Unified Track and Field is the newest Indiana High School Athletic Association sport in the Champions Together format. It is partnered with Special Olympics.

Unified Track and Field pairs students with and without intellectual disabilities who have the opportunity to compete for a varsity sport.

This is Penn High School's inaugural season. The team qualified for Regionals and will compete in Kokomo on Saturday, May 25.

Get an inside look at what this first season has been like as told by Head Coach Bennett Blazo, the student-athletes and their partners … 

Expanding students horizons and exposing them to a world of opportunities is the goal of all educators. When a student takes what they’ve learned in school to truly explore this new world of opportunity, the possibilities are endless.

World Languages Academy student Hallie Kulikowski has been studying French at Penn for four years. Now that she’s graduating, she’s decided not only to continue to study French in college, but to do so in France!

Hear how Hallie hopes to make a difference in the world by using both her English and French linguistic skills …

Click here to watch all the Class of 2019 Graduate Profiles as part of our “Excellence Happens Here” campaign.

Penn High School hosted a Spring 2019 NCAA/NAIA Signing Day Ceremony on Wednesday, May 15, for 12 Kingsmen Student-Athletes who will continue their academic and athletic careers at the collegiate level.

Click here for details.

Penn High School’s Girls Tennis Team won the 2019 Sectional Championship by defeating Mishawaka, 5-0, and Marian, 5-0.

Coach Eric Bowers’ Kingsmen have won 13 consecutive Sectional crowns, and 26 in Program history.

A Photo Gallery of the match against Mishawaka is posted below.

Academics and extracurricular activities can be a lot to juggle sometimes. That’s when students need the support of their teachers and parents the most. Helping our students reach their end goals is what Penn teachers do best.

As part of our Excellence Happens Here series leading up to Commencement on June 7, we're introducing you to some of the graduates from the Class of 2019. Meet Management & Business Academy student Sophia Davidson, she got the help she needed most from her Accounting Teacher Mrs. Jan Hank. The help she got from Mrs. Hank taught her a valuable lesson … help others, and that’s what Sophia enjoys doing most. She was actually one of eight graduates who was honored earlier this week (on Tuesday, May 14) during Senior Recognition Night. She was awarded with the Principal’s Citizenship and Service Award for in Principal Galiher’s words, “making good things happen at Penn!” Click to see the full list of students honored at Senior Recognition Night.

Now Sophia’s plan after graduation is to continue paying it forward. Watch and see how she plans on doing that … 

Click here to watch all the Class of 2019 Graduate Profiles as part of our “Excellence Happens Here” campaign.

Penn High School Principal Sean Galiher announced that 18 students have earned Valedictorian honors for the Class of 2019.

Galiher expressed his pride at the accomplishments of the Valedictorians, and commended them for their commitment to pursuing academic excellence.

Penn’s Graduation Ceremony for the Class of 2017 will be held on Friday, June 7, 2019, at 7 p.m., at the University of Notre Dame’s Purcell Pavilion. Click here for graduation information.

AMMAAR BASHER

Parents: Parveen and Abul Basher.

Elementary School: The Montessori Academy at Edison Lakes. 

Middle School: The Montessori Academy at Edison Lakes.

College plans: Indiana University – Bloomington.

Career plans: Neuroscience. Attend medical school and become a doctor.

Activities, Honors, Team Memberships: AP Scholar with Distinction, National Merit Commended Scholar, National Honor Society, Key Club, Model U.N., Quiz Bowl, Volunteer at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center.

AMY BERNARD

Parents: Nisha and Rex Bernard.

Elementary School: Northpoint. 

Middle School: Discovery.

College plans: The University of Notre Dame.

Career plans: Preprofessional Science. Dentistry.

Activities, Honors, Team Memberships: AP Scholar with Distinction, English Academic Super Bowl Captain, National Honor Society Secretary, Orchestra, National Merit Scholar Finalist, Kingsmen Tutor, Freshmen Mentor, Kingsmen Court, Key Club, TEAMS, Volunteer at St. Joseph Hospital, Mathnasium instructor.

