The camaraderie and forever bond of Penn’s “Long Black Line” was prevalent among the more than 100 former Penn football players and coaches who showed up Friday night, August 19, 2022 to help dedicate the Chris Geesman Kingsmen Athletic Center. Click to view pictures from the pregame recognition.

As part of the P-H-M Education Foundation naming rights campaign, Dr. and Mrs. Jerry Thacker generously donated $25,000 in December 2021 to the Education Foundation to have the Kingsmen Athletic Center at Penn High School’s TCU Freed Field named after Penn’s legendary championship football coach, Chris Geesman, renaming the facility the Chris Geesman Kingsmen Athletic Center. 

Coach Geesman and his family, Dr. and Mrs. Thacker, Head Coach Cory Yeoman, and the entire Penn football team were on hand for the dedication of the newly renamed facility taking place at halftime of the Penn Kingsmen’s first home football game of the 2022 season against Valpo. The Kingsmen won 35-6. It was a very special night; take a look … 

Geesman, a Hall of Famer coach, came to Penn 1973. The previous season, Penn had a 0-10 record. In Geesman’s first season, the Kingsmen posted a 5-5 record. In addition to the five state championships, Geesman led Penn to 309 wins, and the Kingsmen never had a losing season during the span of his 30-year career as head coach of the Kingsmen. 

Click here to play the full recorded audio of Coach Geesman’s thank you to the Penn football program.

Click here to view pictures from the August 19th Dedication.

“Donna and I are truly honored to have the Kingsmen Athletic Center named after this legendary coach who guided the Kingsmen to five state championships and three state runners-up,” said Dr. Thacker. “It’s only fitting that a facility built to provide Penn student-athletes with the best on field playing experience be named after the coach that led Kingsmen Football to so many wins.”

Penn’s Geesman Athletic Center is a 13,264 square-foot facility that was completed in October, 2018. It houses three locker rooms to be rotated during the Fall and Spring sports seasons: Football (Varsity, JV and Freshmen), Track & Field (Boys & Girls) and Girls Lacrosse. All three locker room areas have adjacent coaching staff office space and an on-site training room, giving Penn athletic trainers access to equipment and medical treatment supplies. Click here to read more details about the Athletic Center when it first opened.

Since 2008 and including the naming rights contribution, as Superintendent of P-H-M, Dr. Thacker has contributed $194,850 to the P-H-M Education Foundation. Besides the $25,000 pledged to the Naming Rights Campaign some of the other programs he has contributed to include:

• $20,000 in matching funds for the Annual Drive
• $25,000 Corporations for Education (matching funds)
• $15,000 Silver Mile
• $39,550 total to Thacker Scholarship funds

The mission of the Education Foundation is to develop alternative sources of income to support education initiatives in the School Corporation by strengthening partnerships between the community and the District. PHMEF supports education through awarding innovative teaching grants, scholarships to students, staff development and other corporation-wide initiatives.

“Our goal is to provide P-H-M teachers and staff with access to grant funding for unique and creative educational programs that fall out of the school district’s budget,” PHMEF Executive Director Jennifer Turnblom. “We support P-H-M teachers by helping to ensure that they have access to the best education tools. Community partners are vital to sustaining P-H-M excellence in education.”

PHMEF’s naming rights commitment is $25,000, payable at a rate of $5,000 per year over five years. The naming rights last for 12 years. 80 percent of the donation goes into the Foundation’s endowment, which in turn provides alternative and additional funding for various P-H-M co-curricular and extracurricular programs. The remaining 20 percent directly funds professional development initiatives for P-H-M teachers. Continuing education and training of teachers is a major priority for P-H-M School District.

“The Foundation Board and I are so appreciative of Dr. and Mrs. Thacker’s generosity through the years,” said Turnblom. “Their unwavering support has been a tremendous help to us fulfilling our mission. The Thacker’s donations alone have made it possible for the Foundation to fund approximately 20% more classroom grants, activities and programs possible for the students of all P-H-M’s 15 schools. Their impact has been nothing less than incredible!”

Fourth grade teacher Amanda Fox has been selected as a “Top 25” finalist for Indiana’s Teacher of the Year.

Mrs. Fox was P-H-M’s Elementary Teacher of the Year last school year. The IDOE Selection Committee notified her on August 18 that she had been selected as a finalist.

The next step is for the Committee to determine the “Top 10.” If Mrs. Fox is selected as a “Top 10” finalist, she will be invited to the “Top 10 Interview Day” at CIESC, in Indianapolis, on September 12, 2022. 

Registration for the 2022-2023 Penn Kingsmen Junior Boys Basketball League will be from 5:30-8:30 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 25. Enter at Door D.

The leagues for Boys in Graces 1-8 will start in September.

Click here for details/forms.

Contact League Director Julius Smith – jsmith5@phm.k12.in.us – for information.

Registration for the Penn Youth Girls Basketball League for Girls in Grades 3-8 will be from 12-2 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022, in the Penn Main Arena.

