The P-H-M Education Foundation is proud to support teachers and students by funding innovative classroom grants that enrich learning experiences beyond the school district’s budget. From small purchases under $100 to larger projects exceeding $1,000, every grant enhances classrooms in meaningful ways. Click here to read about Education Foundation Grants and to see the full list of winners, or read the recap below.

Total Grants Awarded: $59,999.96 (Total 2024-2025 Grant Budget – $60,000)

● Total EZ Grants Requested – $24,533.26
● Total EZ Grants Approved – $10,369.23
● Total Traditional Grants Requested – $87,874.09
● Total Traditional Grants Approved – $49,630.73

EZ form grant requests for $750 or less:

1. Remediation Phonics
○ Meadow’s Edge Elementary
○ Ufli & Secret Stories Curriculum for 2nd grade
○ Awarded $260.00

2. “One Choice” Book Study
○ Schmucker Middle School
○ Purchase 60 copies of the the Jack & Nick Savage story “One Choice” books
○ Awarded $600.00

3. Elsie Press back in commission
○ Elsie Rogers Elementary
○ Funding for the Elsie Press Newspaper
○ Awarded $165.00

4. Third Grade Writing Portfolios
○ Meadow’s Edge Elementary
○ Publishing and resource materials for writing
○ Awarded $479.58

5. Infant CPR Training Kits
○ Discovery Middle School
○ Infant CPR Training kits from the American Red Cross
○ Awarded $685.62

6. Star Buddies, Coffee Shop for All
○ Discovery Middle School
○ Materials and supplies for coffee shop for teachers run by exceptional education students
○ Awarded $300.00

7. Film Photography Processing
○ Penn High School
○ Materials and tools for the film classes and darkroom
○ Awarded $320.00

8. Let your Learning GLOW
○ Elm Road Elementary
○ Black lights and materials for ILearn review in 4th grade classrooms
○ Awarded $661.51

9. Middle School Clay Assistant
○ Grissom Middle School
○ Slab roller for clay materials
○ Awarded $666.62

10. Ricochet Stools for Fidgety Students
○ Discovery Middle School
○ Stools designed for students to rock/tip safely
○ Awarded $638.20

11. Wiggle Seats for Classroom/Small Group Table
○ Prairie Vista Elementary
○ Wiggle seats/flexible seating for students
○ Awarded $509.94

12. Enhance Comprehension through updated Classroom Libraries
○ Elm Road Elementary
○ New books that encourage the comprehension process
○ Awarded $544.71

13. The One and Only Bob Literature Story
○ Prairie Vista Elementary
○ 25 copies of The One and Only Bob” books
○ Awarded $250.10

14. North Point Drama Club “The Dazzles”
○ Northpoint Elementary
○ Creation of a Drama Club including “The Big Band” Musical
○ Awarded $583.00

15. Scintillating Science
○ Discovery Middle School
○ Tabletop ice maker for the Science classes
○ Awarded $371.49

16. Photography Club: Explore to Fine Art Photography
○ Penn High School
○ SD memory cards for cameras
○ Awarded $107.88

17. Microscope for all learners
○ Penn High School
○ Digital microscope that can connect to a computer
○ Awarded $479.00

18. “Wonder” Novel Study
○ Bittersweet Elementary
○ Purchase of 30 copies of the novel “Wonder” by R.J. Palacio
○ Awarded $377.70

19. Coding with Beebots for Kindergarten
○ Northpoint Elementary
○ STEM based coding robots for all kindergarten classes to share
○ Awarded $676.00

20. Door M Picnic Table Part Deaux
○ Penn High School
○ Picnic table for outdoor space for teachers’ and students’ use
○ Awarded $750.00

21. Preschool Playground Revamp
○ Penn High School
○ Refurbish and install new equipment and play areas outside of Door K including a sandbox in partnership with Penn Construction for the Penn Preschool
○ Awarded $419.38

22. Discovery Band Tuners
○ Discovery Middle School
○ Devices that clip to music stands helping students tune their instruments
○ Awarded $523.50

Full Funding:

1. Learning by Induction
○ Penn High School – John Gensic, John Fitch, Rachael Meyers, Brian May, Steven Sanders, Toni Boger-May
○ 10-12 grade Sciences & Culinary Arts students
○ Awarded $1,347.74
○ A unique collaboration between STEM and FACs classes at Penn obtaining equipment to modernize space in the culinary classes to include more user-friendly and energy efficient induction cooking materials. Science students will use previously funded thermal cameras and partner with culinary students to help them see a direct connection between science, technology and the application in everyday lives in the kitchen.

2. Drumming Up Creativity
○ Elm Road Elementary – Cynthia Berryman
○ All kindergarten through 5th grade students through Music class
○ Awarded $1,655.84
○ 12 new “tubano” drums that will promote bilateral coordination and facilitate complex rhythms using two hands. Students will become composers and create their own music with partners and will perform within the school community.