ELLA BOARDLEY

Parents: Amy and Michael Boardley.

Elementary School: Prairie VIsta. 

Middle School: Schmucker.

College plans: Ball State University.

Career plans: Study Bio-Chemistry with a Pre-Med track. Become a Pediatric Surgeon and work with Doctors Without Boarders.

Activities, Honors, Team Memberships: National Honor Society, Freshmen Mentor Executive Board, Key Club, Handwritten Hearts, Kingsmen Against Cancer, Penn Medical Club, National Merit Commended Scholar, Hospital Volunteer.

CHARLOTTE CHANG

Parents: Elisa Huang and Kevin Chang.

Elementary School: Northpoint.

Middle School: Discovery.

College plans: Georgia Tech.

Career plans: Computer Engineering.

Activities, Honors, Team Memberships: Robotics, Math Academic Super Bowl, National Honor Society, Key Club, Mathnasium Instructor, Hospital Volunteer.

XI CHEN

Parents: Dan Wie and Yuquan Chen

Elementary School: Walt Disney/Northpoint.

Middle School: Discovery.

College plans: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Career plans: Computer Science and Molecular Biology.

Activities, Honors, Team Memberships: Summer Science Program, TEAMS, South Bend Youth Symphony Orchestra, Girls Who Code, Kingsmen Court, Model U.N., National Honor Society.

SIDDHARTH DAS

Parents: Monali and Promit Das.

Elementary School: Stanley Clark.

Middle School: Discovery.

College plans: Indiana University – Bloomington.

Career plans: Biology.

Activities, Honors, Team Memberships: Tennis Captain, TEAMS Captain, Freshmen Mentor Executive, Model U.N., Dance Marathon, Robotics.

LUCAS JERZAK

Parents: Traci and Robert Jerzak.

Elementary School: Elsie Rogers. 

Middle School: Schmucker.

College plans: Indiana University – Bloomington.

Career plans: Biochemistry and Army ROTC. Biomedical Research and Army Officer.

Activities, Honors, Team Memberships: Marching Band, Symphonic Winds, Symphonic Orchestra.

AIDAN KACZANOWSKI

Parents: Annette and Jeff Kaczanowski.

Elementary School: Home Schooled/St. Thomas the Apostle. 

Middle School: St. Thomas the Apostle.

College plans: Purdue University.

Career plans: Computer Science. Software Engineer.

Activities, Honors, Team Memberships: National Merit Scholar, Captain of the Chess Team.

HASAAN KAZI

Parents: Noreen and Amer Kazi.

Elementary School: Stanley Clark.

Middle School: Stanley Clark.

College plans: Indiana University.

Career plans: Neuroscience. Doctor.

Activities, Honors, Team Memberships: Key Club, Volunteer at Memorial Hospital, AP Scholar, National Honor Society, Science Bowl Captain.

SHURUN KIM

Parents: Kyung and Hansol Kim.

Elementary School: Town Center School (Coppell, Texas).

Middle School: Coppell Middle School North (Coppell, Texas).

College plans: Undecided.

Career plans: Neurosurgeon.

Activities, Honors, Team Memberships: Founder, Cubing Club, National Honor Society, Hope Ministry, Translation at Church, Youth Group Leader, SASB, Chemistry Olympiad.

SABRINA KURIAN

Parents: Shyla and Sabu Kurian.

Elementary School: St. Thomas the Apostle.

Middle School: Discovery.

College plans: Lewis University.

Career plans: Chemistry, Pre-Medicine. Doctor.

Activities, Honors, Team Memberships: Cross Country, Key Club, National Honor Society, Freshmen Mentor, National Qualifier for TEAMS, Choir.

TINGYI LU

Parents: Li Zhang and Jiacai Lu.

Elementary School: Flagg Street School, Worcester, Mass.

Middle School: Goddard Scholars Academy/Discovery Middle School.

College plans: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Career plans: Computer Science, Economics, and Data Science.

