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. 

Spring is always a busy time of year for Penn-Harris-Madison; just like flowers and the budding trees, school activities pop up all over the place as soon as the weather slowly warms up.

The first couple of weeks of May is when Superintendent Dr. Thacker generally 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. So when employees see him unexpectedly this time of year, they usually realize right away what’s going on once the astonishment wears off! Click to look through the photo gallery on Schmucker’s website.

This was the case with our Head Custodian Miss Julie Demske on the morning of Monday, May 2. She was actually on the roof of Schmucker when she was radioed to come to the school’s WSMS studios to fix an emergency. Since it was during morning announcements, Julie thought maybe there was a light out or something. 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 live surprise in the video below … 

Julie was so touched with the honor that it brought her to tears. Thank you to Carla Wisler who nominated Julie and has worked with her for three years.

Julie is a Penn graduate, Class of ‘88. She started working at P-H-M when she was 21 as a bus operator; she also trained drivers for their CDL. Julie was a bus operator for 11 years and then left to pursue another career. Fortunately for P-H-M, she came back in 2011 as a custodian and earned the position of Head Custodian of Schmucker Middle School in 2015.

Julie says she enjoys her job and Schmucker “because of the amazing administration team and the staff they make you feel like you ‘belong’ here. The kids are the reason we take so much pride in what we do here and that is to make sure this school is clean and ready everyday for students and guests. I am very humbled by the nomination and have to say I am one of those people who give 110% to anything I am doing. Thank you again for the consideration of this award.”

Congratulations Julie and THANK YOU for all you do for our students and staff every day!
 

To help kick off National Appreciation Week, P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker surprised two very special teachers on Monday, May 2 to notify them that they had been chosen as year’s P-H-M 2022 Elementary and Secondary Teachers of the Year. 

Monday afternoon, Dr. Thacker stopped by Penn High School to surprise Art Teacher Mrs. Becky Hope to award her with the honor of PHM Secondary Teacher of the Year. Earlier in the morning, Dr. Thacker surprised Elsie Rogers Elementary School 4th grade teacher Mrs. Amanda Fox to inform her that she had been named Elementary Teacher of the Year. Click here to read that story.

Mrs. Hope knew something was up as soon as she opened the door to her classroom, then everyone yelled out “SURPRISE!” Mrs. Hope was so happy and touched to see her normal small quiet room full with ceramic students, fellow art teachers, Penn & PHM administrators, Superintendent Dr. Thacker and her husband, Dr. Steve Hope. In classic Mrs. Hope style–positive and funny–she quipped back “I’m guessing everyone’s here to celebrate my 25th birthday!” Watch the video below to see more of the surprise and then click here to look through the photo gallery on Penn’s website.

Her friendly and energetic personality is what Mrs. Hope is known for. People are drawn to her. She's an art teacher, comedian, colleague and mentor and loved by everyone she meets and teaches.

“She is one of the most positive, creative, and supportive people that I’ve ever worked with. She is loved by her students and coworkers alike. I can’t think of anyone else more deserving of this honor,” said fellow Penn Art teacher and nominator Ms. Barb Miller.

Mrs. Hope is the PLC Leader for Penn’s Visual Arts Department, teaches AP Studio Art class, manages the Senior Showcase, sponsor’s student Art Club. Mrs. Hope has also helped establish, run and expand P-H-M’s elementary summer Visual Arts Academy. 

“I am proud of the Visual Arts Academy which provides an opportunity for our youngest artists and P-H-M students to be creators, listeners, questioners, and writers about art,” said Mrs. Hope. “I feel fortunate every day to work with students who are willing to be challenged, to explore and investigate. … Also I am thankful for all of the fellow teachers who provide inspiration and support for all the young learners in our classrooms.”

The Visual Arts Academy partners with the University of Notre Dame‘s Snite Art Museum to share museum art pieces that students can study and use as an inspiration for creating their own art pieces and writing projects. This year the Visual Arts Academy is being offered the second, third and fourth weeks of July (click if you’d like to sign your child up for this summer’s sessions). 

The Academy has also made it possible for the high school students volunteers to participate in Notre Dame’s Apprentice Program. Mrs. Hope encourages her students to get experience displaying and selling their artwork at such events as South Bend’s Art Beat and the P-H-M Education Foundation’s Penn Student Art show at Granger’s Max Black Fine Arts Studio. She also lends her guidance and talents for numerous activities and charitable events, including making decorations and selfie stations for Exceptional Education’s annual student dances. 

To help kick off National Appreciation Week, P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker surprised two very special teachers on Monday, May 2 to notify them that they had been chosen as year’s P-H-M 2022 Elementary and Secondary Teachers of the Year. 

In the morning Dr. Thacker dropped by Elsie Rogers Elementary School to surprise 4th grade teacher Mrs. Amanda Fox. She was in the middle of teaching a math lesson when Dr. Thacker and Cabinet members popped into her classroom for the big surprise. Mrs. Fox is such a committed and focused teacher that she even made Dr. Thacker wait until she was finished before he could continue with the “surprise!” Click here to see the photo gallery on Elsie Rogers’ website. On Monday afternoon, Dr. Thacker stopped by Penn High School to surprise Art Teacher Mrs. Becky Hope to award her with the honor of PHM Secondary Teacher of the Year. Click here to read more.

This is one of three of Mrs. Fox's latest awards. Last week she was chosen as one of the recipients of the 2022 Michiana Forty under 40 class. The program recognizes young adults, professionals, executives and leaders, under the age of 40, achieving outstanding professional success while also engaging in his/her community through charitable and civic involvement.

