The Indiana Department of Education has announced the 2014-15 Four Star Schools and six Penn-Harris-Madison Schools made the annual roster for this elite distinction.

Along with Penn, P-H-M’s other Four Star Schools are Horizon, Mary Frank, Northpoint and Prairie Vista Elementary Schools, along with Discovery Middle School.

In order to achieve this designation, a school must be in the top 25th percentile of schools in two ISTEP-based categories. Additionally, a qualifying school must have earned the highest designation in the state’s accountability system and be accredited by the Indiana Department of Education. A total of 287 schools received the award throughout the state. A complete list of the schools that received the award, as well as a more complete methodology outlining Four Star determination, can be found on the IDOE’s website.

In January, the 2015 ISTEP+ scores were released and P-H-M ranked 10th in the state among 293 public school districts. The District earned an 81.4% pass rate for ELA (English/Language Arts); 78.0% pass rate for Math; and an overall combined pass rate of 72.1% for both subjects areas. P-H-M was also rated an “A-rated” school district for the 6^th year in a row.

Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation serves approximately 10,700 students in 11 elementary schools, three middle schools and Penn High School. Penn High School's graduation rate exceeds the state’s with a 97% graduation rate and is rated a 90-25-90 school by the IDOE. 100% of P-H-M teachers rank either highly effective or effective. 

When Penn High School English teacher Pete DeKever would take remembrance walks on Memorial Day weekends in Mishawaka, he became more and more aware of the profound sense of history in the city as the echoes of the past spoke:

The words of Robert F. Kennedy ringing out to an impassioned crowd in the 100 block of South Main Street during the 1968 Indiana Democratic Primary campaign. …. The vibrant tones of early rock-n-roll and Doo Wop cascading out of the popular teen-age hangout Bonnie Doon’s Restaurant in the 50’s and 60’s. …. The solemnity of walking along West Battell Street past the house where Paul Fechner lived, the Mishawaka native who died in a World War II Prisoner of War camp.

DeKever’s book, Walking Mishawaka: Self-Guided Tours of Historic Sites in the Princess City, weaves historical portraits of Mishawaka landmarks into present-day jaunts. His words paint the picture of 72 significant locations in Mishawaka, and 32 graves in historic cemeteries. The book is organized into seven walking tours.

It’s a chance for a Fitbit society to get a glimpse at Mishawaka’s rich and storied past.

Walking Mishawaka: Self-Guided Tours of Historic Sites in the Princess City pays homage to many of Mishawaka’s historic buildings and citizens.

“I was inspired to write the book by my own walks through Mishawaka and research about many topics in Mishawaka history,” DeKever said. “The genre is historical non-fiction, local history.”

DeKever said that the purpose of his book is to increase the public's understanding and appreciation of Mishawaka history and their love of Mishawaka.

“The biggest challenge in writing the book was finding different ways to convey the topics so that I was not repeating myself,” DeKever said. “The challenge we faced in publishing was integrating photos and maps and working through the proofreading process.”

DeKever found himself becoming a student of the city’s history as he chronicled his walking experiences.

“My favorite part of the process was gaining a more in-depth understanding of Mishawaka history, place by place,” DeKever said.

As an English/Language Arts teacher, DeKever will use his publishing experiences to enhance student learning at Penn.

“Writing the book gave me additional experience with research, drafting, and revision, which I can share with students,” DeKever said.

DeKever’s book can be purchased from him, and copies of Walking Mishawaka: Self-Guided Tours of Historic Sites in the Princess City are also on sale for $20 at the Hannah Lindahl Children's Museum, Gene's Camera Store, Will's Jewelry Store, and Mishawaka Art & Frame.

Walking Mishawaka: Self-Guided Tours of Historic Sites in the Princess City is DeKever’s fourth book. His future projects include a biography of Rose Hartwick Thorpe, the famous Mishawaka-born poet, and a history of the 27 state championships his teams at Penn have won in social studies and Spell Bowl.

Boasting 850 graduating seniors, Penn’s Class of 2016 showcased remarkable academic success, earning a combined value of college scholarships exceeding $9 million!

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Penn High School student reporter Arielle Kirsch attended the talk to Penn High School students by Holocaust survivor Eva Mozes Kor on Friday, May 13. Below is Kirsch’s reflection of what that moment meant to her.

On Friday, May 13, Penn students had the immense privilege to meet Holocaust survivor Eva Kor (formerly Eva Mozes).  A twin and victim of Dr. Mengele’s experiments at Auschwitz, Kor’s earliest memories depict horrific brutalities and inhuman cruelty.  Despite the horrors Kor has lived through, she maintains her strength with a positive and lively attitude guaranteed to inspire anyone who listens to her first-person account of being a Jewish child from Romania during the Holocaust.

At age 10, after four years of living in a village occupied by Nazis, Kor and her family were deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp. While standing on a strip of land outside of the cattle car from which the Mozes family had just stumbled out, Kor and her twin sister, Miriam, were separated from the rest of their family.  What the two young, innocent sisters didn’t know at the time was that they would never see any other member of their immediate family again.

