Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker started handing out the third and final round of district Impact Awards on Wednesday, May 22. The awards were given to teachers who had the most significant individual student growth with DIBLES, ILEARN, and SAT assessments for Spring 2024.

Dr. Thacker, along with Assistant Superintendent Dr. Heather Short, Director of Professional Development and Student Learning Dr. Lavon Dean-Null, visited four schools to surprise five teachers letting them know that they were the latest winners.

Gianna Keim, who teaches 6th & 7th grade Math, had the highest student growth in middle school math in the entire district! Congrats to Mrs. Keim and her students!

As this school year comes to a close we want to thank all our teachers and students for their commitment to academic excellence this school year. The hard work really paid off!

Thank you to the P-H-M Education Foundation for covering the cost of the awards for purchasing the beautiful crystal awards given to the teacher award recipients.

Penn High School Pom/Dance Teams will be filling positions for the JV, Varsity, and Competition teams. Tryouts are open to current 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th graders. If you are going to be a senior for the 2024-2025 season, you must make Varsity or higher. Seniors cannot be on a Junior Varsity team.

Tryout Dates:

• Monday, April 22: 6:30-8:30 p.m. – Main Arena at Penn
• Tuesday, April 23: 6:30-8:30 p.m. –  Main Arena at Penn
• Wednesday, April 24: 6:30-9:30 p.m. – Main Arena at Penn (Competition Tryouts)
• Thursday, April 25: 6:30-9:30 p.m. – Main Arena  at Penn (JV and Varsity Tryouts)

Each candidate will be given a unique number. Results will be posted of who makes which team using the unique numbers. Competition team results will be announced on Thursday morning via Instagram. JV and Varsity team results will be announced on Friday morning via Instagram.

The Poms coaches will be looking for the following qualities during tryouts: dance ability, showmanship, and technical skills (JV/Varsity: Turns, toe touches, and leaps). 

Technical skills will be an extremely important aspect of tryouts for the Competition Team. Candidates must be able to do:

• Triple and quad pirouette
• Toe touches/pop up toe touch
• Firebird
• Turning Disc
• Calypso
• Side leap
• Saut de chat
• Fouettes/ala Seconde Turns
• Aerials (front and side)
• Switch to tilt jump; switch to arabesque; switch to second
• Preferred skills: front walkovers

   

Dates & Information Sheet

• Staff: Cindi Minegar and Alison Minegar – Competition Coach (Season runs August-March)
• Lauren Jacobs – Varsity Coach (Season runs September-February)
• Leah Olsen – JV Coach (Season runs September – February

Penn Physicals: Physicals for the 2024-2025 school year must be dated after May 1, 2024, and will be due on Register My Athlete by the first day of Boot Camp (July 29, 2024), or when the Athletic Office opens registrations.

Register My Athlete:  Upon results of tryouts, you must register on Register My Athlete (once athletic office has it set up – we will notify all team members when it is up) and get all appropriate paperwork signed and in on that website.  We do not collect paperwork. Click here for information on how to setup a Register My Athlete account.

Boot Camp: BOOT CAMP IS MANDATORY FOR EACH TEAM

*Students will be responsible for their own sack lunches Monday – Wednesday

ATHLETIC GUIDELINES FOR TEAM EVENTS:  

Financial Obligations:

• Boot Camp will be run by guest choreographers along with coaches.
  • JV and Varsity camp fees are $110.00 per person.
  • Competition Boot Camp fees are $175.00 per person. Camp money is due on the first day, July 29, 2024.
• Competition team (only) will be an additional $145 on the first day of actual season rehearsal, Monday, August 5, 2024. This money will go towards team t-shirt, hair bow, shoes, tights, rhinestones, and earrings. We will order as a group.

   

• JV and Varsity team – new members will need:
• Tan tights
• Tan jazz shoes
• Accessories

We will order as a group.

TEAM FUNDRAISER

Elementary Camp (all teams involved in fundraiser):  June 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14, 2024, from 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. (Report time is 12:30 p.m.)

