The state of Indiana replaced ISTEP testing with the school day SAT as a measure of accountability at the high school level. All 11th-grade students will take the school-day SAT Exam on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

Attendance for the test at Penn High School is extremely important. A qualifying score on the SAT satisfies one of three graduation pathway requirements for high school students, and can lead to merit scholarships for trade schools, community colleges, four-year colleges/universities, and more. We want our students to perform well in order to experience these benefits for their future endeavors. Please review the logistical details below for the modified day on Wednesday, March 1, 2023. A light breakfast will be provided for all students prior to testing.

Students in Grades 9, 10, and 12:

This will be an e-Learning day. Seniors who attend programs such as the EACC, Building Trades, Cadet teaching, & etc. should report to them at their regular time.

Students in Grade 11:

All Juniors should report to Penn High School for testing. Juniors who attend the EACC, Building Trades, Cadet Teaching, etc. will be excused from those programs in order to test.

SAT School Day Schedule for ALL JUNIORS:

• 8–8:25 a.m.: Students report to assigned test room
• 8:25-9 a.m.: Test Instructions, Collection of electronic devices
• 9–10:05 a.m.: Section 1 – Reading Test (65 minutes)
• 10:05–10:15 a.m.: 10 Minute Break – Snack time
• 10:20–10:55 a.m.: Section 2 – Writing & Language Test (35 minutes)
• 11–11:25 a.m.: Section 3 – Math Test – No Calculator (25 minutes)
• 11:25–11:30 a.m.: 5 minute Break
• 11:35 a.m.–12:30 p.m.: Section 4 – Math Test – with Calculator (55 minutes)
• 12:30 – 1 p.m.: Test Material Collection
• 1 p.m.: Dismissal for students whose parents have completed the Google Form that was emailed to parents/guardians
• 1-1:30 p.m.: Lunch
• 1:35 – 3:17 p.m.: Study Hall

Please be aware that students who have extended time accommodations for testing will have a longer test day and finish testing at approximately 2:30 p.m. The school will provide a sack lunch for these students.

If you have questions about this schedule or need to request an alternate test date, please contact Mr. Hall in the Testing Office. He can be reached via email at dhall@phm.k12.in.us or by phone at 574-258-9507. Make up dates are established by the IDOE and are currently planned for March 2-3, and April 12-13, 2023.

If you are the parent of a junior who will be taking the SAT on March 1, please be aware of the following:

1. The SAT comes with a Student Questionnaire that includes demographic questions and the opportunity to send student scores to colleges. One item is required while all other items are optional. Penn High School asks that parents read and complete this important Consent Form by Friday, Feb. 17, which will allow your student to participate in the entire questionnaire.
2. If you wish for your student to be dismissed at the completion of testing, please complete the Early Release Form that was emailed to parents/guardians. Standard time students will be dismissed at 1 p.m. at the earliest. Extended time students may be dismissed at 2:40 at the earliest.

A photo gallery of the Jazz Band rehearsal for the Evening of Jazz concert at St. Mark’s Church on Feb. 10, 2023, is below. The event is sold out.

Friday, January 20, 2023 will go down in “Penn History Books.” It was a sell-out crowd at the Palace, all there to for two reasons:

1. to see the Kingsmen (No. 2 in 4A) beat rival, No. 1 (Class 3-A) ranked Marian; and
2. to see senior point guard Markus Burton beat Penn’s All-time Scoring Record.

The atmosphere was electrifying! Watch the video below of the starting line up.

The anticipation had been building for a few weeks as Markus was hitting bucket after bucket, averaging  29.7 points a game (the State leader according to MaxPreps). And Markus and his fellow Kingsmen teammates lived up to the hype!

Going into the game, the Notre Dame commit needed just 11 points to tie (12 to break) Noah Applegate’s All-time Scoring Record of 1,709 points set in 2019 (the previous scoring record of 1,413 points set in 1964 by Keith Berkey). The packed student section, a couple hundred students deep, were on the their feet from before the beginning of the game anxiously counting down each shot Markus made until he broke the record. The students erupted in cheers as Markus came closer and closer to breaking the record with each shot. 

Finally the big moment happened in the second quarter. Markus stole the ball, drove the court and swooped in for a lay-up for the record-setting basket giving him points 11 and 12 pushing him into the Penn Athletic record books as Penn’s All-time Scoring Leader. Click the image below to watch the video of the record-breaking shot.

After that, the Palace (at least Penn fans) took a collective sigh of relief—for at least that milestone portion of the game. The stakes were still high. Coach Rhodes, the senior Kingsmen players, heck all the players, students, parents, and Penn fans wanted to beat Marian, who have beaten Penn the last eight times. All of Kingsmen Nation wanted the win, and the Kingsmen didn’t disappoint.

