Penn High School placed first overall at the Technology Student Association Indiana State Conference competition held at Purdue University, February 14-15, 2025.

A Photo Gallery is posted below.

Individual results:

Audio Podcasting:

1st: Ishita Awasthi, Fiona Bao, Diya Lahane, and Vyomi Patel

2nd: Jacob Bognar and Carter Mitchell

Board Game Design:

1st: Kai King, Carter Mitchell, Hal Roach, and Mitchell Schindler

5th: Shivam Kalani, Kathy Lee, Harsh Patel, and Emily Shim

CAD 2D Architectural Design:

5th: William Wu

CAD 3D , Engineering Design:

1st: Raafe Rahman

4th: Kathy Lee

Children’s Stories:

2nd: Amina Spahic, Rebecca Wolter, and Kelsey Meyer

3rd: Madison Kuzmic, Victoria Kuznetsov, and Jasmine Petresh

Coding:

4th: Sultaan Khan and Aydin Kurama

5th: Joshua Oh and Aydin Qazi

Debating Technology Issues:

2nd: Kai King and Sohan Patel

3rd: Arnav Meda and Kaiyi Zhao

Dragster Design:

5th: Calum Jessop

Engineering Design:

1st: Shivam Kalani, Kathy Lee, Harsh Patel, and Emily Shi

Future Tech Teacher:

1st: Jacob Bognar

Manufacturing Prototype:

1st: Kai King and Hal Roach

On Demand Video:
1st: Ishita Awasthi, Fiona Bao, Diya Lahane, and Vyomi Patel

2nd: Calum Jessop, Liam Perrin, Raafe Rahman, Wasi Rasul, and Kevin Wu

5th: Hamza Ansari, Sultaan Khan, Aydin Kurama, Aidan Lee, Joshua Oh, Aydin Qazi, MohamedSuliman, and William Wu

Photographic Technology:

2nd: Rishita Maheshwaram

Prepared Presentation:

3rd: Kaiyi Zhao

5th: Arnav Meda

Structural Design and Engineering:

1st: Amina Spahic and Rebecca Wolter

Technology Problem Solving:

1st: Liam Perrin and Raafe Rahman

Elected TSA State Officers for the 2025-2026 school year:

President: Ishita Masetty

Treasurer: Abhijay Masetty

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Penn High School Principal Dr. Sean Galiher, along with assistant principals, director of athletics and students showed off and explained how Penn is “Building Bright Futures.”

At the Penn-Harris-Board of School Trustees meeting held Monday, Feb. 10 at Penn, the high school demonstrated how they are putting this year’s theme into action in everything they do.

From highlights from the Homecoming parade in the fall to reports on Penn’s amazing 98% graduation rate and everything in between. Other reports included:

• Building & Trades program (now in its 56th year!)
• Engineering Design & Development program (competed against and beat college students in the TECH 120 class at Purdue) 
• Class of 2025 students on track for an Honors Diploma
• AP Enrollment & Success
• SAT Performance
• Attendance
• Athletic & Academic Teams update
• Teacher Professional Development update
• … and so much more!

Click here to view Principal Dr. Galiher’s full presentation.

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Juniors:

Penn’s School Day SAT, which is required for all Juniors, will be on Wednesday, March 5, 2025. 

The SAT School Day: Student Guide is available only as a digital resource, since students may access full length practice tests through their College Board account.

Click here for a SAT School Day Study Guide.

Fourth and fifth-grade students from Bittersweet, Elm Road, Mary Frank, Meadow’s Edge, and Northpoint elementary schools recently enjoyed a musical demonstration by the Penn High School Symphonic Orchestra. This event offered the elementary students an exciting glimpse into what musical instruments may be in their future.

The demonstration began with a slow, moving piece before transitioning into a showcase of individual instruments. Penn orchestra members lined up at the front of the stage to perform brief solos. Each instrument’s unique sound and appearance were highlighted, sparking curiosity and excitement among the elementary students.

The event reached its peak when two Penn teachers brought a thrilling touch of cinematic drama to the stage. Dressed as Princess Leia and Darth Vader from Star Wars, the duo engaged in a light saber battle to the delight of the audience. In a dramatic twist, Darth Vader emerged victorious and led the orchestra in a powerful rendition of the iconic “Imperial March.” Adding to the spectacle, the string players adorned their bows with LED lights, transforming them into glowing light sabers as they performed the final number.

