Oct. 4 & 5, 7 p.m.

Penn Studio Theatre

Click to purchase tickets online

In the 1920’s, radium was considered as a miracle cure for anything. Radium was also being used on luminous watches, and became a big fad. The fad became a concern when women in factories manufacturing luminous watches started becoming sick with a mysterious condition.

Inspired by a true story, the play “Radium Girls,” written by D.W. Gregory, takes us through the story of women who were poisoned by radium found in the paint used to paint the dials.

The Penn High School Fine Arts Academy will present “Radium Girls” at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 4, and 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 5, in the Penn High School Studio Theater. Patrons can enter the school through Door C.

Watch the play trailer below …

In the play, the audience will witness the battle between Grace Fryer, a dial painter, and Arthur Roeder, the factory owner, as well as Roeder’s plethora of deceitful colleagues and the U.S. Radium Corporation.

This powerful and engrossing story was discovered by Penn High School Theater Instructor Crystal Ryan, who was immediately affected by it. Ryan felt like her team of actors were ready to take on the challenge of putting on a show like Radium Girls.

Ryan, who is passionate about the story of the “Radium Girls,” said that the story, “Is relevant to today and is a great learning opportunity for everyone who hears the story."

Click to purchase tickets online.

The Penn Boys Cross Country Team won the Northern Indiana Conference Championship.

A Photo Gallery is posted below.

The Penn Girls Cross Country Team won the Northern Indiana Conference Championship.

A Photo Gallery is posted below.

The Penn Boys Soccer Team beat Adams, 5-1, on Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2018.

A Photo Gallery is posted below.

The Penn High School Soccer Team honored its Seniors on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2018.

A Photo Gallery is posted below.

Former Penn High School Girls Soccer Stars Brooke VanDyck, Megan McLaughlin and Kristina Lynch reunited when Notre Dame hosted Florida State in Women’s Soccer action on Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018.

VanDyck and McLaughlin play for Notre Dame, and Lynch plays for Florida State.

Van Dyck and Lynch were teammates on Penn’s back-to-back State Championship teams for Coach Jeff Hart.

A Photo Gallery of the Florida State-Notre Dame pre-game and game is posted below.

The annual Penn High School Powder Puff Game was held on Wednesday, Sept. 26, at TCU/Freed Field.

The Junior Class won the Championship.

A Photo Gallery featuring the work of Penn student Bryce Stone is posted below.

Penn High School Principal Sean Galiher announced that 10 Penn students have earned National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist status.

Amy Bernard, Chelsea Chen, Noah Howell, Aidan Kaczanowski, Brandon King, Tingyi Lu, Sage Marchand, Corey Wang, Eric Wood and Tainle Zhang of Penn are among the 16,000 National Merit Semifinalists nationwide.

These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $32 million that will be offered next spring.

"We are very excited for these students,” Galiher said. “Becoming a National Merit Semifinalist is a fantastic achievement as this recognition is only reserved for less than one percent of the nation's seniors.  This accomplishment reflects the collective efforts of each student, their teachers and family.  Our teachers take great pride in challenging our students and preparing them through rigorous and relevant coursework."  

National Merit Scholarship winners of 2018 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join more than 330,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.

By Kyle Jordan/Student Reporter

Last tennis season, Penn Tennis Senior Sid Das suffered an injury, and he couldn’t play tennis for the whole season. He quickly realized he missed the team.

Das wanted to get back to meet his new teammates, and to play tennis again. When he came back for the 2018 season, he found out he was going to be one the team captains. It was intimidating to him at first, but as he got to meet everyone he really felt honored to be team captain. It is a big responsibility, but he enjoys being a role model for the younger players.

As well as enjoying tennis, Das also enjoys extra-curriculars and classes at Penn. In addition to pursing academic excellence, Das is on the executive board for Freshmen Mentoring, he is on Model UN, TEAMS, and the Speech Team.

Das said he really likes being involved in clubs, because you get to meet new people, and develop new skills that aren’t advertised.

An example was that Das got to learn leadership in tennis, which he didn’t expect going into the season.

Das enjoys tennis, his clubs, and his classes in school. All of his hard work has paid off for him. For college, Das has been looking into IU and Purdue, and he plans to go into biology or engineering.

By Jason Migas/Student Reporter

Penn High School quarterback Ron Powlus had one question for his doctor when they met after Powlus was informed at the age of nine that he had Type 1 Diabetes:

“Can I still play Football?”

Powlus has been an outstanding leader for the Kingsmen and a driving force in helping Penn’s Gold Rush Offense develop. He excels at Football even though he faces the challenge of dealing with Type 1 diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes means that Powlus’ body doesn’t produce insulin. He has to manually provide insulin to his body through shots.

Powlus’ love for football was apparent when he was talking, saying, “If I could play football forever, I would.”

Powlus said that he doesn’t worry about his medical condition when he’s on the field.

“I’ve learned my body pretty well, so I know when I can push through or know that I’m in trouble,” Powlus said. “And I know I’m in good hands at Penn. I couldn’t ask for a better training staff. Trish (Irvin) knows how to help, all of the managers are amazing and all know how and when to help. The coaching staff  knows, and I especially couldn’t ask for better teammates.”

Powlus has been an inspiration to other youngsters who have diabetes.

“Type One Diabetes isn’t the end of a story, but it can be just the beginning, like it was for me,” Powlus said. “My final advice for someone in a similar position is don’t ever let anything beat you, try your best and if that’s not good enough try again and again. Remember to do good, and disappear.”

Penn High School quarterback Ron Powlus knew he would have big shoes to fill following Ryan Lynch, who led the Kingsmen to the Class 6-A Football State Championship Game in the 2017 season.

Pressure to perform this season would be high, and being only a sophomore makes it that much more challenging for Powlus. The 6-3, 225-pound quarterback has been well prepared for this moment, but there are no easy games in Class 6-A, which is populated by Indiana’s largest schools and many high-level Division I prospects.

Powlus said one of the biggest challenges is “not having big-game experience like most guys I have to play against.”

Despite his lack of experience, Powlus noted that he “had a good senior class to model and emulate my game and actions after” and continued to say that it “was a huge help leading into this year.”

Powlus was raised in an athletic culture. His father, Ron Powlus, was a starting quarterback for the University of Notre Dame. He continued on be signed to the Tennessee Oilers, Detriot Lions, and Philadelphia Eagles. Powlus also had 10 years of coaching experience.

Powlus, who is the Interim Associate Athletics Director – Football Operations at Notre Dame, has passed down a lot of insight to his son and Ron Powlus described it as, “a blessing and a privilege.”

He compared his family to the likes of team, saying, “In my house it is like we are all on one big team. I get to go watch everyone’s game and they come watch mine whether it’s the (Discovery) Archers, Kingsmen, or the Fighting Irish.”

Powlus has nothing but high praise for his father. He said his Dad helps him with with all sorts of problems, football related or not.

“Whether its third-and-long with time running out, or getting out of a bad situation in life, he has been there to help guide me,” Powlus said of his father. “I wouldn’t be where I am without him.”