3. Schmucker Speech Room Upgrade
○ Schmucker Middle School – Jenna Pacheco
○ All middle school students receiving Speech Therapy
○ Awarded $2,626.00
○ Upgrades in interactive technology through a video smart board that allows for effective and interactive therapy sessions benefiting students with communication difficulties under the guidance of speech therapy.

4. Mary Frank and Northpoint Tech Upgrades Phase 2
○ Mary Frank Elementary & Northpoint Elementary – Jason Poff
○ All K-5th grade students
○ Awarded $5,036.98
○ Expansion of sounds and lighting equipment to enhance Fine Arts performances. These upgrades will help students become more effective communicators through performance experience and more technical lighting and sound engineers.

5. You Can’t Swipe This Screen – Screen Printing Basics
○ Penn High School – Alex Dunfee
○ Digital Design students in grades 9-12
○ Awarded $3,373.58
○ Provides students the opportunity to learn the screen printing process in class (one of the most common ways to print on fabric.) Students will design and make their own ink-based screen printed shirts and have the opportunity to collaborate and produce products with other student organizations within Penn High School.

6. Feeding You Mind One Book at a Time & Inchy’s Bookworm Vending Machine
○ Horizon Elementary – Sue Robers & Emily Cornett
○ Elsie Rogers Elementary – Hollie Truckowski
○ All K-5th grade students
○ Awarded up to $7,169.00 per vending machine; $14,338 total (schools to negotiate and work together on pricing/vending machine design)
○ Funds to purchase a book vending machine as part of an incentive program allowing students to earn tokens to then use to purchase a book with the help of staff from the vending machine. Students will have the opportunity to keep the book encouraging the promotion of literacy as a reward with increased student engagement. Vending machines will have the PHMEF logo branding and will be displayed prominently within each school (library or school lobby.)

7. Grissom’s Embouchure Project
○ Grissom Middle School – Camille Roper
○ Band students in grades 6-8
○ Awarded $1,757.50
○ Purchase of embouchure (mouth shape) and ear training skill building tools for the band program allowing students to correctly and quickly improve their progress in learning music. Students will build fundamental skills in embouchure development, tone production and audiation skills.

8. Integrating Children’s Books into Physical Education
○ Walt Disney Elementary – Stephen Gouorko
○ All K-5th grade students
○ Awarded $300.50
○ Unique collaboration with classroom teachers and librarians to implement an interdisciplinary learning program that promotes literacy and physical activity in students. Students will use books to research new ways to eat healthy and make better choices while playing games and participating in physical activities based on the books.

9. The Prairie at Prairie Vista
○ Prairie Vista Elementary – Dr. Keely Twibell
○ All K-5th grade students, other PHM schools and the greater PHM Community
○ Awarded $10,250.00
○ In collaboration with community volunteers, the school community and PTO organization, Prairie Vista will restore and utilize the natural prairie area on school property. The grant will create learning opportunities for all PHM students allowing them to engage directly with the natural world. Teachers can bring classes out to the natural environment to create a dynamic learning environment. Students and community members will be encouraged to take an active role in prairie conservation efforts, clean-up activities, seasonal maintenance and seeding initiatives and will be an area that other schools can visit to pursue research projects and advanced study. Restoration efforts include but aren’t limited to Wildlife identification and trail marker signs, observation station stumps, a natural obstacle course, raised garden beds, bird and bat houses, microscopes, binoculars, magnifying glasses and field guides to enhance the learning experiences.

10. Tinker and Thrive – 3D Printing for Focused Students
○ Penn High School and all 11 Elementary Schools – Kyle Marsh
○ K-5th grade students and 9-12 grade Penn students
○ Awarded $4,936.56
○ Purchase and installation of 3D printers in all elementary students with a designated teacher lead. Students who use fidget toys as a tool for focus and accommodation in the classroom, will have the ability to design and create their own fidget toys using 3D printing technology, empowering them with the ability to customize tools that best supports their unique needs for attention and engagement.

11. Write On!
○ Walt Disney Elementary – Katie Carroll
○ All K-5th grade students
○ Awarded $1,884.03
○ Organization and expansion of the student Engagement Lab where students and teachers use props and visuals to illustrate/bring to life student’s written work. It will provide an opportunity for cohesive and engaging writing experience for students as they grow in Math, Language Arts, Science and Social Studies. Materials will also be incorporated into school community events like the Math and Literacy Night and Culture Night at Walt Disney Elementary.