The demonstration not only entertained but also served as an introduction to the world of orchestral music, inspiring many young students to consider learning an instrument in the future. The Penn High School Symphonic Orchestra’s performance was a perfect blend of education and entertainment, leaving a lasting impression on its young audience.

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Three Penn High School Debate students will compete in the National Debate Tournament for a second consecutive year, and seven other Penn students have also qualified for Nationals.

The Nationals will be held in Des Moines, Iowa, this summer.

Stanley Liew, Noah Shafer and Chris Chen of Penn and the Northwest Indiana World Schools Gold Team will compete in the National Tournament as a result placing in the Final Four of last year’s National Tournament.

Five Penn High School students qualified in District competition for the National Debate Tournament.

The students qualified by placing first at the Northwest Indiana District. 

Penn’s National Qualifiers (through district competition):

• Public Forum – Alina Luck and Jaanavi Kaushi 1st place; Amina Spahic and Rebecca Wolter 2nd Place

• In Lincoln Douglas – Akul Bhamabani 1st place

Additionally, two Penn students qualified in the Northwest Indiana District Congress competition:

• House of Representatives – Grant Spadafore 1st place
• Senate – Ishita Masetty 1st

Penn’s Debate Team is coached by Jeremy Starkweather.

Congratulations to Mr. Curt Rallo, Penn High School Journalism teacher, Penn Sports Information Director, and member of the P-H-M District Communications Team for being named to the Class of 2025 Indiana Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame.

Mr. Rallo is a graduate of Penn High School earning his bachelor’s degree from Indiana University-South Bend and a master’s degree from Bethel University.

Mr. Rallo is a working journalist in the truest sense of the word. His experience includes working for the South Bend Tribune for 38 years, covering local high school sports, Big Ten Men’s Basketball and Football, the University of Notre Dame, as well as spot coverage of the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB. Just some of the notable pro athletes he’s covered include: Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Skylar Diggins, Pat Connaughton, and Michael Jordan (basketball and baseball). While covering college and professional sports, Mr. Rallo reported on the Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, Maui Invitational, NCAA men’s basketball Final Fours (I.U. and Michigan State) and women’s basketball Final Fours (Notre Dame 6x), covering MLB, NFL and NBA playoffs.

For his work covering Indiana high school sports, Mr. Rallo was recognized by the IHSAA with the Distinguished Media Service Award  in 1996.

Mr. Rallo brought his broad depth of experience in sports reporting back to Penn High School when he began teaching in 2001 while still working at the Tribune. He’s now been with P-H-M for 24 years teaching Sports Journalism and serving as the Sports ID for the Kingsmen Athletic Department. He’s also been known to call some Kingsmen games/matches. Mr. Rallo oversees a team of student writers, photographers, videographers, graphic artists, etc. serving as Penn’s own independent sports media outlet. Mr. Rallo and his students impressively cover all of Penn’s teams giving his students real hands-on experiences of doing everything from live play by play on the Pennant YouTube Channel, feature stories on the Pennant website, and in depth conversations with student-athletes and coaches on the Pennant Podcast. Mr. Rallo and the student sports journalists also manage Pennant Facebook, Instagram, and X. Mr. Rallo teaches his students the importance of deadlines and in this age of social media covering sporting events in real time. The volume, but more importantly the quality, of content Mr. Rallo covers with his dedicated team of students makes him beyond worthy of this recognition. His students are very fortunate to learn from a true and talented professional.

It’s hard to believe with all that he does at Penn High School, but Mr. Rallo still does freelance work covering Notre Dame football and basketball for the Associated Press.

Mr. Rallo will be inducted at the annual awards banquet to be held in early April in Greenwood. Click for more details on the other inductees on the Stateline Sports Network website.

Five Penn High School students qualified for the National Debate Tournament to be held this summer in Des Moines, Iowa.

The students qualified by placing first at the Northwest Indiana District. 

Penn’s National Qualifiers:

• Public Forum – Alina Luck and Jaanavi Kaushi 1st place; Amina Spahic and Rebecca Wolter 2nd Place

• In Lincoln Douglas – Akul Bhamabani 1st place

Penn’s Debate Team, coached by Jeremy Starkweather, will look to repeat at State Champions this weekend at the Debate State Finals at Avon High School.

