By Jill Spencer
A total of 30 students were honored for their achievement in the Academies of Penn High School at a unique event held at the school on May 19.
Students, parents, and faculty gathered in the Center for the Performing Arts that morning to celebrate the personal and academic success of this group of college-bound seniors representing themselves and their peers from the Class of 2016.
These young men and women have accomplished much during their high school careers, and Penn’s academy structure was credited as one reason for their success. These 30 students have committed to attending fifteen different collegiate programs in Indiana and across the United States, come fall.
The Academies of Penn High School—Fine Arts; Health and Human Services; Management and Business; and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)—have played a key role in college and career readiness for all of Penn’s students.
“The academies have transformed how we think about serving students,” Penn High School principal Steve Hope said. “No longer is graduating from Penn High School our goal. Rather, we are looking to help students make a successful transition from Penn to a thoughtful post-secondary plan leading to entering the workforce, the military, a two-year college, technical school or a four-year college.
“We have sought to make a more meaningful and relevant senior year with problem-based learning with our many community partners,” Hope continued. “All of these changes added up to better serving our students so that all Penn graduates will find success after graduation.”
