Saturday, May 5

8:30 a.m. – Noon

Penn High School

Register online today!

Do you like bubbles? Well, if you do, you’ll enjoy this fun change coming to the Silver Mile this year. The Silver Mile 5K Run/Walk will now be a Bubble Bash! 

What is a Bubble Bash, you ask? Watch the video below from P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker and then click here to register your family today!

The non-timed 5K Run/Walk will incorporate bubble stations along the route for participants to travel through during the event. The Fun Walk will now be incorporated into this event, and there will be an option to take a shorter loop for those not wanting to run/walk the 5K. This event will start at 9:00 a.m. on the TCU Freed Field Track.

After the Bubble Bash, runners and families are invited inside Penn High School’s cafeteria for the Education & Health and Fitness Fair complete with free health screenings provided by the St. Joseph Medical Center. The popular Silent Auction offers a chance to bid on prime Penn student parking spaces and new this year … Penn Commencement front row seat!!! Student works of art and other items from community businesses are also offered. And the Talent Showcase has been expanded to an hour this year.

All proceeds benefit the P-H-M Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support excellence in education in all 15 P-H-M schools by awarding innovative teaching grants, scholarships to students, staff development and other corporation-wide initiatives.

Click here for early bird registration and for more information on the Bubble Bash.

Competitors from more than 40 high schools in Indiana and Michigan, along with more than 5,000 fans and officials packed Penn High School’s Arena for the FIRST Robotics St. Joseph District Event on Saturday, March, 10, and Sunday, March 11.

And by the time that the last robot raced across the field laid out on the Arena floor, one team stood above the rest – Penn High School’s Robotics Team 135.

Coached by Jim Langfeldt, Josiah Parker and Evan White, Team 135 earned distinction at the event by winning the coveted Chairman’s Award.

Click here for a Photo Gallery of the Robotics Competition at Penn on March 10 and March 11.

The Chairman’s Award honors the team that best represents a model for other teams to emulate and best embodies the purpose and goals of FIRST.   

By winning the Chairman’s Award, Penn’s Team 135 qualifies for the State Finals on Friday, April 13, and Saturday, April 14, at Kokomo.

Penn will compete against 23 of the top-ranked teams in the state for a chance to represent Indiana at the World Championships in Detroit

The Chairman's Award qualifies team 135 for state. Held April 13 and 14 at Kokomo's Memorial Gymnasium. We will compete against 23 of the top ranked teams for a chance to represent Indiana at the World Championships in Detroit on April 25-29.

"Winning the Chairman's Award puts Team 135 in a small group of very high achieving teams across the world,” Penn Robotics Instructor James Langfeldt said. “Everyone knows we build robots, but the mission of 135 is … to create a new generation of problem solvers and to inspire young minds through diverse experiences."

“When you look at our work on the team, you can quickly see how passionate we are to inspire the next generation of problem solvers,” Langfeldt said. “From summer camps to outreach events, Team 135 is out in front, inspiring people of all ages and interests!”

Langfeldt said that the signature project of Team 135 is Mission to Engineer.

“Mission to Engineer … is transforming the assistive technology community as we bridge teams like ours to people in need of solutions in local communities all over the world,” Landfeldt said. “From prosthetics to software controlled wheelchairs, Team 135 is on a mission to bring low cost solutions to people in need.”

Penn High School’s TSA (Technology Student Association) team dominated State TSA competition, earning first place in seven of the 10 events. The State competition was held at Indiana State University on March 9. Penn students placed second in the other two events in which they competed.

Penn results:

CAD 2D Architectural: 1st place – Daniel Nilov 

CAD 3D Engineering: 1st place – Alex Pippin 

Architectural Design (Team Event): 1st place – Allison Nguyen, Daniel Nilov, Celine Wang, and Karen Wang

Dragster Design: 1st place – Aaron Jackson

Coding: 1st place – Daniel Kline

Debating Technology Issues: 1st place – Arianna Hardy and Jackson Kirby

Essays on Technology: 1st place – Mia Schwartz

Structural Design and Engineering (Team event): 2nd place – Sharon Ni and Julia Son

Future Technology Teacher: 2nd place – Aaron Jackson

Mia Schwartz was also elected in as Indiana TSA Vice President of Operations.

Penn High School Robotics Team 135 hosted the FIRST Robotics St. Joseph District Event on Saturday, March 10.

A Photo Gallery is posted below.

Penn High’s Competition Poms Team placed fifth in the State Championships on Saturday, March 10.

Coach Cindi Minegar’s team also had two soloists place in the Top 15 in the state.

Kurumi Narasaki placed eighth in the state, and Rachel Wobbe placed 11^th in the state.