State qualifiers:

Congress:

Grant Spadafore

Ishita Masetty

Sohan Patel

Roman Gargis

Lincoln-Douglas:

Akul Bhambhani

Sarah Rooney

Chris Chen

Anton Kozelichki

Public  Forum:

Alina Luck and Jaanavi Kaushik

Leah Wagner and Rayna Donald

Amina Spahic and Rebecca Wolter

Ben Galiher and Manny Singleton

Policy Debate:

Ava Lightburn and Leena Khan

Kai King and Nora McKinney

Joshua Oh and William Wu

Ethan Schafer and Rebeca Ramirez

World Schools Debate:

Jawad Siddique, Stanley Liew, Noah Shafer, Lynn Chung and Kevin Wu

Ishita Awasthi, Mira Yaradi, Sarah Ahmed, Sydney Herriman and Victoria Sanchez

The Community Foundation of St. Joseph County announced that Penn High School students Areej Arif and Matthew Deahl earned Lilly Endowment Community Scholarships.

The prestigious award provides recipients with four-year, full-tutition scholarships and a book stipend for the Indiana college or university of their choice.

Arif is undecided about college. She plans to major in psychology and be on a pre-dental track.

Arif has been a leader in DECA and the Key Club. She worked with her DECA team to create a start-up AI health baby monitor with vibration technology to help prevent SIDS. She and her team collaborated with local doctors and research statistics related to SIDS to help create and market their product, winning at both at the local and state levels. Arif is involved with Math Club and helped create the first district-wide free math tutoring system at elementary schools. She also serves through a Kingsmen Tutoring Intership and has been a State Champion and State Runner-up in Academic Spell Bowl. Arif has been an events leader for project such as dood drives and other community service initiatives. She also competes in figure skating.

Deahl plans to attend the University of Notre Dame and study Finance and Political Science. He is an AP Scholar with Distinction and was named an Indiana Academic Rising Star by the Indiana Association of School Principals. He is a two-time DECA State Champion and the DECA Region 1 President, as well as the Penn DECA President. He earned ISSMA Cello Indiana State Gold Medalist with Distinction. He has earned the Trish Ross Servant Leadership Award. Deahl is also the President of the South Bend Common Council Youth Advisory Council and a summer research intern at the University of Notre Dame Lucy Civic Innovation Lab. He is also co-CEO and co-owner of Speakiful LLC, an in-person and virtual public speaking and humanities tutor, and part of the South Bend-Mishawaka Youth Leadership for Hope for the Hungry.

Monday, January 13, 2025 the P-H-M Board of School Trustees approved a $10,000 donation by newly elected P-H-M Board of School Trustee Gary Fox to the P-H-M Education’s Naming Rights Campaign to name Penn High School’s new fieldhouse. The contribution will name the building currently under construction the Dr. Jerry and Donna Thacker Fieldhouse (click here for more details on the fieldhouse; and click here for pictures from the May 2024 groundbreaking.).

The fieldhouse investment for our students will NOT raise taxes for the residents of Penn, Harris, and Madison Townships. The Administration and Board are committed to fiscal responsibility and the district is in excellent financial health. Also on January 13^th , P-H-M held its Board of Finance meeting where P-H-M Executive Director of Business Services Dr. Thomas Keeley presented the Board with the district’s financial report (click here to see the Board of Finance presentation). P-H-M has one of the lowest tax rates in St. Joseph County of $0.9275 for three straight years.

Dr. Thacker began his teaching career at Penn-Harris-Madison at Madison Elementary School. He received his doctorate from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan; a master’s in elementary education from Indiana University South Bend; and a bachelor of science in elementary education from Bethel College. He returned to P-H-M in July 2006 as Superintendent. Under Dr. Thacker’s leadership, P-H-M has become one of Indiana’s most premier school districts with the schools, students, teachers, and staff achieving countless recognitions, at the state, national and international level.

P-H-M is among Indiana’s top performing public school corporations. With the release of the Spring 2024 ILEARN results, P-H-M is in the Top 4% of Indiana’s public school districts. Out of public schools that passed both ELA and Math: Prairie Vista Elementary School is #3 and Discovery Middle School is #2. Penn High School has a 98% graduation rate. Click here for a listing of P-H-M’s most recent Points of Excellence.