The cost is $125 per athlete.

Sunday, Sept. 25, will be a practice day at Penn. There will also be a parent meeting.

Games start on Sunday, Oct. 2.

Click here for details/registration form.

After 19 years as P-H-M’s Director of Safety and Security and helping our district become recognized as among the safest in the nation, Mike Seger has retired. Click to see the photo gallery below.

The ESC staff, staff across the district, along with P-H-M vendors Gibson and Honeywell, all gathered Thursday afternoon (July 21, 2022) to wish Seger well and help him usher in his retirement. Thank you to Honeywell for sponsoring the retirement reception.

Not to worry the safety and security of P-H-M schools is great hands and protected. 30-year police veteran and new Safety and Security Director Tommy Teeter has been cross training with Seger for two months. Click to read more about Director Teeter’s law enforcement expertise, along with new Lead Safety Agent Antwon Jones. Mr. Jones joined P-H-M this month as a 22-year veteran police officer and SRO from South Bend Police Department. Jones also worked as South Bend John Adam’s High School Head Varsity Football and Unified Track Coach. 

After some much deserved rest and relaxation, Mr. Seger will be available to P-H-M’s Safety Team for ongoing consulting as needed.

WHAT:          Summer Learning Conference
WHEN:         August 2, 2022 from 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
WHERE:       Penn High School
                    56100 Bittersweet Rd.

Technovation is part of the conference series “Summer of Learning” hosted by the Indiana Department of Education. Click for more details about the series. This event is open to ANY EDUCATIONAL STAFF MEMBER IN INDIANA.

THINGS TO KNOW:

• Click here to register. This event is FREE to P-H-M teachers. Please contact Technology at (574) 254-2829 for details.
• Lunch will be Italian style dishes provided by Automated Data Systems and catered by SweetLou’s in Westville, IN
• Snacks and beverages provided by our partners at Luma Audio & Visual
• Technovation is part of the conference series “Summer of Learning” hosted by the Indiana Dept. of Education. Click for more details about the series. 
• PGP points will be provided for each session attended.
• Click to see the full list of sessions available

• Click for more details about the conference and the full list of speakers on the P-H-M Technovation 2022 website

• Find us on Twitter: @phmtech or hashtag #Technovate

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Technovation 2022 is proud to announce that Carl Hooker will be our keynote speaker this year. Mr. Hooker has been a part of a strong educational shift with technology integration since becoming an educator.  From his start as a teacher to his role as a district technology leader, he’s always had one common belief – that kids need to drive their own learning. Carl has been an educator for the past 21 years. He has held a variety of positions in multiple districts from 1st grade teacher to Virtualization Coordinator. Mr. Hooker has published a 6 part book series titled “Mobile Learning Mindset” and has recently published a new book “Ready, Set Fail!” Aside from his speaking and consulting work, Carl also works as an influencer and advisor for multiple Ed Tech start-up companies. He’s also a national advisor for the Future Ready Schools Initiative. He blogs regularly at HookEDonInnovation.com and has written guest blogs for the Huffington Post and Edutopia.

Thank you to our Sponsors:

Interested in being a Substitute Teacher, or Substitute Teacher’s Aide, Substitute Exceptional Education Aide or a Substitute Office Aide for P-H-M?

Sub Teachers pay $100 day, Sub Aides and Sub Office Aides $14 an hour, & Sub EAs $85 a day. Check out the job descriptions at https://bit.ly/PHMWork.

Come out Wednesday, July 27, 2022, 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.,  Schmucker Middle School, Door B.

The message below was emailed to P-H-M Families on the afternoon of July 15, 2022.

Dear P-H-M Families,

I hope you are enjoying your summer. I have some great news! I am extremely proud to share that the Indiana Department of Education released the Spring ILEARN 2022 scores this week and P-H-M is once again one of Indiana's top performing public school corporations–going from the Top 6% in 2021 to the Top 3.67% in 2022. That means that Penn-Harris-Madison ranks #11 out of Indiana's 299 public school districts!

Congratulations to you and your children! I never cease to be amazed by our students' continued resiliency, hard work, and dedication. I applaud our P-H-M families and the commitment of our teachers, administrators,
and staff.

Additionally, Northpoint again is the #1 public elementary school in the state, for passing both ELA and Math ILEARN. Prairie Vista moved up to the #2 spot. Discovery is among Indiana's top performing middle schools coming in at #2, for passing both ELA and math. To see your school’s scores, please click here to visit the IDOE website.

These results are even more pleasing knowing that our students and educators have been working diligently to close the learning gaps caused by the pandemic. We have been extremely focused on providing excellence in education to help all of our students learn and achieve academic success. P-H-M’s post-pandemic learning recovery plan has included hiring additional staff, specifically adding instructional interventionists at all of our schools to assist teachers in providing more attention directly with the students who need it most. We have also added before and after school student tutoring sessions, increased targeted summer learning opportunities to help students catch up, and we continue to provide professional development for our teachers, this past year with specific and intentional focus on accelerating student learning.

