Here at Penn High School, we are EXTREMELY proud of the talent and hard work of our Theater department as well as our Center for the Performing Arts.

In this video, students and staff discuss why they love theatre. They will also touch on how their involvement develops skills that they will carry on after they graduate high school.

From the teachers and students, to the actors to the technical staff, thousands of hours of work are put in over the course of a year to make sure each and every performance has the utmost display of professionalism.

During the 2022-23 school year, we put on a regional competition play in November and then the full length version of that play in February (“God’s Diary,” by Emily Claire Schmitt).

Every March we put on an annual Spring Musical. This year we had the pleasure to perform “Cinderella”. Not only was Cinderella performed to the public on 3 occasions, shorter performances were also held for elementary students from throughout our district.

In April of 2023, we will host a 10-Minute Student-Written Play Festival. For the student-produced play festival, 11 students are directing plays that 15 students wrote. There will be 34 students performing in these short plays with student technicians helping to run the show.

In addition to our paid staff, we have a leadership team in the form of a Drama Board. Our Drama Board consists of 9 student leaders who help to run the monthly Drama Club.

There have been over 80 actors performing on the Penn stage this year, with around 25 students actively working in tech and crew positions. 

While what you see and hear on the stage is important, a production wouldn’t be complete without a top-notch orchestral accompaniment.  Our CPA is equipped with a pit that allows musicians from our award-winning orchestra to accompany the stage productions.  

Further, we currently have 112 students enrolled in all of the Theatre classes offered at Penn High School: Theatre Arts, Advanced Theatre Arts, Advanced Acting, Technical Theatre, and Advanced Technical Theatre.

We are thrilled to share our student actors with such area groups as South Bend Civic Theatre, Premier Theatre, Art 4, SBCSC Summerfly, United Youth Theatre, Saint Mary’s College, and Acting Ensemble.

The department was also invited to go to see “West Side Story” at the Morris Performing Arts Center last October.

To keep track of our upcoming shows as well as to buy tickets, check out our page at Ticket Tracker.com!

Penn’s “Short Hair Because We Care” plans to hold a hair donation event for the Children With Hair Loss organization on Saturday, April 15, 2023,  in Penn High School’s cafeteria during the girls Lacrosse game from 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Anyone in the community can donate their hair, but the minimum is 8 inches of hair. Hair that is colored and permed is accepted. Local professional hair stylists will be donating their time to cut volunteers hair for free. Because this is for hair donation, the service provided is just a simple cut, no style.

If interested in donating take a look at our link tree: https://linktr.ee/shbwc and sign up on the Google form if you are interested.

Email shbwcphs@gmail.com with questions, and follow the group on Instagram at @shbwc_phs. 

Children With Hair Loss is a nonprofit organization that provides hair replacements at no cost to children or young adults facing hair loss. Whatever the cause, hair loss can have effects that go deeper than cosmetics. Providing this hair is how this organization gives back to the community. You can help us give back to your community and the children facing hair loss by donating your hair or simply spreading the word about the event to everyone! 

Penn High School principal Sean Galiher honored Seniors and Juniors who were named Academic Achievement Award winners for the 2022-2023 school year.

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

Check out the video and photo gallery below:

Penn’s DECA business club excelled at the state DECA competition in Indianapolis on March 5.

A total of 37 Penn students qualified for the International Career Development Competition in Orlando, Fla., April 22-25. Students in the Top 4 of their event qualify for Internationals.

Placing first at state for Penn were Chris Chen (Independent Business Plan); Anna Craig, Soha Jahangir, Zoya Turk (Innovation Plan); Faith Bayingana, Chiara Von Eschenbach, Anita Hartland (Integrated Marketing Campaign-Product); Kenna Kelsey, Taylor Little (Integrated Marketing Campaign-Service); Matthew Deahl Stanley Liew (Hospitality Services TDME). 

State results:

Business Services Operations Research: Chole Fischer, Ella Smoker 3rd place

Buying and Merchandising Operations Research: Michael Greenlee, Jude Roach 9th place

Sports and Entertainment Marketing Operations Research: Stanton Barnes, Calum Jessop, Wasi Rasul 2nd Place

Business Growth Plan: Emily Jin 4th place

Franchise Business Plan: Joel Bell, Aadil Qasim: 2nd Place. Jaden Shim, Jayden Wang, Felix Zhang 6th place

Independent Business Plan: Chris Chen 1st place. Elizabeth Eshowsky 4th place

Innovation Plan: Anna Craig, Soha Jahangir, Zoya Turk, 1st place. Amrit Kaur, Cameron Poznanski, Rhea Rakhra 3rd Place. Reese Clark, Elizabeth Huchko, Lillian Norris 6th place.

