Main Arena–in the Fitness Center. This event is open to all children, not just P-H-M students. Children have the opportunity to do hands-on STEM activities, even operate a robot! Click here for pictures from last year’s event.

This year’s game is CRESCENDO^SM presented by Haas; click here to view a video about the game. FIRST^© Robotics Competition teams will use their STEM skills and creative power to turn up the volume as they design, build, and program their robots for action-packed game play. Watch the game animation to inspire ideas.

During our 2023-2024 arts-inspired robotics season, FIRST^® IN SHOW^SM presented by Qualcomm, FIRST Robotics teams will celebrate the roles STEM skills play in the arts and design, and how these skills help build a world of endless possibilities for students. Click here to learn more about FIRST^® IN and the District event being held at Penn High School.

• Cyril Meacham – Gold
• Emma Clark – Silver Eric Rauschenberg – Gold WITH DISTINCTION
• Jackson Mead – Gold
• Justin Meacham – Gold WITH DISTINCTION 
• Lauren Brock – Gold 
• Lucas Robertson – Gold 
• Madison Raper – Gold WITH DISTINCTION 
• Mars Slavinskas – Gold 
• Robertson Barbershop Ensemble (Lucas Robertson, Locke Simpson, Justin Meacham, Carson Flynn) – Gold WITH DISTINCTION 

Penn’s Intermediate Jazz Ensemble and Advanced Jazz Ensemble excelled at the Bethel University Festival of Jazz on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024.

The Penn Advanced Jazz Ensemble won the “Top Band” award for the festival. Multiple outstanding soloists were recognized, including Aidan Wise on trumpet, Colin Carter on tenor sax, Keyin Hackett on bari sax, and Mahima Vinay on vocals.

Both groups were selected to perform at the Finale Concert featuring the top four bands from throughout the day.

Penn High School Teacher Danielle Black, an Early College Academy Leader & Dual Credit Speech teacher, has received the 3rd Annual President’s Award for Excellence in Dual Credit Instruction from Ivy Tech!

As defined by the IDOE, Dual Credit is defined by: courses in which high school students have the opportunity to earn both high school and college credits simultaneously. Dual Credit classes are an exceptional way for students to advance their academic achievement and save money by completing college classes while still in high school.

About the award:

“President’s Award recipients representing all nineteen Ivy Tech campuses are nominees for the 2024 Statewide Award for Excellence in Dual Credit Instruction, presented annually to honor Ivy Tech’s most outstanding dual credit instructor statewide … The President’s Award recognition is one of the most important awards for Ivy Tech, allowing us to recognize and honor our most treasured asset–the College’s outstanding faculty.”

Mrs. Black is one of 19 recipients, each representing all 19 Ivy Tech campuses. This makes her a nominee for the 2024 Statewide Award for Excellence in Dual Credit Instruction, presented annually to honor Ivy Tech’s most outstanding dual credit instructor statewide.

The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony in June.

About Mrs. Black:

“As the Early College Academy Leader, Danielle oversees 24 teachers from multiple content areas and levels of experience. She works closely with the (best) Ivy Tech College Connections Coach to ensure the individual goals of each of our students are met. Mrs. Black collaborates with the Leadership Team consistently, serving as a bridge between teachers and administration. She collaborates with other teacher leaders to develop and implement professional development to staff on a variety of topics, ranging from formative assessment and feedback to impactful questioning strategies. I get the pleasure of watching her act out what she teaches as she is thoughtful and intentional in curricular and non-curricular decision-making.” – Penn Associate Principal, Rachel Fry

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Penn High School principal Dr. Sean Galiher honored Seniors and Juniors who were named Academic Achievement Award winners for the 2023-2024 school year during a recognition ceremony at Penn Boys Basketball game on Tuesday, February 13, 2024.

Students earn the Academic Achievement Award for maintaining a GPA of 3.5 or better over four or six semesters, without receiving a D or an F. 

A total of 641 students earned the Academic Achievement Award in 2023-2024. Not all students were present.

A Photo Gallery featuring a few of the students who received their Academic letter or chevron is posted below.

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