Activities, Honors, Team Memberships: Presidential Scholar, Kingsmen Court Executive, Math Academic Super Bowl Captain, TEAMS Captain, Model U.N., National Honor Society, Key Club, National Merit Scholarship Finalist.

ABIGAIL MECKSTROTH

Parents: Jennifer and Timothy Meckstroth.

Elementary School: Prairie VIsta.

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Middle School: Schmucker.

College plans: University of Notre Dame.

Career plans: Architecture.

Activities, Honors and Team Memberships: Lilly Endowment Scholar, Varsity Swim Team, National Honor Society, Veterinarian Club, Spanish Club, Key Club.

ZAINAB NASSER

Parents: Yusra Baker and Naseer Nasser.

Elementary School: Northpoint.

Middle School: Discovery.

College plans: Purdue University.

Career plans: Actuarial Science.

Activities, Honors, Team Memberships: Model U.N., TEAMS, Science Academic Super Bowl, Volunteer at St. Joseph Hospital, Quiz Bowl, Mathnasium.

SOPHIA PATEL

Parents: Shilpi  and Pankaj Patel.

Elementary School: Northpoint.

Middle School: St. Joseph (South Bend).

College plans: Purdue University.

Career plans: Biology. Dentistry.

Activities, Honors, Team Memberships: Ballet & Modern Dance, Graduate of Youth Leadership-South Bend/Mishawaka, National Honor Society, Dance Marathon, Freshmen Mentor, Key Club, Volunteer at St. Joseph Medical Center.

JUSTIN RALSTON

Parents: Laura and Dennis Ralston.

Elementary School: Horizon. 

Middle School: Discovery.

College plans: Purdue University.

Career plans: Biomedical Engineering.

Activities, Honors, Team Memberships: Robotics Captain, Symphonic Orchestra, Penn Ultimate Frisbee Team, TEAMS, National Honor Society.

ALVIN WANG

Parents: Qing and Xi Wang.

Elementary School: Elm Road.

Middle School: Grissom.

College plans: Purdue University.

Career plans: Pharmaceutical Science. Dermatologist.

Activities, Honors, Team Memberships: Tennis Captain, Academic Super Bowl, Chinese Club, National Honor Society.

COREY WANG

Parents: Minjie Lin and Meng Wang.

Elementary School: Northpoint. 

Middle School: Discovery.

College plans: Northwestern University.

Career plans: Engineering.

Activities, Honors, Team Memberships: National Honor Society, Cross Country, Science Bowl, National Merit Finalist, Indiana Academic All-Star.

Penn High School will graduate 868 students on Friday, June 7, at Purcell Pavilion on the University of Notre Dame campus.

The Class of 2019 Senior Recognition Night ceremony was held last night (Tuesday, May 14) in the CPA. It’s a time to recognize the academic success that members of the Senior Class has achieved recognizing them for awards and honors that they’ve earned for graduation.

This year’s graduating class seniors have earned just over $11 million in scholarships!

Awards conferred at last night’s Senior Recognition included academic excellence, leadership, service to school and community, citizenship, attendance, athletic accomplishments and a whole host of other accomplishments. Click here to see the full listing of Senior Awards and Commencement Recognitions of the graduating Class of 2019.

“The honors being bestowed upon our students this evening are all certainly well-deserved and each represents a tremendous amount of hard work and commitment on the part of our students, and also the Penn faculty,” said Penn Principal Sean Galiher. “Our success is only measured by our student’s success.”

The Penn High School Principal’s Academic Excellence Award was presented to eight seniors based upon academic excellence and overall achievement: Katherine Adams, Brittney Day, Chloe Dobay, Kathryn Iapalucci, Kayla Neal, Justin Schneider, Zachary Simon, and Erik Wilcox.

The Principal’s Leadership Award is presented annually to students who contribute their talent, time, energy, and motivation to the leadership of Penn’s student body. Siddharth Das and Jenna Marshall were honored for helping to make a difference in the culture of Penn on behalf of their classmates. Principal Galiher noted that the work and dedication of Siddharth and Jenna went above and beyond that of any normal Penn student leader.