Partial Funding

1. Power Hour: Fitness & Focus for a Strong Future
○ Discovery Middle School – Terry Arter, John Hedrick, Kevin McMilen & Autumn Stout
○ All 6th-8th grade students
○ Requested $5,000.00
○ Awarded $1,795.00
○ Funds to purchase new workout equipment to start a workout club before school, enhance exercise during PE and offer opportunities for athletes before and after school. The current equipment is unsafe and damaged. These funds will be used to begin replacement of old equipment. Funds are in collaboration with the Discovery PTO and Dr. Aaron Leniski & Mrs. Elizabeth Cunha’s existing budgets.

2. Foreign Language Academy
○ Horizon Elementary – Ally Schmidt
○ All K-5th grade students
○ Requested $1,049.00
○ Awarded $329.00
○ Purchase of a Spanish Language Curriculum, Calico Spanish, which is designed for kindergarten through fifth grade students. Students will be taught in six 1-hour sessions as a part of an afterschool club. There is the possibility to expand into other languages in the future. Grant is in partnership with Horizon Staff funded through the Horizon PTO and in collaboration with Penn High School Mentors as suggested volunteers for the program.

Penn High School is celebrating the support of the PHM Education Foundation (PHMEF), which awarded several grants to enhance learning opportunities across various subjects. Jennifer Turnblom, Executive Director of PHMEF, visited Penn to present the grants, benefiting students, teachers, and programs across the school.

To see all the grants given, click here.

Microscope for All Learners

• Recipient: Zachery Lopez
• Award: $479.00
• This grant will fund a microscope to enhance hands-on learning for students, ensuring all learners have access to advanced tools for scientific exploration.

Refurbished Preschool Play Area

• Recipient: Kaylee Wetzel
• Award: $419.38
• Funds will be used to refurbish and install new play equipment, including a sandbox, outside of Door K for the Penn Preschool. The project is in partnership with Penn Construction, creating a safe and engaging outdoor environment for young learners.

You Can’t Swipe This Screen – Screen Printing Basics

• Recipient: Alex Dunfee
• Award: $3,373.58
• Digital Design students in grades 9-12 will have the opportunity to learn the screen-printing process, one of the most common methods for printing on fabric. Students will design and produce their own screen-printed shirts and collaborate with other student organizations to create custom products.

Tinker and Thrive – 3D Printing for Focused Students

• Recipient: Kyle Marsh
• Award: $4,936.56
• This grant will fund the purchase and installation of 3D printers in all 11 elementary schools with teacher leaders, while also involving Penn students in grades 9-12. Students who use fidget toys for focus and classroom accommodations will have the opportunity to design and create personalized tools using 3D printing technology.

Learning by Induction

• Recipients: John Gensic, John Fitch, Rachael Meyers, Brian May, Steven Sanders
• Award: $1,347.74
• This grant enables a collaboration between Penn’s STEM and Culinary Arts (FACs) programs. With modern, energy-efficient induction cooking equipment, culinary students will explore practical cooking applications while science students use thermal cameras to study the technology’s real-world impact in the kitchen.

You Can’t Swipe This Screen – Screen Printing Basics

• Recipients: Alex Dunfee
• Award: $3,373.58
• Provides students the opportunity to learn the screen printing process in class (one of the most
  common ways to print on fabric.) Students will design and make their own ink-based screen
  printed shirts and have the opportunity to collaborate and produce products with other student
  organizations within Penn High School.

These grants demonstrate Penn High School’s commitment to innovative, hands-on learning experiences that integrate technology, creativity, and collaboration across disciplines. Congratulations to all the grant recipients, and thank you to PHMEF for making these opportunities possible!

Students took ILEARN in the Spring. The students’ results are more than just a reflection on how well they know and retained what they learned in a particular subject area. Teachers work very hard to help their students review and retain the knowledge, and when necessary interventionist educators use RtI (Response to Intervention) tools.

The Fall 2024 P-H-M Teacher Impact Awards are given to educators who had the most significant individual student growth with Spring 2024 ILEARN (grades 3-8 and high school Biology), AP Testing at Penn, and highest RtI growth. 

Principal Dr. Sean Galiher and P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker took Mrs. Dawn Boulac off guard when they walked into her classroom when she was in the middle of an AP Statistics lesson. Mrs. Boulac earned an Impact Award by increasing qualifying scores on the AP Statistics Exam in May 2024; an impressive 103 students met that benchmark! In addition, Penn AP Statistics students outperformed their peers at that state and global level in both mean scores and percentage passing. Dr. Galiher also presented Mrs. Boulac with a door magnet that honors her as an Impact Award winner. Click to see the full photo gallery below.

