Penn High School’s Pep Band, under the direction of D.J. Landoll, performed at the Notre Dame Men’s Basketball Game on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. The Fighting Irish played against North Carolina State.

“Being invited to perform was a reflection of the trust that Notre Dame has in the Penn music program and the P-H-M brand,” Landoll said. “It seems that we have a reputation that inspired confidence in the event organizers, who were gracious professionals and helped create a good experience for our kids.

 “We’re proud of our product and enjoyed getting to show it to a new audience, but I imagine that the students were excited primarily because it was another good reason to be with their friends making fun music – everything else is secondary,” Landoll said. “We honestly love playing together and just being together.”

The Notre Dame Men’s Basketball Team features Penn graduate Markus Burton, who was named Indiana Mr. Basketball last season.

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Penn High School’s German Club got into the Winter festivities by creating Gingerbread Houses at a recent meeting.

A Photo Gallery is posted below.

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The Dance Choreography Showcase is scheduled for 7:00 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023, at the Penn High School Center for Performing Arts.

Click here for ticket information.  

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November House Rockers 23-24

The P-H-M Education Foundation has wrapped up the grant announcements for the 2023-2024 school year; and it’s been a big year with tons of recipients. Walt Disney was the recipient of 12 grants for the combined total of $12,123.04!!!

English teacher Caelea Armstrong partnered with student Akash Singh to apply for $1,000 to purchase basic self-care and hygiene products for students. The money will be used to buy soap, hair products, deodorant, etc., as well as storage containers and distribution bags for students in need. Printed awareness materials, such as posters and other informational materials, will also be paid for out of the funds.

Robotics and Manufacturing teachers Kyle Marsh and Scott Shelhart applied for and received $3,000 for the “Kingsmen Karting through STEM project. Students collaborate with each other to design, manufacture, fabricate, test and evaluate two go-karts. The initiative encourages collaboration and further develop students’ understanding of physics, math and technology.

Penn Art Gallery Curator Jessica Marsh was awarded $1,000 to purchase the necessary materials to start a jewelry program at the high school. Students will be encouraged to submit to Scholastic Arts and Writing competitions while learning a real applicable life skill (related to/uses welding, manufacturing, robotics and other disciplines.)

Early College Biology teacher Toni Boger-May received $1,000 to use in her Integrated Chemistry and Physics classes. Students are required to design, build and refine a device that converts one form of energy into another form of energy. Students will construct a simple AC generator using Neodymium batteries and magnets as well as build dye-sensitized solar cells to harvest sunlight into electricity.

The National Honor Society teacher sponsors Karen Tagliaferri and Lana Ealdama worked with student David Son to write a grant for $610 to purchase five plastic recycling bins for classrooms. NHS plans to increase student awareness of recycling materials in the school. The Foundation is encouraging NHS to look into expanding it to a school-wide recycling program partnering with other clubs/local agencies as necessary.

John Gensic and Amanda Bates were awarded $2,770.70 to purchase MyGardyn 3.0 to cultivate edible plants within Penn to support students facing food insecurity. The funds will also be used to provide hands-on learning experiences for Agriculture Students, Plant Club, Key Club, Environmental Awareness Club and Biology students who will all participate in the growing and harvesting of plants. 

American Sign Language teacher Delicia Huckleberry was awarded $1,577 to buy a second projector for ASL room which will allow student presenters to reference the screen on the other side of the room when presenting. Unlike other presentations, students are not able to reference their presentation slides when doing ASL so the projector will support confidence In student presentations.

Penn also received five EZ Grants:

• $216.34 to purchase fishing equipment and supplies for Penn Fishing Club, “Luring Biodiversity”
• $200 to purchase mobile white boards for students in computer science classrooms
• $249 to purchase new music selections for use at Penn and in demonstrating to 4th and 5th grade students
• $250 to purchase t-shirts for Penn Counselors to wear at school and raise awareness about the Safe School Helpline and Suicide Prevention
• $250 to purchase small gifts, candy, and cards for Penn’s “Random Acts of Kindness Club.” The items will be distributed to students.

This cycle the Foundation Grants Committee awarded $42,819.63 in funding to 15 EZ grants and 20 traditional grants. Click here for the full list of funded grants.

PHMEF has moved to one grant cycle per school year, now moved to the Fall, to allow teachers and schools time to put their grant dollars to good use right away.

Executive Director Jennifer Turnblom traveled across the district to surprise various grant recipients with the good news of their funding amount. Grants awarded this year cover a wide array of innovative programs and activities from $10,000 to Grissom Middle School to purchase keyboards for the music room to milkweed plants for Madison Elementary so the school could attract monarch butterflies.

Click here to see the photo gallery on the District’s website of the check deliveries or click to follow PHMEF’s Facebook page.

Penn High School presents its annual “Sounds of the Season” concert at

• Thursday, Dec. 7, 7:30 p.m.
• Friday, Dec. 87:30 p.m.
• Saturday, Dec. 9, 2 p.m.

Click here to purchase tickets in advance online. Tickets in advance are $6 + a processing fee. But by buying your ticket online, you can pick your seat!

Tickets are available for sale at the Box Office, which opens one hour before the concert begins. Tickets at the box office are $8.00. The Box Office can take cash or card.

Check out the Photo Gallery posted below to get an idea of what a great student production this is. You won’t want to miss it!

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Penn High School’s Early College Academy held its annual Thanksgiving meal for its students and staff.

A photo gallery is posted below.

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Today in Eric Bowers’ European History class, his students experienced a little bit of a time warp. Mr. Bowers had been going over the French Revolution, but then he did a quantum leap of 131 years to Le Francport near Compiègne, France.

That’s where the Germans signed the armistice with the Allies to end World War I. It was signed on the 11th hour of the 11th day, of the 11th month in1918. The day became known as Armistice Day, later as Remembrance Day in the United Kingdom and eventually Veterans Day, a federal holiday in the United States.

Mr. Bowers then had students sign a Veterans Day card for fellow Penn teacher Matt Rollins, who teaches Government in the Early College Academy. 

Mr. Rollins was in the Army and served in the Iraq War. Students got a chance to ask Mr. Rollins questions about his service. One student asking him if he ever interacted with anyone famous while he was in the Army. Surprisingly Mr. Rollins answer was YES!

Mr. Rollins was actually assigned to then Vice President Joe Biden’s security detail, and he told the students if they “Googled” it, they’d find a picture of him in the background of a picture of now First Lady Jill Biden.

The students did in fact find this picture of Dr. Jill Biden taken July 4, 2010 when she was visiting Camp Victory, Iraq, and who was in the background? Mr. Matt Rollins!!!

Mr. Bowers’ G1 European History class got a very well rounded Veterans Day history lesson!