Parking will not be allowed along the back drive on the east side towards the football practice field (the area highlighted in red in the picture below). These parking spaces will be designated CONSTRUCTION PARKING ONLY from 6 a.m. – 5 p.m. starting on Monday, March 5, and remaining that way through the summer and into the start of the 2018-19 school year.

Parking next to the building and the designated handicap parking spots will remain unchanged.

Penn High’s Kingsmen waged a valiant effort, but the Kingsmen were defeated by unbeaten and No. 2-ranked South Bend Riley, 60-47, in Class 4-A high school basketball sectional action at Mishawaka on Friday, March 2.

Penn’s season ends at 14-10. Riley improves to 23-0.

Penn led by as many as seven points early in the first half and led 25-24 at halftime.

Noah Applegate led all scorers with 23 points to power the Kingsmen upset effort.

Indiana University recruit Damezi Anderson led Riley with 16 points.

Noah Krathwohl scored 12 points.

Drew Lutz contributed 11 points to the Kingsmen effort.

Penn outrebounded Riley 28-17.

PENN 47: Carter Hickey 0, Drew Lutz 11, Beau Ludwick 1, Luke Carlton 0, Noah Applegate 23, Noah Krathwohl 12, Kegan Hoskins 0, Cameron Koschnick 0, Jeffrey Hemmelgarn 0.

Riley 60: Trevor Fortune 4, Jalen Jennings 6, Mikel Dorsey 0, Shamar Dillard 7, Damezi Anderson 16, Harrington Greer 4, Gabe Johnson 7, Rylen Grundy 4, Marlon Taylor 12, Ty’juan Reid 0.

PENN             16        9          4          18 – 47

Riley               9          15        12        24 – 60

Three-pointers: PENN 3 (Noah Applegate 2, Drew Lutz 1), Riley 3 (Anderson 1, Grundy 1, Taylor 1).

The application window for P-H-M Education Foundation’s Spring 2018 Grant Cycle is now open!

PHMEF grants are eligible to any P-H-M staff member who can demonstrate a program’s innovation and creativity, and reflect commitment to excellence in education. Deadline for all grant applications is 4 p.m. Thursday March 29, at the ESC (55900 Bittersweet Rd., Mishawaka).

PHMEF is seeking innovative programs that have not been previous funding through past grant cycles. Note there are funding restrictions such as not paying for substitutes, food, party supplies, etc. A complete list of restrictions can be found in the application packet. Those applications requesting non-funded expenses will not be presented to the Grants Committee.

So parents work with your student’s teacher or principal to write up a grant proposal for a program you’ve been wishing you child’s school had. PHMEF grants are eligible to any staff member who can demonstrate their program’s innovation, creativity and reflects commitment to excellence in education. Click here for a list of the unique Fall grant awardees.

There are two ways to apply—EZ Form or Traditional Form. Grant applications and filing details can be found online at the Education Foundation’s website or by clicking on the links below:

1. EZ Form: for grants less than $250
2. Traditional Form: to be used for grants requesting $250 or more and/or a request that is comprehensive (multi-classroom, school-wide or district-wide requests)

The timeline for the PHMEF Spring Grant Cycle is as follows:

• Thursday, March 28 – All applications (EZ Form and Traditional Form) must be turned in by 4 p.m. at ESC or emailed if it is the EZ Form. No late applications will be accepted. Note there must be 10 copies for the traditional form.
• Between March 27 and April 24 – PHMEF grant committee meets to select recipients
• April 25 – P-H-M Education Foundation Board of Directors approve grant selections.
• By May 1– Recipients will be notified by email with formal letter to follow
• By May 7 – Checks will be sent to the recipient’s home school. 

*Adobe Acrobat Reader will be required to view pdfs loaded on our website. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, please visit Adobe’s website, at this link www.get.adobe.com/reader/, to download your free version. Or you can stop by the Education Resources Center at  55900 Bittersweet Rd., Mishawaka to pick up a copy.

Penn High School's Competition Poms Team qualified for the State Championships, which will be held on Friday, March 9, and Saturday, March 10.

The Poms qualified by placing third in the Northern Regional.

Rachel Wobbe and Kurumi Narasaki qualified for State as individuals.

“We did have a rather slow start to our season this year, but after numerous extra rehearsals, many hours of outside practice, and changes in choreography, their hard work paid off last Saturday at the Northern Regional Competition,” Minegar said. “We still have more changes in choreo and a LOT of hard work to go, but the girls are ready for this adventure! State finals here we come!”

The Penn Theatre Department performed “Shrek The Musical”.

A Photo Gallery is posted below.