The Kingsmen took command early and kept up the attack. Markus proved once again why he’s a top candidate for Indy Star’s Mr. Basketball! Markus eventually racked up a total of 32 points, five assists and four steals, finishing the January 20^th game with a  total of 1,730 points.

Trey Miller scored 11 points for the Kingsmen against Marian.

Joe Smith scored eight points and had five assists.

Dominic Bonner scored six points, Joey Garwood scored five points.

Penn outrebounded Marian 32-13 and owned an 11-2 edge in second-chance points.

Penn pounced on Marian early, taking a 16-7 lead after the first quarter. Penn’s biggest lead was a 17-point margin, 53-36.

PENN 66: Joey Garwood 5, Markus Burton 32, Joe Smith 8, Josh Gatete 2, Dylan Derda 2, Trey Miller 11, Dominic Bonner 6, Ethan Good 0, Mookie Ward 0, Maverick Brown 0.

Marian 52: Deaglan Sullivan 15, Dareon Thornton 7, Paxan Sullivan 0, Zion Rhoades 0, William Oweens 10, Jackson Price 11, Jackson Horvath 0, Ben Warnell 2, Thomas Murphy 0, Jordan Maust 0, Grant Mishler 0, Elias Norgaard 7.

PENN             16        15        22        13 – 66

Marian            7          15        16        14 – 52

Three-pointers: PENN 7 (Markus Burton 3, Trey Miller 2, Joey Garwood 1, Joe Smith 1), Marian 4 (Price 3, Thornton 1).

Penn’s student section went wild, albeit somewhat constrained. The students held off storming the court until Penn Principal Sean Galiher gave the students the final OK. Once on the court, the students celebrated with the each other and the team, hoisting Markus onto their shoulders chanting MVP, MVP, MVP! Watch the videos below of the different perspectives of this memorable night.

Click the image below to watch the aerial view of the students storming the court.

So if you missed this monumental night, don’t despair you’ll probably get at least another chance, maybe a couple … Markus isn’t done yet! After Penn’s win over St. Joseph Tuesday, Jan. 24 (where he was recognized with his parent’s before the start of the game as Penn’s new All-time Leading Scorer), Markus now sits at 1,809 points!

Markus is on track now to become All-time Leading Scorer for St. Joseph County beating out his soon-to-be Notre Dame teammate, former St. Joseph player J.R. Konieczny. His record of 1,996 points was set between 2017-2021. Markus is 188 points away from breaking this record, and 191 points shy of the 2,000-mark, which has never been achieved by a St. Joseph County Boys Basketball Player—that includes athletes selected in last year’s NBA Draft, Jaden Ivey (Pistons) and Blake Wesley (Spurs).

At his current pace and averaging 29.7 points a game, it’s very possible Markus could set both records at Elkhart (Feb. 17), or at home against Mishawaka (Feb. 21). 

It could happen sooner, Markus scored 44 points on Jan. 24^th against St. Joe, Penn winning 86-69. That shooting record just projected Markus into first in the state in scoring.

Penn students and fans, you’ll want to make sure to catch as many games as you can if you want to continue to watch history! And hopefully, Markus Burton will become Penn’s first Mr. Basketball and the second in South Bend area’s history. Dave Magley, LaSalle High School, won in 1978, who went on to play for Kansas and was a 2^nd round draft pick in 1982 for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Penn-Harris-Madison schools are focused on continuous academic improvement that results in academic success for all students.

Standardized testing, or summative assessment, is one measure of academic success, but it is not the only measure.

In pursuit of providing more comprehensive analysis and to expand upon the data provided by state standardized tests, the Indiana Department of Education publicly launched this week (Tuesday, December 13, 2022) the first iteration of the Indiana Graduates Prepared to Succeed dashboard, or Indiana GPS (click here to view the State Indiana profile).

The description of the Indiana GPS dashboard on the IDOE website states “Together, our mission is to empower Indiana’s educators, families, communities, and employers with a learner-centered, future-focused dashboard that displays how our students are building the necessary knowledge and skills—in all grades and in all schools— through the Indiana Graduates Prepared to Succeed dashboard, or Indiana GPS.”

The IDOE’s goal is to support Indiana’s goal to educate and graduate Hoosier students who can compete in the global economy. P-H-M supports this goal. Students whether they are going on into higher education, directly into the workforce or enlisting in our nation’s military must be prepared to be successful in life beyond high school. Strong and valuable education of today’s youth results in a knowledgeable and skilled adult Indiana workforce for tomorrow.