First day:  wear black tank tops, shorts, and tennis shoes. Hair should be in a pony tail.

Competition team will have additional fund raisers for their season.

PARENT/STUDENT SIGNATURE PAGE

I, _____________________________________ have read all requirements and give my student, _________________________________ permission to audition for the Penn High School Dance/Pom Team.

Parent Signature:                                                                                                      Dancer Signature:                                                                                                      Date: _______________________________________

*This form must be handed into the coaches on the first day of tryouts, or student will NOT be allowed to participate.  Any questions, please contact: Cindi Minegar at cminegar@phm.k12.in.us    OR    Alison Minegar at aminegar@phm.k12.in.us                

Today our 8th-grade students delved into the world of personal finance at Reality Store. Students were assigned careers, salaries, families, and even pets. They were then tasked with the challenge of budgeting for everyday expenses like housing, groceries, and entertainment.

Parent volunteers led sessions on various career fields, offering insights and guidance. Students learned firsthand about professions, career paths, and the importance of education in achieving financial stability.

Reality Store wasn't just about numbers; it was about practical skills. Students honed critical thinking and problem-solving abilities while managing budgets and making informed financial decisions.

A big thank you to our parent volunteers whose dedication made Reality Store a success. Their support empowered students to navigate the complexities of personal finance with confidence and competence.

Reality Store served as a reminder that financial literacy is crucial for success beyond the classroom. Equipped with practical skills, our students are better prepared to face the challenges of the real world and build a secure future.

Take a look at more photos below!

While the Indianapolis area and south will experience 100% totality for the solar eclipse occurring on Monday, April 8, 2024, the St. Joseph County area will only experience 96%.

The Michiana area will start experiencing darkness at 1:53 p.m., lasting until 4:23 p.m., with 96% totality occurring at 3:09 p.m. and lasting just over 4 minutes.

Click to watch the video below and hear from P-H-M Digital Video Theater and Planetarium Director Melinda O'Malley as she shows us what to expect in our area.

Click here to see a Indiana Department of Natural Resources map of Indiana regions that will experience varying degrees of darkness.  Click here to also get more background information on the Great American Eclipse website.

Because the partial eclipse time is occurring around elementary school dismissal times and based on the recommendations of the Indiana Department of Homeland Security and the IDOE, P-H-M will have an eLearning day on April 8. Click here for more information on that decision.

Thanks to Old National Bank and P-H-M Education Foundation, all students will have a pair of eclipse glasses to use at home when watching the eclipse with their families. The glasses will be sent home the week of March 25 before P-H-M’s Spring Break.

DVT Director Mrs. O’Malley demonstrates how the eclipse glasses should be used.

All teachers make an impact on their students. At P-H-M we honor those teachers whose students have improved academically with the P-H-M Impact Award. This semester, Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker is visiting schools and surprising teachers whose students had significant First Semester growth. 

Today Dr. Thacker, Assistant Superintendent Dr. Heather Short, Director of Literacy Ryan Towner, and the Executive Director of the P-H-M Education Foundation Jennifer Turnbloom stopped by Discovery Middle School to surprise Math teacher Coleen Manspeaker. Click here to see the full photo gallery below.

Mrs. Manspeaker’s 8^th grade students had P-H-M’s highest growth in math proficiency–growing 59%!

The Impact Awards were first handed out in September 2023 to teachers with the most significant overall student growth during the 2022-2023 school year.

Thank you to the P-H-M Education Foundation for covering the cost of the awards for purchasing the beautiful crystal awards given to the teacher award recipients.

At the P-H-M Board of School of Trustees meeting on Monday, February 26, district administration made a presentation to the Board regarding the total solar eclipse taking place on Monday, April 8. As part of the presentation, district administration announced that for a variety of reasons Monday, April 8 will be an eLearning Day. If the district has used all of its allotted three eLearning Days (we currently have used two), the day will be a Virtual Learning Day. No P-H-M sponsored field trips or planned evening activities will take place on this date. Monday, April 8 is the first day back after Spring Break (April 1-5). 

