Penn High School’s Dance Team placed first in the Class AAA competition held at Fort Wayne Northrop High School on Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019.

Penn’s Rachel Wobbe placed third in the Senior Solo.

Penn High School students excelled at the University of Michigan Model United Nations competition held Jan. 11-12, 2019, in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Robert Zhang was named Outstanding Delegate at the competition, and Evan Futa earned Best Delegate honors.

Siddharth Das, Michelle Kwok, Evan Futa and Laura Gerber earned Verbal Recognition honors.
 

The Penn High School Orchestras and Choirs will present a Madrigal Dinner, “Princess Grace of Knockerdown”, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Jan. 17, 18 and 19, 2019.

The event is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. in the Studio Theater.

Tickets for the dinner and the show are $25. This includes open main floor seating and a catered dinner by The Skillet. Tables seat up to six people. Dinner tickets must be purchased online at least one day before the show.

Tickets for the show only are $10, and include theatre-side seats and back seats. Show-only tickets may be purchased online or at the door.

CLICK HERE to purchase tickets.

Come join Penn’s talented musicians, singers, actors, servers for a fabulous show and meal.

The performance is centered around the character Princess Grace, who is cursed – she hurts and knocks down everyone who comes in contact with her. The King and Queen are desperately trying to get her married. Can any of the three suitors survive Grace? Can anyone break the curse?

Penn High School earned its third consecutive Indiana High School Girls Wrestling Association State Championship on Friday, Jan. 11, at Hamilton Heights High School.

Jaden Johnson (88) & Kylei Gray (152) won individual State Championships.

Penn dominated the event, racking up 116 points to claim the Team State Championship. Bloomington South placed second with 47 points, and New Haven was third with 46 points.

PENN RESULTS

88: 1. Jaden Johnson.

120: 5. Anjali Pant.

126: 3. Zoe Nurenberg.

132: 6. Emma Ringer, 8. Carmyn Pollock.

152: 1. Kylei Gray, 4. Damola Idowu.

160: 3. Aiesha Helepa.

170: 2. Amanda Feder.

182: 6. Alexis Schirf, 7. Zoie Quam.

195: 3. Andelisia Henry.

220: 3. Sadie Kunze.

285: 2. Katie Selis.

The first day for students of the 2019-2020 school year is Wednesday, August 21, 2019 and the last day for students is Wednesday, June 3, 2020.

Other important dates include:

• September 2, 2019: Recess Day – Labor Day
• October 25 & 28, 2019: Fall Recess Days
• November 5, 2019: Recess Day – General Election
• November 27-29, 2019: Thanksgiving Recess Days
• December 23-Jan. 3, 2020: Winter Break
• January 20, 2020: Recess Day – Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• February 17, 2020: Recess Day – Presidents’ Day
• April 6-10, 2020: Spring Break
• May 5, 2020: Recess Day – Primary Election
• May 25, 2020: Recess Day – Memorial Day

Click here for a one-page pdf copy of the 2019-2020 school year calendar.

If you need copies of the 2018-2019 school year and activity calendars, please click here.

Two former Penn High School students, Travis Fraser and A.J. Turczynski,  were part of an Elkhart Area Career Center Team that earned honors at the 2018 Hot Rodders of Tomorrow "Showdown at PRI" World Championship in Indianapolis. Fraser and Turczynski each graduated in 2018.

The Team Engine and Performance Warehouse placed sixth in the nation, earning each team member $22,500 in scholarship dollars. The Team Howards Cams placed 12th in the nation, earning each team member $15,000 in scholarship dollars.

Penn High School’s annual Snowball Dance will be held from 7:30 – 11:00 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 20, 2019.

Join your fellow Kingsmen for an incredible 2019 Snowball experience.  The theme for the 2019 Snowball Dance is the Crystal Ice Palace.

Tickets are $25 per person, which includes all-you-can drink lattes, coffees, frappucinos, as well as a delectable dessert bar, dancing, and of course some special "surprises" throughout the evening.

Click here to purchase tickets. Tickets may also be purchased at Penn outside of the Cafeteria only on Thursday, Jan. 17, and Friday, Jan. 18. Please note $1.95 service fee will be charged by Eventbrite for tickets purchased online.

Bring a date, a group of friends, or come solo.

The entrance for the dance will be at Door C. The dance will be held in the Main Arena and West Balcony.

*Be sure to check your confirmation email for the link to make your song requests in advance.

*Also please note that this year shoes WILL BE ALLOWED. Students will not need to remove their shoes. A tarp will be on the Arena floor to protect the court, but students will be able to keep their shoes on.

Parent Volunteers are needed for the Winter Dance. Sign up to volunteer here.

Penn Robotics Team 135 is once again holding workshops for 1^st ​- 8th grade students over two days of Winter Recess (Thurs., Dec. 27 & Friday, Dec. 28).