A student’s access to early education is an essential first step in their academic and overall development. Measuring kindergarten readiness, as well as a student’s PreK-2 literacy progress can provide key indicators of future success across the K-12 continuum.

We know that effective literacy skills play a vital role in helping students gain a deeper understanding of the world, explore topics in-depth, and seek credible information. At Penn-Harris-Madison, we have a well-articulated approach to teaching literacy based on the five critical pillars: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. 

All of these components woven together help create a skilled reader. Our daily literacy block incorporates whole-group instruction, small-group (leveled) instruction, explicit phonics instruction, and vocabulary building. 

Our teachers have been trained in order to deliver high-quality instruction that is supported through curriculum resources to meet the needs of all learners. Teachers are in regular contact with parents regarding their student’s progress and instructional goals.

At the elementary level, a couple of the indicators the GPS dashboard measures are early literacy and math growth. See some of P-H-M’s highlights are below; click here to view the full P-H-M GPS profile.

Early Literacy Measures

• Percentage of PHM 3rd graders showing proficiency on IREAD-3: 88.3%
  • • State Goal: 95% by 2027
    • Current State Status: 81.6%, 1 out of every 5 third graders in Indiana is not proficient in key literacy skills

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? 
Students who pass the IREAD-3 assessment by grade three are roughly 35% more likely to graduate high school (as referenced on the GPS information webpage).

Math Growth

• Percentage of PHM 6th graders meeting their individual growth targets on the math ILEARN: 41.9%
  • State Goal: 45.8% by 2030
  • Current State Status: 34.1% of Indiana sixth graders are meeting their math growth goals

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
Early mathematics instruction focuses on concrete concepts before transitioning to more complex ideas after grade six. Students who are meeting growth goals at this critical juncture have a leg up on future math and science learning.

Graduation Pathways Completion

While still in its first iteration, the goal of the GPS is to examine Indiana high school’s graduation and post-graduation data with the goal to ultimately measure long-term success of each Hoosier.

• Percentage of Penn Students who complete graduation requirements: 97.3%
  • State Goal: 95% by 2030
  • Current State Status: 86.4% of Indiana students complete their graduation requirements

• Percentage of Penn Seniors who completed advanced coursework (Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, or Dual Credit) during high school: 75.4%
  • Current State Status: 59.5% of Indiana students complete advanced coursework

• Percentage of Penn Seniors earning Indiana Diplomas above a General designation (Core 40 or higher): 98.3%
  • Current State Status: 90.1% of Indiana students earn Core 40 diplomas or higher

• Percentage of Penn Seniors earning high quality college and career credentials: 11.3%.
  Members of the Class of 2021 who earned either an Indiana College Core (ICC) or an Associates Degree was 11.3%–the graduates who completed one or two years of college were members of Penn’s Early College Academy. In 2021, Penn High School ranked FIRST in the state with the highest number of students earning the Indiana College Core (ICC)! Beginning in the 2023-2024 school year, non-Early College students will also be able to pursue an ICC Certificate.
  • State Goal: 60% by 2030
  • Current State Status: 5% of Indiana students earn a college or career credential before graduation, opening doors of future opportunity

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
Increased education levels are positively correlated to labor participation, wages, and overall net worth.

COMING SOON:

The second iteration of the Indiana GPS dashboard – which will display all local data, including longitudinal and disaggregated data – is coming soon. Later in 2023, schools will be able to use the dashboard to view authenticated student-level data (not available to the public). 

• PreK-Grade 2 Literacy – Percentage of PreK-Grade 2 students demonstrating progress in essential early reading skills from one year to the next.
• Kindergarten Readiness – Percentage of students demonstrating the skills necessary to be considered ready to start kindergarten.
• Employment & Enrollment – Percentage of high school graduates employed or enrolled 1 year after their expected graduation year. Goal TBD.

Click here to learn more about the Indiana Graduates Prepared to Succeed dashboard.

Click here to view the full P-H-M GPS profile (scroll to the bottom of the webpage to find links to all 15 P-H-M schools–11 elementary schools, 3 middle schools, and Penn High School).

Teachers within the P-H-M School corporation come from all walks of life. While some come straight out of college, others transition to teaching after having worked in other career fields. 

First year Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) teacher Becky Wachs worked as a certified child life specialist (CCLS) at Beacon Children’s Hospital for fifteen years.

Child life specialists are liaisons between the medical personnel and the families. They do everything from playing with child patients to explaining complex medical procedures in a way that children and their families can understand.