The Principal’s Citizenship and Service Award was presented to eight Penn High School students who have selflessly donated many hours to make sure that Penn High School is well represented in whatever service project they’re involved in. Principal Galiher said of these students, “Simply put, they make good things happen at Penn!” The winners of the 2019 Principal’s Citizenship and Service Award were: Madison Bansback, Olivia Coughlin, Sophia Davidson, Mia Farias, Caden Paquette, Matthew Pruitt, Brittany Stahl, and Tessa Ziwawo.

The Class of 2019 boasts 18 valedictorians and three salutatorians. This year’s valedictorians have an average GPA of 4.38 on a scale of 4.0!

The valedictorians and salutatorians will also be honored at Commencement on June 7. The Class of 2019’s 18 valedictorians include: Ammaar Basher, Amy Bernard, Ella Boardley, Charlotte Chang, Xi (Chelsea) Chen, Siddharth Das, Lucas Jerzak, Aidan Kaczanowski, Hasaan Kazi, Shurun Kim, Sabrina Kurian, Tingyi Lu, Abigail Meckstroth, Zainab Nasser, Sophia Patel, Justin Ralston, Alvin Wang, and Corey Wang. Click to read the bios of this year’s valedictorians.

The salutatorians are McKenna Hillsdon-Smith, Christian Marshall, and Zachary Simon. Their average GPA is 4.29 on a scale of 4.0!

This year eight Penn High School students designated as National Merit Semi-Finalists based upon their high PSAT scores have been named National Merit Finalists. These students advanced to Finalist standing in the Merit Scholarship competition of 2019 by demonstrating, through distinguished performance, high potential for future academic accomplishment. They are now eligible for one of the 8,000 scholarships to be awarded this spring. Penn’s 2019 National Merit Finalists are: Amy Bernard, Xi (Chelsea) Chen, Aidan Kaczanowski, Brandon King, Tingyi Lu, Corey Wang, Eric Wood, and Tinale Zhang.

The following National Merit Finalists also received a scholarship from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation: Aidan Kaczanowski, Brandon King, Corey Wang, Eric Wood, and Tinale Zhang. 

Ten students received recognition from the College Board and were awarded National Merit Commended Scholar status: Ammaar Basher, Ella Boardley, Michael Cha, Micah Focht, Noah Reynolds, Ioannis Samoilis, Carly Scopel, Jacqueline Sekan, Zachary Simon, and Alvin Wang.

Penn also has one student who was named a 2019 U.S. Presidential Scholars Competition Valedictorian Tingyi Lu was chosen from a pool of the nation’s nearly 3.6 million graduating high school seniors.

Another valedictorian Corey Wang was also selected as a 2019 Indiana Academic All-Star. Each Indiana high school can nominate one senior for this prestigious award. Of the 90 regional winners chosen by a selection committee, 40 of these students, including Corey, have been selected and honored as an Indiana Academic All-Star. Awards were presented to the students and an influential educator of their choice at a luncheon ceremony held in April in Indianapolis. Corey chose his Calculus Math teacher Mrs. Valerie Ong to be recognized with him.

Abigail Meckstroth and Emily Morales Liddiard are being awarded the Community Foundation of Saint Joseph County Eli Lilly Endowment Scholarship based on their high academic merits and test scores. The Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship provides full tuition, required fees, required books, and equipment for four years of undergraduate study leading to a baccalaureate degree at any accredited Indiana public or private college or university. Abigail plans to attend The University of Notre Dame in the fall and Emily plans to attend Purdue University.

Every year scholarships are also awarded for the Dr. and Mrs. Jerry Thacker Scholarship and the Larry Beehler Scholarship. Dr. Jerry Thacker is Superintendent of Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation and Mr. Larry Beehler is a longtime member of P-H-M’s Board of School Trustees. It was announced last night that Olivia Coughlin was the recipient of the Dr. & Mrs. Jerry Thacker Scholarship and Zachary Parcell was the recipient of the Larry Beehler Scholarship. 

