Freshmen Frenzy Photo Gallery 8.19.2022

Penn High School celebrated the start of the high school journey for the Class of 2026  with the Freshmen Frenzy on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022.

A Photo Gallery is posted below.

Technovation 2022 coming August 2 to Penn High School

Technovation: Hooked on Technology

 

WHAT:          Summer Learning Conference
WHEN:         August 2, 2022 from 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
WHERE:       Penn High School
                    56100 Bittersweet Rd.

 

Technovation is part of the conference series “Summer of Learning” hosted by the Indiana Department of Education. Click for more details about the series. This event is open to ANY EDUCATIONAL STAFF MEMBER IN INDIANA.

 

THINGS TO KNOW:

  • Click here to register. This event is FREE to P-H-M teachers. Please contact Technology at (574) 254-2829 for details.
  • Lunch will be Italian style dishes provided by Automated Data Systems and catered by SweetLou’s in Westville, IN
  • Snacks and beverages provided by our partners at Luma Audio & Visual
  • PGP points will be provided for each session attended.
  • Click to see the full list of sessions available
  • Click for more details about the conference and the full list of speakers on the P-H-M Technovation 2022 website
  • Find us on Twitter: @phmtech or hashtag #Technovate

 

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Carl HookerTechnovation 2022 is proud to announce that Carl Hooker will be our keynote speaker this year. Mr. Hooker has been a part of a strong educational shift with technology integration since becoming an educator.  From his start as a teacher to his role as a district technology leader, he’s always had one common belief – that kids need to drive their own learning. Carl has been an educator for the past 21 years. He has held a variety of positions in multiple districts from 1st grade teacher to Virtualization Coordinator. Mr. Hooker has published a 6 part book series titled “Mobile Learning Mindset” and has recently published a new book “Ready, Set Fail!” Aside from his speaking and consulting work, Carl also works as an influencer and advisor for multiple Ed Tech start-up companies. He’s also a national advisor for the Future Ready Schools Initiative. He blogs regularly at HookEDonInnovation.com and has written guest blogs for the Huffington Post and Edutopia.

 

 

 

Thank you to our Sponsors:

  Sweet Lou  

Luma Audio & Video

Penn Walk-Around set for Saturday, Aug. 13

The Annual Penn High School Walk-Around will be held from 9 a.m.-noon on Saturday, Aug. 13.

Students and parents are welcome to come to Penn High School and find their classrooms, check out extra-curricular opportunities, and learn their way around the building.

Please bring your printed class schedules with you. You can access your schedules via Skyward Family Access to either print or pull up on your cell phone. 

Check your school e-mail or Penn High School social media (Twitter: @PennPride365 and Facebook: @PennHighSchool) for updates.

Click here for the Building Map.

Update: Indiana no longer requires work permits for minor employees

The State of Indiana is creating an Employer Registration system for any employer that employs five (5) or more minors.

Effective 7/1/2021, Indiana will no longer require work permits for minor employees. Employers will no longer be required to complete the “Intent to Employ” form, and schools will no longer issue work permits.

Employers will be responsible for maintaining an accurate list of all minor employees. If an employer has four (4) or fewer minor employees, registration will not be required. This registration does not have any impact on the work hour requirements for minors. All employers must still comply with the Teen Work Hour Restrictions.

To read more about work permits and other services we offer please click this link.

 

Penn Teachers Buy House Built by Penn Students

Maybe most people would not have a whole lot of confidence in buying a house that was built by high school students, but Penn’s Building & Trades program has 53 years of experience building quality homes … that’s right, Penn students have been building homes for commercial sale since 1969!  A total of 28 Penn students (19 working the a.m. class shift and 9 working the p.m. class shift) collaborated to build this year’s house in the Newbury Point Subdivision. 
 
Penn FACS Teacher Kylee Wetzel and Penn PE/Health Teacher and Track Coach Chad Wetzel bought this year’s home. As the 2021-22 school year was winding down, the Wetzel’s were in high gear moving into their brand new 5 bedroom, 3 bathroom house with their three young children and dog. We visited with the Wetzel family in early summer as they were starting to get settled into their new home to find out more about the process of building their home. Click to see the full photo gallery below.
 