We know that the pandemic created a lot of issues in a number of educational areas, and it will take the ongoing intense focus of school leadership and district administration to help our cohort of students most impacted by the pandemic regain what was lost. Our educators are committed to providing exceptional academic support to all students in all 15 of our schools and are working tirelessly to do so. The ongoing efforts by our teachers in this endeavor is greatly appreciated. The Board of School Trustees and I continue to be confident that the P-H-M “Triangle of Success”–connecting students, teachers, and parents–creates a learning environment in which our students thrive.

As the parents and families of students, your active participation in your children’s education is invaluable to student success. Educational success starts at home and that is why the “Triangle” is so important. We congratulate all our families and students on this success, and we look forward to making even more progress this coming school year.

Enjoy the rest of your summer. We look forward to welcoming your children back on Wednesday, August 17.

Dr. Jerry Thacker
Superintendent of Schools

Recipients of the PAEMST receive the following:

• A certificate signed by the President of the United States.
• A paid trip to Washington, D.C., to attend a series of recognition events and professional development opportunities.
• A $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation.

Mrs. Fox was also P-H-M's Elementary Teacher of the Year for 2022.

P-H-M’s Employee Recognition Program returned to an in-person dinner and event on Monday, May 16 after a two year hiatus due to the pandemic (the dinner was canceled in 2020 and a video recognizing retirees and years of service was put online last year). While not all were present, the Corporation as a whole did honor PHM's Teachers of the Years, Employee of the Year, retirees, as well as employees who've been with PHM for 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 years. This year we celebrated a total of more than 140 Service Award winners and more than 40 retirees. Click to see the full list, photo gallery and videos of the TOYs and EOY.

During the program Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker and Board of School Trustees President Chris Riley honored this year’s retirees, as well as Amanda Fox, Elementary Teacher of the Year; Becky Hope, Secondary Teacher of the Year; and Employee of the Year Julie Demske.  

Service Awards were also handed out to employees who have dedicated 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, an 35 years of service to Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation. Click here to read the full program and list of retirees, Service Award Winners, and bio information on the Teachers of the Year and Employee of the Year.

Board Members Larry Beehler and James Turnwald were on hand to applaud and congratulate employees for their honors. The dinner was generously sponsored by Teachers Credit Union. Human Resources Director Seth Molnar served as Master of Ceremonies.

Miss Fox, Mrs. Hope and Ms. Demske all spoke at last night’s dinner; they also received a commemorative plaque for their award. As part of the recognitions for Miss Fox and Mrs. Hope, P-H-M Education Foundation Executive Director Jennifer Turnblom gave each teacher a $1,000 grant from the Foundation to use in their classrooms. Ms. Demske received a gift certificate from the District. Click here to view the full photo gallery below for pictures of the recognitions.

Spring is always a busy time of year for Penn-Harris-Madison; the first couple of weeks of May is when Dr. Thacker makes his rounds of the schools surprising a couple of teachers naming an elementary and secondary teachers of the year; he also names a Classified Employee of the Year. This year Dr. Thacker kicked off National Teacher Appreciation Week (May 2 – May 6) by walking into the 4^th grade Elsie Rogers classroom of Miss Amanda Fox. 

See the surprise and learn who inspired Miss Fox to become a teacher herself …

Excellent teachers do more than just help students learn a subject; they inspire them to not only find their inner genius, but also encourage them to dream big. Penn High School Art teacher Mrs. Becky Hope does just that! She is thrilled beyond belief to be her students’ fun loving tour guide on their creative journey as they develop their artistic style. She enjoys spreading joy and hope! The saying “they broke the mold when they made her” definitely applies to Mrs. Hope!

Click to watch video below and see for yourself why students love Mrs. Hope so much …

“A behind the scenes person,” that’s how Ms. Julie Demske describes herself. As Schmucker’s Head Custodian, Julie takes pride in helping things run smoothly and being the person you call when you need help. That’s why on May 2^nd when Principal Dr. Lavon Dean-Null radioed Julie to come to the WSMS studios, Julie came running—she actually was up on the school roof doing a repair and dropped everything to get to the studio since it was during morning announcements. But as soon as she walked into the studio, right on que, and saw and heard Dr. Thacker talking about P-H-M’s Classified Employee of the Year, she knew what was up. 

Watch P-H-M’s first school wide surprise live broadcast … 

After these special employees were recognized for their awards, teachers Jeanne Rehlander and Shelli Treely handed out recognition Service Award pins and Dr. Thacker and Chris Riley recognized retirees. Click to see the full list of all the Service Award winners and retirees in the dinner program.

View the photo gallery below of those who attended the May 16^th dinner. Just simply click the “DOWNLOAD” button on the bottom right-hand corner of the photo while viewing it in the Photo Gallery function.