Dr. Thacker is a well-respected educator; some of his many professional recognitions include:

• 2017 IAPSS Indiana Outstanding Educator Award
• 2015 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year – Indiana University South Bend
• 2014 Sagamore of the Wabash, Issued by Indiana Governor Mike Pence
• 2013 IAPSS Indiana Outstanding Educator Award
• 2012 AASA Indiana Superintendent of the Year
• 2012 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year – Indiana University South Bend, School of Education
• 2012 Alumnus of the Year – Bethel College
• 2012 Indiana Senate Resolution, Congratulating Indiana Superintendent of the Year
• 2012 Indiana House of Representatives Resolution, Congratulating Indiana Superintendent of the Year

Donna Thacker is a former educator herself, a retired public school music teacher. Mrs. Thacker has been a staple in the community and a longtime volunteer and supporter of the P-H-M Education Foundation in such events as the Silver Mile and Running is Elementary.

Both Dr. and Mrs. Thacker have generously supported the Foundation with their time, leadership, service and financial contributions over the years. Since 2021, the Thackers have donated $232,500, including also contributing to PHMEF’s Naming Rights Campaign:

1. Chris Geesman Kingsmen Athletic Center (formerly the Kingsmen Athletic Center), $25,000 donated in December 2021 ($5,000 per year over five years, for an overall period of 12 years)
2. Al Rhodes Kingsmen Court, $10,000 donated in October 2023 
3. Arthur M. Klinger Planetarium (formerly the  P-H-M DVT & Planetarium), $10,000 donated in January 2024
4. Yeoman Family Plaza, $10,000 donated in March 2024 
5. Greg Dikos Field, $10,000 donated in August 2024 

The naming of the Dr. Jerry and Donna Thacker Fieldhouse is a fitting tribute to their unwavering commitment to Penn-Harris Madison and its students.

Gary Fox and his wife Tammy are longtime donors of the P-H-M Education Foundation most recently supporting the Fun Zone at Penn’s 2024 Homecoming and the Short Circuits program for all P-H-M 3rd graders at all 11 elementary schools. Gary served on the P-H-M Board of School Trustees for 19 years from 2001-2020 before stepping down. He was re-elected to Harris Township, Seat 4 in the November 2024 election. Gary was sworn in at the Monday, January 13^th Board Meeting (click here to read this story).

Per PHMEF’s Naming Rights fundraising initiative, 80 percent of the donation will go into the Foundation’s endowment, which will in turn provide alternative and additional funding for various co-curricular and extracurricular programs. The remaining 20 percent directly funds professional development initiatives for P-H-M teachers. Continuing the education and training of teachers is a major priority for P-H-M School District.

The mission of the Education Foundation is to develop alternative sources of income to support education initiatives in the School Corporation by strengthening partnerships between the community and the District. PHMEF supports education through awarding innovative teaching grants and other corporation-wide initiatives.

Sreeja Bhattacharjee and Rebecca Wagman earned regional Gold Key awards in the prestigious Scholastic Writing Competition. Scholastic is one of the longest-running scholarship and recognition programs in the nation.

Seven Penn students earned regional recognition in the nationwide contest. Penn Creative Writing Instructor Caelea Armstrong serves as the Scholastic Writing Adviser.

PENN SCHOLASTIC AWARD WINNERS

• Ada Bidler – Writing Portfolio, Silver Key

                    Poetry “She Is”, Silver Key

                    Flash Fiction “The Point”, Honorable Mention

                    Flash Fiction “Ode to the Fangirl, Honorable Mention

                    Humor “A Typical Monday Morning at Space Names Co.” Honorable Mention

• Amaya Northern – Poetry “Where I’m From”  Honorable Mention

• Arianna Balinnang – Poetry “calculator’ Silver Key

                         Poetry “ink” Silver Key

• Sreeja Bhattacharjee – Flash Fiction “Human, After All” Gold Key

                            Poetry “every day is a dying breath” Honorable Mention

• Charlotte Chung – Flash Fiction “The Boy’s Rock” Silver Key
• Maya Gelesko – Writing Portfolio Silver Key
• Rebecca Wagman – Personal Essay/Memoir “The Name of my Ancestors” Gold Key

                               Short Story “The Violinist of Brussels” Honorable Mention