As Penn teachers, they were familiar with the program. They also knew many of previous Building & Trades homeowners. They decided to buy the home through the program two years ago, but due to COVID, they decided to wait until this school year.
 
Because the Wetzels prebought the home, they had the opportunity to be involved in the layout and design concept of the house working with Building and Trades Teacher Les Crooks from the very beginning. They really wanted the four main bedrooms on the main floor in a ranch style home. They couldn’t find a house with that layout, so they took the challenge to Penn Building & Trades. Kylee actually sketched the layout on a legal pad and Mr. Crooks sent it off to the architect to have blueprints made. They continued this process until the Wetzels were happy. The house also features a finished basement and a mother-in-law suite. The Wetzels say this is their forever home and they designed the home with retirement and empty nesting in mind.  
Being able to provide Penn students with a project based learning experience was an added bonus for Kylee and Chad, two teachers themselves. “We would 100% recommend and truly enjoyed working with Les and the students. We got to know them quite well and some even voluntarily helped us more,” said Kylee.
    
Interested in buying a Penn Building & Trades home, you might be in luck. For the 2021-22 school year, the program is supposed to build two home!. If you are interested, please contact Les Crooks at lcrooks [at] phm.k12.in.us ().

The Wetzels are THRILLED with their new home. Click below to see all the images of the finished product in the photo gallery below.

Building & Trades Teacher Les Crooks participates in Race Across America

Penn High School Building & Trades Instructor Les Crooks is in Day 9 of 12 biking his way across America in the Race Across America. The race started in Oceanside, California on Tuesday, June 14 and finishes in Annapolis, MD.

The extreme bike race is more than 3,000 miles, across 12 states, climbing over 170,000 vertical ft. through 3 major mountain ranges & across multiple deserts!!!

Today (Wednesday, June 22) Mr. Crooks crossed the “Mighty Mississippi” River around Noon ET and is making his way through southern Illinois and will pass through the Hoosier state sometime late evening on his trek to Maryland. Click to watch a YouTube video interview with Mr. Crooks about crossing the Mississippi River. Click to watch a story that aired on WNDU. 

There are few ways you can track Mr. Crooks’ progress and cheer him on virtually :

2022 Commencement Photos and Videos

On Monday, June 6th, 2022, Penn High School held our 63rd Commencement at the University of Notre Dame. The Class of 2022 included 833 students, and approximately 750 participated in the Commencement Ceremony. It was a wonderful time to celebrate the hard work and accomplishments of ALL of our graduates.

The full ceremony was recorded and has been archived on the Penn Harris Madison YouTube channel:

In addition to the fully produced program, we set up a camera to focus only on the students walking across the stage. If you want to see your graduate walk again, you can fast forward to their name in the alphabet and watch them in the video is below:

The official photos of every graduate were taken by Inter-State Photography and are available for purchase. Photos can be accessed using the following link and password:

Unofficial photos were taken by a Penn staff photographer and have been shared on social media. A link to the unofficial photos is below:

We have also uploaded the unofficial photos to the photo gallery below.

Photos may be downloaded free of charge.

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Penn’s Early College Academy Chosen to be a UCAN School Mentor

The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) today announced the launch of the state’s Urban College Acceleration Network (UCAN), a new partnership between urban Indiana schools with the mission of increasing students’ access to postsecondary courses through the Early College High School Program.

UCAN connects established Early College High Schools and urban schools that are seeking to become Early College High Schools. The model establishes the Early College High Schools as mentors for their Partner Schools, providing the Partner Schools with guidance and support as they work to accelerate their path toward becoming an Early College High School. Through UCAN, Partner Schools will have access to coaching and support for Early College coursework, along with educator professional development at no cost.

Penn High School’s Early College Academy was chosen, along with 3 other schools in Indiana, to help the Partner Schools build a model that empowers students to earn postsecondary credits alongside their high school diploma through dual credit opportunities. The Early College High School program, led by the University of Indianapolis’ Center of Excellence in Leadership and Learning (CELL) is providing professional development and operational support to UCAN schools. 