International Business Plan: Adam Ho, Ali Nasser, Ethan Rendell 5th place. Maria Goffinet, Olivia Nijim, Audrey Wise 6th place

Start-up Business Plan: Sarah Ahmed, Areej Arif, Jennifer Yang 2nd Place

Integrated Marketing Campaign: Larissa Evans, Alexis LeDonne 4th place. Lyla Sharpe, Sophie Sharpe, Angelina Smith 9th place.

Integrated Marketing Campaign-Product: Faith Bayingana, Chiara Von Eschenbach, Anita Hartland 1st Place. Zaina Arain, Avery Ferris, Lucy Salwin 4th place.

Integrated Marketing Campaign-Service: Kenna Kelsey, Taylor Little 1st Place. Mason Botka 3rd Place. Albert Lee, Anthony Wang 6th Place. Ishita Masetty 7th place. Owen Black, Connor Schmitt, David Son 10th place

Hotel and Lodging Management Series: Layla Berry 8th place

Human Resources Management Series: Lana Ealdama 8th place

Restaurant and Food Service Management Series: Ansar Fitwi 6th place

Buying and Merchandising TDME: Ryan Cloonan and Max Scheidler 3rd Place

Entrepreneurship TDME: Ben Doster and Will Tang 2nd Place

Hospitality Services TDME: Matthew Deahl Stanley Liew, 1st Place. 

Marketing Management TDME: Wesley Harper and Nicky Schnabel 2nd Place

Limited tickets are available for the Boys Basketball Semi-State on Saturday, March 18, 2023 at Michigan City.

Click the link for tickets: https://public.eventlink.com/tickets?t=30952

A sellout is expected.

No. 2 Penn (27-1) plays No. 3 Hammond Central (26-1) at 1 p.m. ET

Fort Wayne Wayne (21-4) plays No. 5 Kokomo (22-4) at 11 a.m. ET in the Semi-state opener.

The Championship Game is set for 8:30 p.m. ET, Saturday, March 18, 2023, at Michigan City.

Markus Burton is a University of Notre Dame Class of 2023 signee.

Get to know Markus Burton with this podcast. 

Click here to see the Markus Burton Photo Gallery posted below.

Burton finished his prolific high school career with 2,273 points – ranking him No. 20 on the all-time Indiana High School Boys Basketball Scoring Leaders List.

Burton is the first Boys Basketball player in the rich hoops history of St. Joseph County to surpass the 2,000-point mark, owning both the County and Penn High School all-time scoring records.

He led Penn in scoring (30.3 ppg), rebounding (5.7 rpg), assists (5.1) and steals (3.6).

Here is a highlight video of Markus Burton starring in a summer showcase with victories against the past two state champions, Indianapolis Cathedral and Carmel.

Here is a highlight video of Markus Burton rallying Penn from a 20-point deficit to a victory against No. 6 Zionsville this season.

Here is a WHME interview & highlights after Markus Burton led Penn to a victory against No. 1 (3-A) Marian. Burton set the all-time Penn career scoring record in that game.

Click here for a story/video of Burton becoming the all-time leading scorer for Penn High School Boys Basketball.

Burton also owns the Penn single-season scoring record with 908 points.

Worth noting:

•     Leads state in scoring 30.3 points a game
•     Leads Penn in scoring (30.3 ppg), rebounding (5.9 rpg), assists (5.1 apg) and steals (3.8 spg)
•     First scorer in St. Joseph County to reach 2,000 points
•     All-time leading scorer for Penn & St. Joseph County
•     IHSAA Sportsmanship Award winner
•     Penn 28-2 (ranked No. 2 in the state) in the 2022-2023 season
•     Scored in double-figures in 57 consecutive games
•     Career-high 47 points vs. South Bend Washington

To download a high res image of the pictures below, click on the image, and then click the “DOWNLOAD” button.

Penn High School hosted a Robotics competition on Saturday, March 4, and Sunday, March 5, 2023.

Penn Robotics Team 135 and Team 328 competed in the event.

A photo gallery is posted below.

Congrats to Penn Girls Basketball Coach Kristi Ulrich on being named head coach of the Indiana Girls Basketball All-Star Team.

Ulrich has a 312-50 record at Penn, and coached the Kingsmen to a state title in 2016.

The All-Star Girls-Boys Teams play a doubleheader against Kentucky set for Owensboro, Ky. (June 9) & at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis (June 10).

Mahima Vinay, junior, was announced on Thursday as one of 4 Gold Winners in the state in the Indiana Music Educators Association 2022 Composition Competition. Her piece “Anadromous Salmon” for String Quartet won along with two other high school compositions and 1 collegiate composition.

The Penn Orchestra will be performing her piece at our Spring Concert on April 19 and awarding her the IMEA plaque. Her piece is also featured on the IMEA Composition Competition website: https://imea.memberclicks.net/composition-competition-winners-2022

She also won a Silver rating for her piano piece, “The Night’s Rolling Waves”.

If you are interested, please email Varsity Coach Rita Szweda at rszweda@phm.k12.in.us to be added to the tryout list and provided with tryout information.