Penn High School’s newest official sport is already making history. The Penn Girls Flag Football program hosted its first-ever Prospect Camp on July 22-23, welcoming over a dozen incoming middle school athletes. The two-day camp focused on building foundational skills in flag football, while also emphasizing teamwork and leadership development.

To see the full Flag Football Prospect Camp photo gallery click here.

The camp follows the official launch of the Girls Flag Football program at Penn, approved by the Penn-Harris-Madison Board of School Trustees in March. The Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) announced earlier this year that 55 schools have committed to fielding teams for the 2025 season—more than double the 27 teams that participated in 2024.

The IHSAA is one of 19 state associations currently piloting the Girls Flag Football program in partnership with the NFL and the Indianapolis Colts. As part of this initiative, Penn High School will receive $6,500 in grant funding from the NFL and Colts to support the 2025 and 2026 seasons.

While the new IHSAA-sanctioned Girls Flag Football program marks a major expansion in athletic opportunity for student-athletes, Penn’s long-running “Powder Puff” Homecoming tournament will continue as a separate tradition. The event features four teams—one per class year—and remains a popular part of Penn’s Homecoming week festivities.

Penn Flag Football’s inaugural season is set to include a seven-game regular season, culminating in a postseason that features a sectional round and a state championship. The Northern Indiana Conference (NIC) is projecting six teams for the 2025 season: Penn, Elkhart, South Bend Adams, South Bend Riley, South Bend St. Joseph and South Bend Washington.

The NIC schedule kicks off with four conference games at School Field on Saturday, Aug. 23. Regular doubleheaders will follow at rotating locations throughout the season. Penn’s first home game is scheduled for Wednesday, September 3, against South Bend Riley. Game times will be announced at a later date.

The Penn team will hold practices after school on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, with games played on Wednesdays. Matches will be played in a 7-on-7 format, with each game lasting 60 minutes.

Leading the program is Head Coach Jerimiah Maggart, a 2007 Penn graduate and former football and wrestling standout. Maggart joined the Penn faculty for the 2024–2025 school year as a Fitness, Health, and Strength and Conditioning instructor. He previously taught and coached at Jimtown High School, where he served as head coach of the boys and girls wrestling programs. He has also coached at North Montgomery and Manchester High Schools. Maggart is a graduate of Purdue University.

Maggart aims to grow the program quickly, starting with a varsity team this fall. His long-term goals include adding a junior varsity team by the 2026 season and building out youth and middle school feeder programs.

Tryouts and official practices for the Penn Flag Football Team are scheduled to start on Monday, August 4.

Click here for a Google Form to fill out if you are interested in playing Girls Flag Football.

You can also email Coach Maggart at jmaggart1@phm.k12.in.us for more information.

At Monday night’s P-H-M Board of School Trustees meeting Superintendent Dr. Heather Short, presented three current P-H-M administrators for promotion. This was Dr. Short’s first school board meeting as superintendent since she started in the role on July 1. The following administrative changes were approved at the meeting:

Randy Williams was approved as the new Director of Academic and Student Support. Williams previously served in several administrative roles within PHM since 2008, including Principal of Madison and Walt Disney Elementary Schools, Dean of Students at Penn and Associate Principal of Penn. In 2018 he was honored as a member of the “Forty under 40” class. In 2023 He became the Director of Secondary Education and Student Services for the Middlebury Community School system. Williams now returns to Penn-Harris-Madison with a wealth of new professional experiences and an enhanced skill set.

Maddie Schmidt was approved for the Assistant Principal position at Grissom Middle School. Schmidt is a former Kingsmen and a graduate of Judson University. She has a master’s degree in Educational and Business Administration from Bethel University. Schmidt began her career teaching language arts at Schmucker Middle School. During her time there, she also served as an Instructional Leader. She is an active member of PHM’s Excellence in Leadership initiative and has held multiple teacher leadership roles at SMS. Most recently, she served as a Dean at Schmucker. 

Beth Stroven was approved for the Assistant Principal position at Schmucker Middle School. This past year, Stroven served as a math teacher at Grissom Middle School and is a member of PHM’s Excellence in Leadership initiative. Prior to joining P-H-M, she was a teacher in Elkhart Community Schools, where she was recognized as the 2019 District Elementary Teacher of the Year and received the prestigious Woodrow Wilson Fellowship Grant where she earned a master’s degree in Educational and Business Administration from Indiana State University. She later served as the principal of Mary Daly Elementary School.