UCAN Mentor Schools:

  • Penn High School, St. Joseph County
  • Ben Davis University High School, Marion County
  • Hobart High School, Lake County
  • Muncie Central High School, Delaware County 

UCAN Partner Schools:

  • Anderson High School, Madison County
  • Arsenal Tech High School, Marion County
  • Concord High School, Elkhart County
  • Crispus Attucks High School, Marion County
  • Goshen High School, Elkhart County
  • Hammond Central High School, Lake County
  • Herron High School and Riverside High School, Marion County
  • Irvington Preparatory Academy, Marion County
  • Morton High School, Lake County
  • Terre Haute North Vigo High School, Vigo County
  • Terre Haute South Vigo High School, Vigo County
  • West Side Leadership Academy, Lake County

“As we look forward to welcoming our tenth cohort of EC students in the Fall,” said Associate Principal Rachel Fry. “We also pause to celebrate over $10M dollars in college tuition saved by EC families to date! While this is an incredible benefit to families, students also thrive due to the Smaller Learning Community environment, teachers that loop with students, field trip experiences to college campuses and more, and leadership opportunities in our school and community.” 

UCAN follows and expands on the model of the similar successful rural school initiative, the Rural Early College Network (RECN), which is now in its third year of operation. Following this model, four geographically diverse urban Early College High Schools were selected to serve as UCAN Mentor Schools, and additional urban schools from across the state were given the opportunity to apply to serve as Partner Schools.

This program will be supported with $4.1 million in funding through the third round of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund.

In 2022, Penn’s Early College Academy was re-endorsed as an “Early College High School” by (CELL) at the University of Indianapolis. The Academy was first endorsed in 2019; it is regarded as an exemplar for other high schools across Indiana implementing an Early College program. The 8 EC Core Principles (as outlined by CELL) are: 

  • Targeted Student Population
  • Curriculum & Plan of Study
  • College-Going Culture
  • Rigorous Instruction
  • Supports for Student Success
  • Collaboration & Partnerships
  • Leadership & Staffing
  • Data Collection, Analysis, and Use

“We know that achievement gaps persist in reading, math, and educational attainment among Indiana’s racially and ethnically diverse, low-income, special education and English language learner students – gaps that were exacerbated by the pandemic,” said Dr. Katie Jenner, Indiana Secretary of Education. “I’m thrilled that through the UCAN partnership, many of our urban schools will come together to leverage their collective knowledge and experience to help close these gaps and expand pathway opportunities for every student to succeed.”

Class of 2022 Commencement Information

Commencement Livestream: penn.phmschools.org/2022PennGraduation

 

We are happy to once again be able to hold Commencement at the University of Notre Dame’s Purcell Pavilion. There is no ticket requirement—meaning families are not limited on the amount of attendees. 

More than 800 members of the Class of 2022 will graduate Monday, June 6 at 7:00 p.m. Click here for the most up-to-date senior information emailed out on Monday, May 23. Click here to read the comprehensive list of senior information mailed to homes in April.

Senior Recognition Night (students receiving honors and awards have already received their invitations) was held Tuesday, May 10. Click here for a recap of all the senior awards handed out.

A livestream of Commencement will again be provided to friends  and family not in attendance. All Families have to do is return to this webpage on Penn’s website, https://penn.phmschools.org/2022PennGraduation, Monday, June 6 at 7:00 p.m. The placeholder graphic will be replaced by the embedded livestream from YouTube.

Penn students illustrate books written by Mary Frank students

P-H-M teachers look for opportunities to give their students experiential learning experiences. Through project-based learning students get “Rigor, Relevance, & Relationships.” That’s just what Penn Graphic Arts teacher Miss Alex Dunfee had in mind when she reached out to Mary Frank 3rd grade teacher Ms. Lindsay Helman.

Ms. Helman students were practicing narrative story telling and had written longer format stories. Miss Dunfee thought it would be good experience for her students to illustrate the 3rd graders’ books using their artistic skills. Through a Penn PTO grant, Miss Dunfee was able to get the books “published” and today (Friday, May 27) the Penn artists delivered the books to the Mary Frank authors.

Take a look at the photo gallery below at the amazing work created as a part of this collaboration …