Ms. Wachs heard from a current child life specialist at Beacon Children’s Hospital, Rileigh Zickafoose, CCLS, that they were looking for a small MRI Machine that could be used while talking to their children.

Knowing that Penn High School has extensive manufacturing capabilities, Ms. Wachs began to ask around and was eventually put in touch with Technology & Project Lead the Way teacher Tara Pieters.

Ms. Pieters knew that her students had what it took to create this “barbie-sized” MRI Machine.

Penn senior Hadley Jessop has been working with 3D Printers since he was a Freshman, when he was introduced to them in Ms. Pieters class.

Hadley began researching MRI Machines and created a 3D model on the computer from scratch. With Ms. Pieters help, they sent the file to the 3D printer and got to work printing out the components.

The final print will be an invaluable tool in easing fears of children and their families.

Hadley has a desire to get into manufacturing so he can create products that will help people, and this was a great start. Watch the video below for the full story!

So much of what needs to be examined in the field of Biology needs to be examined under a microscope. While the first microscope was invented around 1590, microscope technology has been evolving ever since. 

Sara Cole, the director of Integrated imaging facility at the University of Notre Dame, brought a Keyence all in one fluorescent microscope to our Biology students.

The Keyence microscope contains automated high-resolution technologies. It is a unique microscope because it is more compact and can automatically detect samples and capture images of various specimens.

It can do plates and slides for live cell imaging as well. The system works by using various wavelengths of lasers that excite certain wavelengths of light. Fluorescent microscopy is important in determining location of many types of proteins or structures inside a cell. This microscope can also do light microscopy.

Sara Cole gave a brief presentation on different microscopes available at Notre Dame before giving students a hands on demonstration of the Keyence all in one fluorescent microscope.

This is an exciting opportunity for the students to see new tools in biotechnology and real research examples that were created in our area.

By bringing new biotechnology available to researchers around the world, students can see the advancements these new tools can provide to scientific research. 

This experience fits Penn’s vision to prepare students for careers in the 21st century by giving students a head start in understanding bioengineering, biotechnology, Medicine, and the Biological sciences. We are relying on science, computers, and technology more than we ever have before in our history. The number of jobs in these fields is only increasing and if we can help our students see what is actually used in the field of science it might help them decide if they would like to pursue a career in these fields. 

 To download high-resolution jpg files from the photo gallery below, just simply click the “DOWNLOAD” button on the bottom right-hand corner of the photo while viewing it in the Photo Gallery function. We are happy to provide this service to you, free of charge!

On-line shopping is available to purchase Kingsmen spirit gear through the Penn High School Bookstore.

Visit the url https://shop.game-one.com/indiana/mishawaka/penn-kingsmen to make purchases.

Shop code: kingsmen

A Photo Gallery of select items is below.

Penn’s Debate Team placed first in an Indiana Speech & Debate Association Tournament held Saturday, December 3, 2022 at Penn High School.

Penn beat out Chesteron, Munster and Crown Point.

Debate Coach Mr. Jeremy Starkweather was named National Speech & Debate Association Diamond Coach on November 30. First Diamond Coaches receive the degree of merit for coaching a minimum of five years, and earned 15,000 points. Each point represents dedicated coaching and hours of practice, revision, and growth for students.

Penn results: 

• Novice Lincoln Douglas Debate: 5th Place Rishita Maheshwaram
• Novice Public Forum Debate: 1st Matt Voor and Max Scheidler
• Novice Student Congress: 6th Place Avison Collier, 5th Place Landon Graves, 4th Place Autumn Weimer, 3rd Place Jason Mbianda, 1st Place Ishita Masetty
• Varsity Lincoln Douglas: 8th Place Olivia Bulger, 7th Place Sarah Rooney, 5th Place Alex Wagler, 3rd Akul Bhambhani, 1st Place Chris Chen
• Varsity Policy Debate: 5th Place Braden Fox and Bray Sappenfield; 1st Place Sarah Ahmed and Lynn Chung
• Varsity Public Forum: 7th Place Alina Luck and Jaanavi Kaushik; 6th Place Malak Shamkhi and Aasmaa Shamkhi; 4th Place Noah Schafer and Bohdan Kolomeiiets; 2nd Place Noah Shafer and Stanley Liew
• Varsity Student Congress: 4th Place Janet Yu; 1st Place Tasneem Ahmed
• World Schools Debate: 5th Place Luke Drzewiecki, Yiheng Lu, Ben Edwards, Logan Chodzinski, and Keegan Fall; 3rd Place Max LaFleur, Jacob Kyle, Mira Yaradi, Ishita Awasthi, and Benjamin Galiher

CONGRATULATIONS to Penn Debate & Coach Starkweather!