Every year since 1967, Penn’s faculty vote to recognize an outstanding member of the graduating class based on service, character and leadership; the student must also, at the end of seventh semester, be in the top 10% of their graduating class. The senior selected is awarded the Paul H. Schmucker Award in memory of the distinguished member of Penn High School faculty from 1960-1967. This year’s recipient is Caden Paquette.

Each year, the graduating class also nominates a classmate who best exemplifies the qualities of service to his/her school community, school spirit, respect for classmates and Penn High School for the Kingsman of the Year Award. A tradition since 1970, the recipient is recognized for his/her leadership and willingness to accept challenge and is a great honor and show of respect from the recipients fellow classmates. The Class of 2019 Kingsman of the Year Award winner is Corey Wang.

Other Award Winners from the evening included:

Click here to download and print the full list of the Senior Awards and Commencement Recognitions of the graduating Class of 2019.

This year's Class of 2019 has 868 students, everyone of them with their own story. As part of our Excellence Happens Here series leading up to Commencement on June 7, we're going to introduce you to a handful of Class of 2019 graduates. They'll share their hopes, dreams and future plans after Penn High School.

Meet Fine Arts & Communications Academy student Sam Robinson & find out where his journey is taking him after graduation ….

Click here to watch all the Class of 2019 Graduate Profiles as part of our “Excellence Happens Here” campaign.

By JASON MIGAS

Pennant Reporter

Penn High's Baseball Team expected to play a double-header at home against Lake Central on Saturday, April 20. Then the rains hit on the morning of Friday, April 19.

As field conditions worsened through the afternoon, Penn moved the home games to Lake Central, and the Penn Baseball Team went from a home doubleheader to a 90-minute (one-way) road trip.

On Saturday, March 23, the Penn Softball Team waited nearly three hours from the regularly scheduled start of a game against Fort Wayne Carroll for the JV field to be readied for play. The Varsity field was unplayable due to weather conditions.

Next season, Penn's Baseball and Softball Teams likely won't be dealing with those types of field headaches.

The Kingsmen Baseball and Softball fields have big changes coming this Summer. During the 2019 offseason, Baseball's Jordan Automotive Group Field and Softball's May Oberfell Lorber Field will have their natural grass fields replaced with Synthetic Turf.

The Synthetic Turf Baseball Field can also be used for football, soccer and lacrosse. Click to see a photo gallery of artist renderings posted below.

This change will be happening because the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation Administration felt that improvements needed to be made.

Aaron Leniski, Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation's Chief Operating Officer, is overseeing the projects. He believes it is important to upgrade the athletic facilities because, "it will decrease annual maintenance, improve safety/security, increase aesthetics, expand use, and increase field performance."

Leniski feels that Synthetic Turf is the best choice for Penn's athletic fields. He emphasized that, "Turf provides the most consistent playing surface for our student-athletes." He proceeded to point out that, "grass fields are notorious for divots, imperfections, and fluctuation of shock-attenuation performance".

Penn Athletic Director Jeff Hart is excited about the installation of Synthetic Turf for the Baseball and Softball Fields.

"This upcoming project is extremely exciting for all of us charged with providing our student-athletes and students at large a positive experience at Penn,” Hart said. “The two new turfed fields will have a great benefit to our school community beyond the advantages of allowing us to play baseball and softball in less than ideal weather conditions.  

“They will also provide us greater flexibility in allowing our other athletic teams, clubs, P.E. classes, marching band, middle and elementary schools, etc. use of these facilities without numerous hours of field preparation required,” Hart continued. “I anticipate that both the Baseball and Softball complexes will get a great amount of use throughout the year, much like TCU Freed Field does now."

The No. 1-ranked Penn Baseball team is also very excited about getting a new field.

Kingsmen Baseball Head Coach Greg Dikos is a big fan of the new turf because of the reduced man hours.

