The Penn High School Competition Poms team has the opportunity to perform at either pre-game or half-time of the Harlem Globetrotter's game at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017, at Notre Dame. 

If the Penn Poms team sells 50 tickets, they get to perform at pre-game.  If they sell 100 tickets, they will be able to perform at half-time.  

If you'd like to come and join in the fun and help the Penn Competition Poms team, please contact Cole Arrington of the Harlem Globetrotters:  Arrington@harlemglobetrotters.com / 678-497-1877 to order tickets.

You MUST say you are ordering tickets for the Penn High School Pom Group to get a $10 discount and help the Penn Competition Poms.

Penn point guard Brian Doslak stole the basketball in the final seconds and hit two free throws with :00.3 left, wrapping up a stunning 51-48 victory for the Kingsmen against No. 12 Valparaiso in high school boys basketball action on Saturday, Jan. 7.

Penn rallied from a 17-point deficit early in the second half, 35-18. Penn had an 18-3 run in the second half, and the Kingsmen outscored Valpo 20-7 in the fourth quarter.

Doslak also hit two free throws with :20 left to give Penn a 49-46 lead. Valpo was setting up to attempt a game-winning shot, inbounding the ball with :05 left. Immediately after Valpo inbounded the ball, Doslak darted in for the steal. Click here for video of Doslak’s steal. 

Doslak finished with 20 points. Noah Applegate and Connor Schneider scored 10 points each for Penn.

PENN 51: Drew Lutz 3, Drew Schneider 0, Brian Doslak 20, Beau Ludwick 0, Luke Carlton 0, Noah Applegate 10, Noah Krathwohl 2, Matt McCown 4, Connor Schneider 10, Riley Smith 2.

Valparaiso 48: Connor Wolf 5, Adrian Casaday 6, Zach Anselm 2, Brandon Newman 2, Trace Ramsey 10, Marcus Gholston 1, Charlie Healey 5, Patrick Kelly 10, Jay Bisacky 7, Michael Mann 0.

PENN             13        5          13        20 – 51

Valparaiso     18        14        9          7 – 48

Three-pointers: PENN 4 (Doslak 3, Lutz 1), Valparaiso 3 (Wolf 1, Healy 1, Casaday 1). Shooting: PENN 18-of-33 for 55 percent, Valparaiso 17-of-34 for 50 percent. Free throws: PENN 11-of-17 for 65 percent, Valparaiso 11-of-16 for 69 percent. Rebounding: PENN 21 (Applegate 5), Valparaiso 16 (Ramsey 5). Turnovers: PENN 15, Valparaiso 11.

Three Penn High School students – Yewon Oh,  Darbie Kwan, and Chelsea Chen – have earned selection to the prestigious All-State Orchestra.

Oh, Kwan and Chen will be performing with the All-State Orchestra at the Embassy Theatre in Fort Wayne on Jan. 14.

Oh (Associate Principal Viola) is a freshman who studies with Mr. Luis Vargas (IUSB professor and member of the Euclid String Quartet).

Kwon is a freshmen who plays the Cello. She studies with Lydia Franks.

Chen, a sophomore who plays the violin, studies with Jameson Cooper (IUSB professor and member of the Euclid String Quartet). She also earned selection to the High School Honors Performing Series at Carnegie Hall.

According to Penn High School Orchestra director Anne Tschetter, the audition process for Indiana All-State Orchestra and the Honors Performing Series requires rigorous three-octave scales, multiple music excerpts, and a solo.  An application form must be mailed to the audition board by early November, accompanied by a high-quality recording of the applicant’s prepared required music.  All applicants are contacted by early December with acceptance or denial. 

“This is a great honor for Yewon, Darbie, and Chelsea to be selected among hundreds of applicants!” Tschetter said.

The Indiana All-State Orchestra will take place from January 12-14, 2017, at the Indiana Music Educator’s Association’s Professional Conference in Fort Wayne.  The orchestra will rehearse with guest conductor,  Dr. Andrew H. Dabczynski, for two days concluding with the concert on Jan. 14.

The High School Honors Performing Series is from February 2-6 in New York City.  The Series has a full Symphony Orchestra, a String Orchestra, and a Choir.  Chen will be playing with the string orchestra and performing on Feb. 5, 2017, at Carnegie Hall.  