Creative Workshop 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM

Suggested Age: 1^st ​- 3^rd graders. Price: $80.00. A camp that  stretches the creative mind! Students are given a design challenge to complete over the course of two days. Students will be using K’NEX to build a solution to the stated problem. They will be on teams that will design, create, and improve upon their concept. While having fun in an exciting environment, the emphasis is always on the process of design to build, while always improving on previous ideas! On Friday students will have the opportunity to test their concepts against the other teams within the workshop. Parents are also welcome to attend the Parent Show which will take place the last 15 minutes of the workshop on the December 28th. High school robotics students will be mentors during these two days of fun!

Applied Workshop 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Suggested Age: 4^th – 8^th graders. Price: $80.00. This camp is geared towards students who want to expand their knowledge in designing and manufacturing! This workshop is also geared towards students who can follow instructions and are comfortable behind computer software. Over the two days, students will be designing 3D parts on the computer that can be brought to life with many CNC Machines. Students will have the opportunity to use the 3D printer, CNC Laser Cutter, the CNC Router, and many other tools/machines in the Penn Robotics Lab! High school students will be mentoring and helping students with their 3D computer designs and machining their parts.

Click here to sign-up and pay online today!

Help support PHMEF & celebrate Penn High School athletic history … “Crowning Achievement” chronicles the Penn Kingsmen football teams from 1958 – 2017 and honors legendary 30-year Coach Chris Geesman and current Head Coach Cory Yeoman. The book is chock-full of stats on every team since 1958, pictures and an all-time roster; it’s a real treasure for Penn  alumni.

Whether you or someone you know is a Kingsmen fan, this book makes a thoughtful, keepsake holiday gift.

And now with special holiday pricing, you can buy one book for yourself and gift one to another Kingsmen fan! Get one book for $20 or two books for $30!

Click to buy your copies today online. 

Books can also be purchased at the front desk of P-H-M’s Educational Service Center at 55900 Bittersweet Rd., Mishawaka—the building just north of Penn High School. Local pick up is at the ESC; mailing is available. 

Penn High School’s Robotics Team 135 and it’s Mission to Engineer project has been named a state finalist—just one of five Indiana middle and high schools—for the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Grant and a chance to ultimately win $100,000!

Samsung designed the nationwide contest to boost interest and proficiency in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). The contest challenges public school teachers and students in Grades 6-12 to show how STEM can be applied to help improve their local community. 

The Solve for Tomorrow Grant has several stages and Team 135 is currently in the second stage, which is the activity plan (see the timeline breakdown below). 

First Round (Nov. 21 – Dec. 10, 2018)

• Samsung announces 250 state finalists selected to submit an Activity Plan that lays out how they will improve their community using STEM. Each school receives a Samsung Tablet.

Other Indiana state finalists include Goshen High School, Center for Inquiry – IPS 2, South Adams Middle School, and South Decatur Jr/Sr High School.

Second Round (Jan. 3 – Feb. 15, 2019)

• Samsung publicly announces 50 state winners.
• Each school receives a $20,000 prize package and video kit!
   

Penn student David Simonetti and Engineering Teacher Tara Pieters have completed the first part of the grant. Now students David Simonetti, Michelle Kwok, and McKenna Hillsdon-Smith are finalizing the activity plan for a chance for Penn Robotics to earn a $20,000 grant! If Team 135 moves on to the next stage, it will receive a video kit to produce a video showcasing Mission to Engineer for a $50,000 prize! The National Champion will be announced in April 2019 with three winners to receive $100,000 prize package!

Third Round (March 2019)

• Samsung announces 10 national finalists.
• Each school receives a $50,000 prize package and a trip to the Final Event.
• Online voting for the Community Choice winner begins.

National Winners Announced April 2019

• 10 national finalists present their prototype  to a panel of judges.
• Samsung announces 3 national winners to receive a $100,000 prize package!

Penn’s Mission to Engineer is an assistive technology initiative started by Penn Robotics that aims to provide children with custom devices for disabilities. Not only does Penn Robotics provide custom solutions, but it also makes them free of charge.

Penn’s Robotics program is currently working with two disabled students continuing their work on the “Engineering Ella” project and starting a new project, “Innovations for Isaiah,” to assist a student at P-H-M’s Moran Elementary School. Past projects also include the “Voice for Braylen” and “Hand of Grace” projects.

Ella has Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type 1, a disease resulting in a lack of motor neurons in her muscles, leaving her paralyzed and unable to speak. Team 135 has reprogrammed her wheelchair, created hand stabilizers, a notifier for when her feed tube overflows, and many other things that will help improve her life.

Another child who Penn Robotics just started working with is 4^th grader Isaiah, who has Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita, resulting in less flexible joints. For Isaiah, students are working on a modified scooter for gym class, a comfortable bike that he can ride, and devices that will assist  Isaiah in day-to-day life.

Learn more about Penn Robotics’ Mission to Engineer initiative at missiontoengineer.team135.org.