This morning (Wednesday, Oct. 23) representatives from Riley Children’s Foundation visited Penn High School to thank members of Kingsmen Court, Penn students and staff for their generosity. 

If a school raises $5,000 or more they earn “Red Wagon Status”, which allows the school to design a license plate that will go on a red wagon at Riley Hospital for Children. Families who visit Riley for care are able to use the complimentary red wagons to transport their children and belingings to doctor visits.

Last year Kingsmen Court organized the “Turkey Legs” competition, during which teachers wear shorts and/or dress up in costumes in the days leading up to Thanksgiving Break, and collect money from students and staff with all proceeds going to Riley Children’s Hospital.

[Show slideshow]

The Commencement Ceremony for the Class of 2025 is scheduled for 7 p.m., Monday, June 9, at the University of Notre Dame’s Purcell Pavilion.

Read the attached PDF for important information from Jostens: Penn Senior Parent Letter

Penn High School hosts its annual Kaleidoscope Concert on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024.

The concert featured bands from Penn High School, as well as bands from Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation middle schools – Discovery, Grissom and Schmucker.

A Photo Gallery is posted below.

[Show slideshow]

1 2 ►

Penn High School hosted its third annual College and Career Fair, sponsored by the Penn-Harris-Madison Education Foundation.

A Photo Gallery is posted below.

More than 1,500 Juniors and Seniors benefitted from the event.

A total of 55 colleges and businesses registered for the College and Career Fair at Penn. Guest speakers also talked about choices and opportunities students have after high school graduation.

According to P-H-M Education Foundation Executive Directory Jennifer Turnblom, the College and Career Fair at Penn brings in schools and companies with post-high school educational opportunities, whether it be in a traditional classroom, enlistment opportunities, apprenticeship program or skills training.

This community partnership offers organizations colleges and businesses the opportunity to meet students from one of the best high schools in the state and share the opportunities they have for them.

This is also a fundraiser for PHMEF and helps support programs like the Kingsmen Art Gallery, Robotics and some of the P-H-M Education district-wide programs in the elementary schools.

Turnblom said that PHMEF is especially grateful to Penn High School Principal Dr. Sean Galiher and Assistant Principal Josiah Parker for their support of this event and its continued growth.

[Show slideshow]

Penn High School Principal Dr. Sean Galiher announced that six Penn students have achieved the prestigious status of being named a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist.

Stanton Barnes, David Guarraci, Calum Jessop, Hannah Kang, Stanley Liew and Proshun Nishorgo are among 16,000 Semifinalists nationally in the 70th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 6,870 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million that will be offered next spring.

“We couldn’t be prouder of these students for being selected as National Merit Semifinalists,” Dr. Galiher said. “This prestigious achievement reflects their hard work and dedication, along with the support of the outstanding teachers they’ve had throughout their time at P-H-M schools.”  

More than 1.3 million Juniors took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test in October of 2023, which is the initial screening of program entrants.

To be considered for a Merit Scholarship® award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. About 95 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and approximately half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar® title.

Thank you to EVERYONE who came to the 2024 Homecoming Parade and Football game. It was a terrific time not only for the Penn students, but also for the entire community.

The Parade, Expo, Fun Zone, Food Trucks and Fireworks were all bigger and better than ever.

After the game was over, the fans in attendance were treated to a fireworks show set to music!

There are three photo galleries below, one of the parade floats and participants, one of the parade spectators and one of the fun zone and expo. Take a look and we’ll see you in 2025!

Parade Floats

[Show slideshow]

1 2 ... 25 ►

Parade Spectators

[Show slideshow]

1 2 ... 7 ►

Fun Zone & Expo

[Show slideshow]

1 2 ... 18 ►

Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation Robotics programs have been awarded a grant of $53,600 by the Indiana Department of Education. The grant is for 15 teams at eight different P-H-M schools.

The P-H-M proposal was selected from more than 145 grant proposals submitted for this competitive funding opportunity. The DOE stated that its review team was impressed by Penn’s plan to design, construct, program, and operate robots in competitions sponsored by non-profit organizations with the goal of increasing Indiana student interest in STEM.

Penn’s two Robotics Teams each received $14,000 from the grant.

Other P-H-M schools and the benefitting Robotics teams are:

• Grissom (2 existing teams, $5,000)
• Horizon (2 existing teams $6,137.50)
• Elm Road (2 existing teams, $6,137.50)
• Meadows Edge (1 new team, $3,175)
• Walt Disney (1 new team, $3,175)
• Northpoint (4 new teams, $12,800)
• Bittersweet (1 new team, $3,175) 

Penn’s portion of the grant pays for team registration and supplies for building competition robots.

“We are incredibly honored and deeply grateful to announce that Penn High School’s two FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition) teams have received a generous grant from the Indiana Department of Education to cover the registration costs for the 2024-2025 season,” Penn First Robotics Coach Kyle Marsh said. “This support is not only a testament to the hard work and dedication of our students, mentors, and volunteers but also a recognition of the transformative power of STEM education.

“This grant ensures that our teams can continue to innovate, collaborate, and compete at the highest level, while nurturing the next generation of engineers, scientists, and leaders,” Marsh continued. “We are humbled by this opportunity and remain committed to representing our school, community, and sponsors with pride and excellence.

Thank you to all who made this possible. Your belief in our students is inspiring, and we look forward to making the most of this incredible opportunity.”

For the existing teams, the grant pays for coaching stipends, team registration, competition registration, game specific materials, and supplies for building competition robots.

Most of their supplies will be updating and replacing used parts, tools, storage, and new parts needed for the new game. 

Funds will also be used for transportation to events. 

The new teams will use the grant money to pay for coaching stipends, team registration, competition registration, game specific materials, and supplies for building competition robots.

Most of their supplies will be start-up kits, tools, storage, and game specific parts. 

Funds will also be used for transportation to events. 

“The grant allows existing P-H-M Robotics teams to continue excelling and meet the cost of participating, new robotics teams to meet the extra costs of starting up, and for P-H-M to pay coaches a stipend for all the work they put into robotics teams,” Penn High School Assistant Principal Josiah Parker said. “The grant is really removing barriers for schools to give students opportunities to excel in STEM. It also helps build a pipeline of students with experience and who are excited about Robotics to the high school and eventually into STEM-related fields in our community.”

It was a big day for preschool aged students in our Playschool 2 class this morning. In an effort to get the students to dream about their future, they had the opportunity to interact with professionals in two very different fields.

Two Penn School Resource Officers (SRO’s) brought their police vehicles to Playschool 2. The students had the opportunity to meet the officers and they also got to climb into the drivers seat! Some students honked the horn while others were able to talk on the radio.

Students Learn How to Roll and Cut Sugar Cookies

Next, Serena from Ciao’s Restaurant and Bakery stopped by to show the students how to make Sugar Cookies! Each child had the opportunity to roll out dough, use a cookie cutter, then decorate with sprinkles with colors of their choice.

We’d like to thank School Resource Officers Mr. Wilkey and Mrs. Gresso as well as Serena from Ciao’s Bakery for their time. Take a look at the photo gallery below for more pictures.

[Show slideshow]

1 2 3 ►