Williams named Associate Principal at Penn High School, new Academy Leaders appointed

Penn High School Principal Steve Hope announced several new appointments/changes for the start of the 2016-2017 School Year. The Penn-Harris-Madison Board of School Trustees approved (Monday, Aug. 8, 2016) Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker’s appointment of Randy Williams as Associate Principal at Penn High School. Along with Mr. Williams, Mr. Hope has named three new Academy Leaders: Laura McKenzie will serve as the Freshman Academy Leader, Shannon Gray will be the Health and Human Services Academy Leader, and Josiah Parker will be the Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) Academy Leader.

Mr. Williams is returning to Penn after serving as Principal at both Madison and Walt Disney Elementary Schools. He will lead Student Services as Associate Principal.

Graduating with academic honors as the salutatorian at South Bend LaSalle High School, Mr. Williams then earned a degree in Education with a Science Endorsement at Indiana University. He graduated with distinction at Indiana University, and earned a Master’s in Education at Ball State.

“Mr. Williams is adept at building relationships, de-escalating tempers and helping students focus on learning,” Mr. Hope said. “His skills in these areas will serve us all well as he leads Student Services.”

Mr. Williams will also serve as the school safety specialist and work with McKenzie in leading the Freshman Academy. His wife, Bridget Williams, is the assistant athletic director at Penn High School. He coached baseball, girls basketball, softball at Penn, South Bend St. Joseph, and Elkhart Central, and also coached the Quiz Bowl team at Penn.

Ms. McKenzie was born and raised in Atlanta. She started her career at Georgia Federal Savings and Loan, and began to mentor and tutor students in her spare time.

After moving to Indiana, she began a career in education. She will continue to teach Math in addition to serving as the Freshman Academy Leader.

“Ms. McKenzie takes great delight in our students thriving and having the common language of the CTL literacy training,” Mr. Hope said.

Health and Human Services Academy Leader Ms. Gray, who teaches English/Language Arts, is a graduate of South Bend John Adams High School and Valparaiso University. She earned her Master’s in Education from Indiana University South Bend.

Ms. Gray has served as a Professional Learning Community Leader for English 11, English 10 and English 9.

“Ms. Gray has mentored many new teachers and has the great ability to create cohesive, high-functioning teams,” Mr. Hope said. “She is eager to support all teachers at Penn.”

Mr. Parker will be the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Academy Leader. Mr. Parker is one of the leaders of the heralded “Hand Of Grace” project in which Penn students created prosthetic arm for a third-grade Madison Elementary student using 3-D printer technology.

Mr. Parker is a 2002 graduate of Lakeland High School in LaGrange, Ind. He graduated from Ball State University as an architecture major and transitioned to a degree in Engineering and Technology Education.

 “Mr. Parker’s goals are to connect our classes and students to projects within our community, create a STEM learning community where classes work collectively on projects, and help teachers find resources and funding to support the amazing things that they do in the classroom,” Mr. Hope added.