Penn High School junior Paul Moala, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound defensive back, earned first-team All-State honors by the Associated Press, and was named to the Indiana Football Coaches Association Top 50 player list

Moala intercepted seven passes and returned four of them for touchdowns.  He also scored two touchdowns on punt returns and one touchdown on a kickoff return. Moala broke up nine passes, caused two fumbles, recovered one fumble, and blocked three kicks. He made 40 tackles and had 23 assists.

Three Penn players – wide receiver Matt Kominkiewicz, defensive tackle Keegan Hurst and linebacker Will Vakalahi were named to the IFCA Class 6-A team, and five Kingsmen – Kominkiewicz, tight end Anthony Torres, offensive lineman Mike Dhuivetter, defensive linemen Nate Boone and Keegan Hurst, and Vakalahi were named were named honorable mention All-State by the AP.

Paul Moala, DB

6-1, 190, Jr.

Intercepted 7 passes, returned 4 interceptions for TDs. Also scored 2 TDs on punt returns and 1 TD on a kickoff return. Broke up 9 passes. Caused 2 fumbles, recovered 1 fumble, blocked 3 kicks. Made 40 tackles and 23 assists.

Mike Dhuivetter, OL

6-4, 335, Sr.

Key force on a team that gained  2,059 yards rushing (28 TDs) and 1,181 yards receiving (12 TDs).

Anthony Torres, TE

6-5, 235, Jr.

Exceptional blocker. Caught 11 passes for 195 yards (average 17.7 yards a catch). Scored 1 TD. Being recruited by most Big Ten schools.

Matt Kominkiewicz, WR

5-8, 165, Sr.

Caught 36 passes for 545 yards (15.1 yards a catch). Scored 9 TDs receiving. Also scored 4 TDs on punt returns and 1 TD on a kickoff return.

Will Vakalahi, LB

5-10, 220, Sr.

Made 6 TFL and had 2 QB pressures. Broke up 2 passes. Made 61 primary tackles and 29 assists.

Keegan Hurst, DL

6-2, 245, Sr.

Named Academic All-State. Had 18 primary tackles and 15 assists. Accounted for 4 sacks, 5 tackles for loss, and forced 2 fumbles.

By COLE POLLYEA

Student Reporter

Despite popular perceptions, not all drones are used to carry out acts of violence. Some are used by major companies to deliver goods, some are heavily employed to make farming more efficient, some are used to build walls and thus increase employee safety.

In the case of Penn High School, a drone is currently in the stages of production and will be used to increase surveillance and monitor activity on school grounds.

This is the latest project from Penn’s esteemed technology department and is headed by engineering teacher Evan White and his innovative class in Engineering Design and Development.

It is undisputed that the building of a drone would be of tremendous merit to the high school’s program because, as Mr. White explained, “It’s really neat for the kids to be on the cutting edge of the technology that is going to just keep growing and growing. .… They’re doing things that the industry isn’t even doing yet.”

Excitement about this unprecedented project isn’t expressed solely by the instructor. Will Gruber, one of the leading students behind the drone, also shares zeal about the building of a surveillance drone―and so apparently do his classmates.  “It’s a very tight-knit group. …. We’re pretty quiet and focused on what we need to get done.”

Gruber also went on to admit that, despite having a class size of only five, each student is a senior and has gone through the engineering program at Penn, meaning that they have taken many of the complex classes. In other words, our drone is in good hands.

Mr. White also has an optimistic view of the small class size of only five. “I love it because it’s so personable and realistic as far as communication between the kids goes .… Everyone’s kind of on the same page. They have more ownership of the project since it’s a smaller group of people. I think that really helps with this.”

However exciting this project is for the engineering student body, it is equally so for Penn’s security department, where the idea for this project originated. Along with a partnership with Honeywell, a corporate manufacturer of technologies, this project is bound to extend the security measures for Penn, as its applications are many.

Mike Seger, Penn-Harris-Madison Director of Safety and Student Services, indicated that while the exact plans for the drone are dependant upon its functional capabilities, “The application for this type of security surveillance video can have a far reaching impact in the security industry.”

Of course, a project wouldn’t be revolutionary or impressive if it didn’t face limitations. And that is certainly one of the things that makes Penn’s drone project so tremendous. For those who aren’t familiar with the standards of drones, most have a battery life of about 20 minutes and a charging time of about 90 minutes. Clearly, this presents a discrepancy. Mr. White’s solution to this problem may lie in multiple batteries or, even, multiple drones.

“The technology is not where it needs to be to do something like this,” said Mr. White. “Batteries for drones only last for about 20 minutes …. And you could probably get by with a two-hour charge time. That was part of the job for us, to increase the time [in the air] by getting a couple different drones or batteries to be switched out. .… The more amount of time the drone is operating in the air, the better.”