Three other awards were given out on Thursday, December 12:

• Grace Blanchard, 6th grade, ELA/Reading, Discovery Middle School – Highest ELA/Reading growth in 6th grade when measured from mean fall ILEARN to ILEARN Checkpoints Achievement.
• LA (Kriss) High, 8th grade Math, Schmucker Middle School – Highest growth for 8th grade math, as measured from Spring ILEARN to Fall ILEARN Checkpoints. 
• Hollie Truckowski, Reading Specialist, Elsie Rogers Elementary School – Highest growth for all students in reading specialist interventions programming. Mrs. Truckowski’s students made well above average growth in two important measures of early literacy, oral reading fluency and NWF, a standardized measure of decoding ability. Mrs. Truckowski works with students who are academically at-risk in reading, and her work puts these students on an important pathway for growth. 

With the help of the building principals, Dr. Thacker surprised the teachers with the Impact Awards. He was accompanied by other members of P-H-M Administration Dr. Heather Short, Asst. Superintendent; Director of Professional Development Dr. Lavon Dean-Null; and Ryan Towner, Director of Literacy. P-H-M Education Foundation Executive Director Jennifer Turnblom was also on hand; PHMEF covered the cost for the beautiful awards which teachers can proudly display in their classrooms.

While all P-H-M teachers make an impact with their students, dedicated to helping them achieve personal academic success, the Impact Award shines the spotlight on educators who have helped their students achieve individual academic growth on their formative assessments over time. The first-ever Impact Awards were handed out in September 2023 and recognized the teachers with the most significant overall student growth during the 2022-2023 school year.

[Show slideshow]

Penn High School student Sarah Rooney has been named a Winner with Distinction in the YoungArts National Writing Competition.

Rooney is a second-year student on Penn’s Literary Magazine, Spectrum.

“Sarah is an amazing student,” Spectrum sponsor Caelea Armstrong said. “She is meticulous and detail-oriented.  Her work ethic is second-to-none.”

Winners are chosen for their caliber of artistic achievement by esteemed discipline-specific panels of artists through an adjudication process that includes multiple rounds of review.   

The winners in each category are awarded cash prizes between $250 and $10K, and Winners with Distinction are invited to participate in National YoungArts Week, January 5-12, in Miami, Fla.

P-H-M’S Board of School Trustees approved the renaming of Penn High School’s Center for Performing Arts through the P-H-M Education Foundation’s Naming Rights Campaign.

P-H-M parent Tania Bengtsson of three (Penn High School and Discovery Middle School) is donating $50,000 to the Education Foundation to have Penn’s CPA renamed the EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating Systems) – Tania Bengtsson Center for Performing Arts. The naming rights will be effective May 1, 2025 and will last for 12 years. 

Per the Naming Rights Campaign, 80% of Mrs. Bengtsson’s donation will go to PHMEF’s endowment, and 20% comes back to P-H-M to pay for teacher professional development.

Penn students William Getter, John Isacson, Nathaniel Temeles, Noah Langness, Max Hazen, Joel Benavides placed first in the Purdue Engineering Design & Development Challenge – the first high school team to win the prestigious Challenge !!!!

The students won $5,000 in scholarship money, competing with college students in the TECH 120 class at Purdue. Penn instructor Kyle Marsh’s students are not only the first high school team to be the overall winner, but it’s the first time a high school team placed in the Top 3.

Penn High School hosted its annual Showcase event for prospective students and their families on Monday, Dec. 2, 2024.

The event featured live classrooms that featured students and faculty in all of Penn’s learning academies.

A Photo Gallery is posted below:

[Show slideshow]

1 2 ►

The Penn High School Marching Kingsmen have been selected to participate in the 2025 Dunkin’ Doughnuts Thanksgiving Parade. The event is the longest continuously held Thanksgiving Parade in the United States.

​“It is certainly an honor to be invited to perform in the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade,” Penn Marching Band Director Glenn Northern said. “Our trip will include two days in New York City as well. It is sure to be a great experience for our students”.

This week, second-grade students from Bittersweet Elementary School joined forces with Penn High School students to kick off the holiday season with delightful gingerbread-themed activities.

On Monday and Wednesday, Bittersweet’s 2nd graders took a field trip to Penn High School, where they collaborated with Penn students in creating gingerbread houses and engaging in fun gingerbread-inspired crafts. The high school students guided their younger counterparts through rolling and cutting the dough. They also read gingerbread stories and did multiple arts and crafts with the Bittersweet students.

The multi-day celebration culminated today, Friday, November 22nd, as the baked ginger bread was brought back to Bittersweet to be assembled into houses and decorated. Families joined the fun, adding colorful candies, frosting, and festive designs to the creations.

Second grade students decorating gingerbread houses has been a tradition for approximately 30 years, this is the first time that Bittersweet collaborated with Penn High School. It provided students with a creative outlet, a chance to learn new skills, and an opportunity to bond across grade levels during the holiday season.

The smiles and joy shared throughout the week are a testament to the power of collaboration and the holiday spirit!

[Show slideshow]

1 2 ... 6 ►