Indiana is in the path of totality and is centrally located in the United States, thus the Indiana Department of Homeland Security is telling tourists, residents, school districts and public agencies to be prepared for three days of potential impact such as, oversized crowds, gridlock traffic, communications disruptions, and even nocturnal animal confusion. Click here to see the full presentation from last night’s Board meeting.

The Indianapolis area and south will experience 100% totality; while the St. Joseph County area will experience 96%. Click here to see a map of Indiana regions that will experience varying degrees of darkness from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources website. The South Bend area will start experiencing darkness at 1:53 p.m., lasting until 4:23 p.m., with 96% totality occurring at 3:09 p.m. and lasting just over 4 minutes. Because these times are around school dismissal times and based on the recommendations of the Indiana Department of Homeland Security and the IDOE, P-H-M will not be holding in-person instruction on April 8. 

Thanks to Old National Bank and P-H-M Education Foundation, all students in the district will receive eclipse glasses to use at home with instructions. Mrs. Mindy O’Malley, Director of P-H-M’s Arthur M. Klinger Planetarium and Digital Video Theater, and a team of teachers, are preparing grade-level eclipse information to send home with students. In the classrooms leading up to April 8, teachers will educate students about this nearly once-in-a-lifetime event; the next total solar eclipse where portions of Indiana will be in full totality will be 2099.

If parents have any questions, they should contact their students’ principals. Employees should contact their supervisor or Human Resources.

Football Cheerleading Tryouts will be Monday, March 25; Tuesday, March 26; and Wednesday, March 27 at Penn High School.

Those interested please email Coach Szweda for more information at rszweda@phm.k12.in.us.

The 2024 FIN Mishawaka FRC District Event will once again be held at Penn High School March 1st – 3rd (open to the public on Saturday, March 2 and Sunday, March 3). The event will be held in Penn's Main Arena. See below for a daily schedule:

Saturday, March 2

• 10:30 – 11:00 a.m., Opening Ceremonies
• 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m., Qualifying Matches (No matches during Lunch, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.)

Sunday, March 3

• 9:30 – 10:00 a.m., Opening Ceremonies
• 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., Qualifying Matches
• 12:30 – 1:00 p.m., Alliance Selections
• 1:00 – 2:00 p.m., Lunch
• 2:00 – 5:00 p.m., Playoff Matches & Awards Ceremony

Click here for the detailed daily schedule.

For elementary aged children, there's also the Next Gen event from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. The event will be upstairs–above Penn's Main Arena–in the Fitness Center. This event is open to all children, not just P-H-M students. Children have the opportunity to do hands-on STEM activities, even operate a robot! Click here for pictures from last year's event.

This year's game is CRESCENDOSM presented by Haas; click here to view a video about the game. FIRST© Robotics Competition teams will use their STEM skills and creative power to turn up the volume as they design, build, and program their robots for action-packed game play. Watch the game animation to inspire ideas.

During our 2023-2024 arts-inspired robotics season, FIRST® IN SHOWSM presented by Qualcomm, FIRST Robotics teams will celebrate the roles STEM skills play in the arts and design, and how these skills help build a world of endless possibilities for students. Click here to learn more about FIRST® IN and the District event being held at Penn High School.

In accordance to Indiana Code 20-26-5.5 going into effect January 1, 2024 School Districts must publish and make available library materials, along with establishing a procedure for families to submit a request for removal of materials.

Click here to access Alexandria, our school library catalog.

Penn-Harris-Madison’s Policy 9130 (Public Complaints and Concerns) has been in place since 2005. The updated policy was adopted and approved at the December 11, 2023 Board Meeting to be in compliance IC 20-26-5.5.

As stated in Board Policy 9130, parents are welcome to provide feedback related to curriculum materials.  The information submitted on this form will be directed to the building principal.

Click here to fill out and submit the Material Review Request form.