So while the daily (or weekly) schedule for drone use is undecided, it will certainly be confined to the national laws which govern it. And beyond the obvious rules like one cannot fly it at a certain height and interfere with air traffic, there are other extensive rules concerning drone use that Penn will have to pay special attention to. Mr. White stated that “Currently, you can’t fly at nighttime. There are always rules. You can’t fly directly over a building …. Currently, you have to be in line of sight with the drone. When it’s flying around, someone literally has to be watching it at all times.”

Mr. White’s EDD class hopes to be done with this project in March. And based on how rapidly some of these rules have been released, it’s likely that, according to White, Penn’s plans for usage of the drone will change by then. “But literally, the law is [constantly] changing. New laws came out a month ago.”

Mr. Seger adds that “Penn High School can be the first to stream video using a Drone into a Honeywell Digital Video Management system on a K-12 campus.”

Noah Krathwohl scored 19 points, and Noah Applegate scored 17 points as Penn High’s Kingsmen captured their Northern Indiana Conference Boys Basketball opener Tuesday night with a 73-66 victory against South Bend Clay.

Penn (1-2 overall, 1-0 NIC) is at Concord (2-2) on Friday night and at Elkhart Memorial (1-2) on Saturday. Clay is 1-1 overall and 0-1 NIC.

Krathwohl, a 6-foot-4 junior wing, was 8-of-9 shooting and hit 3-of-3 free throws. 

PENN (73): Drew Lutz 4, Andrew Schneider 2, Brian Doslak 7, Beau Ludwick 2, Noah Applegate 17, Noah Krathwohl 19, Matt McCown 12, Connor Schneider 6, Riley Smith 4.

PENN    24           15           15           19 – 73 

Clay        14           11           15           26 – 66

Three-pointers: PENN (2 (Lutz, Doslak), Clay 6 (Sheppard 4, Coleman 2). Shooting: PENN 27-of-53 for 51 percent, Clay 24-of-67 for 36 percent. Free-throw shooting: PENN 17-of-25 for 68 percent, Clay 12-of-17 for 71 percent. Rebounding: PENN 36 (C. Schneider 7, Doslak 6, Applegate 6, McCown 5), Clay 36 (Sheppard 8, Allen 5, Johnson 5).

Penn's Boys and Girls Swimming and Diving Teams took first place in every event as the Kingsmen beat South Bend Washington. The Penn Girls scored a 153-22 victory, and the Penn Boys defeated Washington 149-29. Meagan Ronci won first place in four events to highlight the effort of the Penn Girls. Matt Pruitt won blue ribbons in three events to lead the Kingsmen Boys.

Click the link for complete results: https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=http://pennant.phmschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Penn-vs-Washington-Coed-12-6-16.pdf&hl=en_US

Coach Brad Harper took 14 varsity wrestlers to Lake Central on Saturday for the Lake Central Harvest Classic, a prestigious, early season tournament that brings the number 1, 5, 6, and 12th ranked teams respectively along with 12 other teams.

Many ranked wrestlers made the journey to Lake Central Saturday.

In a tough field, Penn had four finalists, including Evan Light at 106, Kory Cavanaugh at 113, Jeffrey Harper at 126, and Jarod Swank at 170.

Swank won the championship at 170 pounds.

Light, Cavanaugh, and Harper each finished second.

Tanner DeMien placed third at 120, and Preston Risner placed fourth at 138. Trace Manspeaker placed fifth at 145, Jacob Suski got sixth at 160, and Chris Momotiuk placed eighth at 182. The Kingsmen finished 3rd overall in the team race.

The wrestling team is in action at home on Wednesday, Dec. 7 against South Bend Riley.

The starting time for Penn High School’s Girls Basketball game against Jimtown scheduled for Friday, Dec. 2, has been changed.

Jimtown has cancelled the Junior Varsity game due to injuries.

The start time for the Varsity game between the Kingsmen and Jimmies has been moved up to 7 p.m.

Penn High School’s Fine Arts Academy presents, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” on Friday, Dec. 2 (7 p.m.), Saturday, Dec. 3 (7 p.m.) and Sunday, Dec. 4 )3 p.m.) in the Center for Performing Arts. Tickets can be purchased online at https://www.ticketracker.com/store/events/1529 .

    “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is a comedic play written by William Shakespeare. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of Theseus, the Duke of Athens, to Hippolyta.