"I'm excited because field maintenance will be reduced drastically," Dikos said. He also mentioned the convenience of playing through adverse weather.

One of the main advantages Dikos mentions is that the team will be able to get on the field earlier in the spring, and that, "Rainouts are a thing of the past."

Synthetic Turf fields will be an improvement from a player standpoint as well. As an infielder, Junior shortstop Kyle Kline can't wait for the turf.

Kline "loves playing on turf" because "there are no bad hops in the infield." He also added that there is "no bad flooding and games will be played more often."

The Penn Kingsmen Softball team is equally ready for the new turf for many of the same reasons. Sophomore Pitcher Addy Kois is a self-proclaimed "huge fan" of the turf.

"Turf is a lot easier to pitch on," Kois said.

Softball Head Coach Beth Zachary is also ready for this change. Since some of the teams they play against have turf fields, she believes, "the girls are ready to play on (turf)."

Zachary said that the turf will bring, "an advantage, because we will have more time to practice and prepare during the offseason." She continued to say that she believes it is, "a good move and the right move" for the future of Penn Athletics.

"We are all really excited about it," Zachary said of the move to Synthetic Turf.

The Summer of 2019 will be very important to the Baseball and Softball Teams of Penn High School, as the installation of Synthetic Turf will be a major step toward player safety and giving the Kingsmen a competitive edge.

Today (Friday, May 10) was a big day for Penn’s Early College Academy Class of 2019 … this morning the Academy hosted its first-ever College Signing Day for the graduating seniors; and this evening those students who earned enough college credits to receive their Associate of General Studies (AGS) degrees or Statewide Transfer General Education Core (STGEC) will have the opportunity to walk in Ivy Tech Community College’s Commencement Ceremonies at Notre Dame’s Purcell Pavilion.

At the time of Commencement (June 7, 2019) The ECA Class of 2019 is expected to include:

• 100 total students

• 50 earning AGS degrees thru Ivy Tech 

• an additional 34 earning STGECs

• 14 earning at least 15 college credits or more

• 2 will have earned less than 15 college credits

This was big cause for celebration! So the ECA faculty organized today’s College Signing Day not only to honor and recognize the accomplishments of the 2nd cohort’s, but also to show the freshman, sophomore and junior ECA students how all their hard work will eventually pay off and be worth it! P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker was also on hand to congratulate the students on their success.​ Click to see the full photo gallery below.

  

The Signing Day was the brainchild of Mrs. Sarah Dwigans, ECA English teacher, who wanted “to create a ‘positive defining moment’ that served as a rite of passage for the seniors, as well as one that planted a seed of inspiration in the underclassmen.” She got the idea from a book “The Power of Moments.” The result was a touching display of heartfelt thankfulness and gratitude and a tremendous sense of accomplishment. 

ECA English Teacher Mrs. Mary Nicolini served as the “emcee” injecting lots of humor and plenty of hugs! Eleven graduating seniors were invited to speak and share not only their college or career plans after Penn, but also answering the question “How did the Early College Academy help you get here today?” The featured students included those who earned college credit and are pursuing their higher education careers at colleges and universities such as Purdue University Fort Wayne, Ball State, Bethel University, Michigan State University, and Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

 

The other students who spoke included one going into the Marines, another who will be doing an apprenticeship with the Intl. Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and another who is going to work for the National Park Service in Yellowstone. Click to see a full listing of the Class of 2019 and their college and career plans after graduating from Penn.

The seniors who spoke shared their fond memories of ECA, gave shout-outs to their friends, thanked their teachers and of course gave the underclassmen some words of wisdom and advice about school … “stick with it, it’s all going to be worth it, and Early College got me where I am today!”

At the end all 91 members of the Class of 2019 got on stage to commemorate their achievement and to thank not only Mrs. Dwigans for organizing today’s “ceremony,” but to thank all of their ECA teachers!

It was clear that all the ECA students, and faculty alike, are truly a family!

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.