Personally, I feet a very strong connection to Kor’s story.  My two maternal grandfathers both are child Holocaust survivors as well.  My mother’s father, David Tamir, was born in Belgium and lived in hiding in the attic of a Christian family for about two and a half years during the war.  My mother’s stepfather, Peter Daniels, was born in Germany and was trapped in the Czechoslovakian concentration camp Theresienstadt for approximately two years.  Growing up with the knowledge of the outrageous atrocities that my grandfathers experienced at such young ages has given me the motivation that I have to try not to take things for granted, since, when I was seven years old, I was enrolled in a fantastic school and had the privilege to go on family vacations, while, when my grandfathers were seven years old, they lived in constant fear of not surviving the day.

Kor’s speech on Friday was motivational and moving.  As I sat in the front row and listened to this beautiful woman tell of the horrors she encountered as an innocent child in Auschwitz, I realized once again how extremely fortunate I am to be growing up as a Jew in the United States in this time period, instead of being a Jew in Europe 80 years ago.

Kor recounted to her audience at Penn that, upon arriving at Auschwitz, she made a silent vow to herself that she would not let herself die in the camp.  Her incredible story served and continues to serve to empower and educate everyone listening, no matter what their beliefs or background.

A profound sense of history swept across the studio theater at Penn High School on Friday, May 13th, when Holocaust survivor Eva Mozes Kor visited Penn High School and shared her story with students.
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More than 100 students at Penn High School will showcase their skills through the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Expo on Wednesday May 25.

The event in which Penn’s STEM students will be showing and demonstrating their projects is scheduled to be from 6-8 p.m. in the Penn High School Commons and Instructional Materials Center (IMC).

Anyone attending can enter through door A.

"The work that our students at Penn create is amazing,” said Penn instructor Josiah Parker of the STEM Academy. “The STEM Expo will give them a platform to show it off to the public. Students are extremely excited to demonstrate all of the hard work that they have done."

Penn High School and Principal Steve Hope honored Class of 2016 on Senior Recognition Night on May 10, 2016.
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Penn High School’s state championship girls basketball team will be honored by the South Bend Cubs during a pre-game ceremony on Tuesday, May 24.

The pre-game ceremony is set for 6:40 p.m. on Tuesday, May 24.

Game time at Four Winds Field is 7:05 p.m. Gates open at 6 p.m. The Cubs play Great Lakes, a Los Angeles Dodgers affiliate.

Tickets for South Bend Cubs games are available online, at the box office, or by calling (574) 235-9988.

Four Winds Field is located at 501 W. South St., South Bend, Indiana.

Coach Kristi Kaniewski-Ulrich’s Penn Kingsmen won the Class 4-A girls basketball state championship on Feb. 27, at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Kingsmen defeated then No. 1 and 2015 state champ Columbus North 68-48, avenging a 67-52 regular-season loss to Columbus North. Penn finished the season 28-2. 
 

By COLE POLLYEA

Penn High School student reporter

All over the world and even here at Penn High School, there are organizations, committees, and clubs dedicated to improving the lives of those deprived of civil rights. One such organization exists under the name of Amnesty International, a worldwide club that is aimed at combatting human rights abuses all over the globe and pressuring governments into obeying said international laws.

At Penn, one of Amnesty’s largest goals is simply to raise awareness. In many cases, high school students aren’t aware of the worldly issues that Amnesty tries to bring to the forefront. What’s going on elsewhere in the world can easily and understandably take a backseat to studies, athletics, and prom dates.

One notable member, Penn senior Julia Clauss, proudly indicated that, in addition to the importance of being involved in a club with the impact that Amnesty has, it is equally important to talk over human rights violations going on in the world. Conversation about these issues also considers the implications of said violations and possible solutions. She also claimed that she intends to continue participation in Amnesty well into her future, starting first by applying for internships as soon as she is eligible.

Amnesty was founded in 1961 by an English lawyer, Peter Benenson, who was provoked by the jailing of two young boys expressing gratitude for their freedom. He wrote about this injustice and eventually rallied a group of people for the recurring cause. The group was later named Amnesty International, and continued expanding in an effort to protect people from persecution for their political, social, and religious ideologies.

Amnesty has grown ever since. Currently, it consists of more than seven million people who have been inspired by the Englishman’s belief in justice along with the realization that they shared it with him.

It’s also important to consider, according to Clauss, that Penn’s club decides what topics/issues are to be dealt with based on the impact that Penn could actually have. In addition to having “participated in the Write for Rights campaign, where we wrote to 12 different world leaders asking them to take action on human rights violations in their countries”, having “raised money for the United Nations Refugee Agency to help people fleeing Syria”, and having “started with a campaign fighting for due process under the law and against police using lethal force”, one of Penn Amnesty’s most notable achievements can be seen below.

“Last semester, we wrote letters to the Attorney General of Louisiana on behalf of Albert Woodfox, who had been in solitary confinement for over 40 years. He was originally imprisoned with two other men and was the last one to be released. We wrote over 60 letters in support of his release and, along with thousands of other letters from many other Amnesty members, he was finally released in February of this year.”