Back in February, Mrs. Fox was named a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST). Click here to read the White House news release. This is the highest honor bestowed by the United States to K-12 science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and/or computer science teachers. President Joe Biden named 117 teachers and Mrs. Fox was among the national winners! 

Mrs. Fox’s colleague and fellow teacher Becky Richhart nominated Mrs. Fox for P-H-M Elementary Teacher of the Year partially because of her passion of “devising ways to incorporate computer science concepts into existing STEM curriculum.” 

Ms. Richhart recounted how recently Mrs. Fox had her students create book reports and multiplication games using a free block-based programming website. She led her students in a “telephone style” game designed to demonstrate how different parts of a computer communicate when it’s computing. 

One of the things that stands out the most about Mrs. Fox is her collaboration with ND Department of Computer Science & Engineering on various research efforts funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The NSF grants funded a K-6 ND computer science summer program, as well as Prairie Vista after-school coding classes where Mrs. Fox used to teach. She was also the first teacher sponsor of the VEX Robotics team at Prairie Vista and was the Project Lead the Way teacher.

Last summer while developing content for her classroom, Mrs. Fox participated in research activities alongside Notre Dame grad students as part of RET (National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Teachers), a program which is typically aimed at high school teachers.

Mrs. Fox was among the first cohort of teachers to help K-8 teachers develop age-appropriate curriculum to introduce students to computer science within existing STEM curricula. She also contributed to developing a framework for K-12 schools to meet new state computer science standards. Mrs. Fox also established a northern Indiana chapter of the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA).

Over her eight years at P-H-M, she has “used computer science to deepen the computational thinking skills for her students,” said Ms. Richhart. 

Penn High School has once again been ranked by U.S. News & World Report among the nation's best high schools. Penn ranks 1st in the South Bend area, 20th in Indiana, and #1,486 in the national rankings (out of nearly 18,000 high schools nationwide). This puts Penn in the top 8% of the nation's best high schools for 2022!

Penn’s other points of distinction noted by the prestigious national magazine ranking, students have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement course work and exam. At least 41% of Penn students enrolled in AP took at least one test, and 31% of those passed at least one AP exam.

The rankings are based on data collected for the 2020-2021, 2019-2020 and 2018-2019 academic years, detailed school-specific information on enrollment, graduation rates, student body demographics, location, school type, and results of state assessments as well as Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate tests. Click here to read more about the methodology.

Indiana high school students typically follow the Core 40 curriculum, which includes required classes in English Language Arts, math, Social Studies and Science, among others. Students who fulfill additional requirements can earn a diploma with academic or technical honors. Penn has a 97% graduation rate with approximately 78% of students in 2019 enrolled in AP, Dual Credit, and Industry certification classes.

For the 2021-2022 school year, Penn maintained the 97% graduation rate and about 76% of students in 2019 enrolled in AP, Dual Credit, and Industry certification classes. 

Class of 2022 included these points of distinction:

• @800 graduates earned more than $11 million in scholarships and county
• 17 valedictorians and 5 salutatorians

• 10 students have named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists, 11 were named Finalists

• 9 students were named Commended Scholars

• Valedictorian Matthew Zhang semifinalist for the 2022 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program, one of only 620 nationally

• Valedictorian Hala Ansari selected as a 2022 Indiana Academic All-Star, one of only 40 students across our state to be honored

• All 4 students awarded the Community Foundation of Saint Joseph County Eli Lilly Endowment Scholarship were Penn students/valedictorians: Hala Ansari, Manaal Buchh, Salem Fitwi and Luca Nijim

The Academies at Penn High School provide the framework for student success. Through their work in each academy, students find relevant and meaningful coursework taught in a supportive environment where each student is known well by his teachers and peers. Through these “smaller learning communities,” students build relationships while engaged in relevant learning experiences.

Early College Academy was endorsed in 2019 as an “Early College High School” by The Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning (CELL) at the University of Indianapolis. In 2022, the Academy was re-endorsed as an exemplar for other high schools across Indiana implementing an Early College program. The 8 EC Core Principles (as outlined by CELL) are: 

1. Targeted Student Population
2. Curriculum & Plan of Study
3. College-Going Culture
4. Rigorous Instruction
5. Supports for Student Success
6. Collaboration & Partnerships
7. Leadership & Staffing
8. Data Collection, Analysis, and Use

Penn is a Four Star School earning the Project Lead the Way Distinguished High School distinction for 2021-22 school year, and in 2016 the STEM Academy was certified as a Full STEM Certified Program by the Indiana Department of Education. 

Click to see the full list of Indiana High Schools as ranked by US News & World Report in 2021. 

St. Joseph Health System will host a vaccine clinic this Thursday, April 14th at Schmucker Middle School from 5:00 – 6:30 p.m.

To help reduce wait time, they can pre-register at www.ourshot.gov for an appointment time and they will get to bypass any walk-ins – but walk-ins are always welcome!

Click here for more information.

Walt Disney Elementary School Principal Ryan Towner experienced the "Luck of the Irish" a day early! In a surprise assembly today, Wednesday, March 16,  was named a recipient of the Milken Educator Award for his excellence and innovation in education AND received a $25,000 check! Click to watch the video below to see his reaction …

Click here to see the photo gallery on Walt Disney’s website.

Filling the auditorium were members of the local media, cheering students, teachers and colleagues, P-H-M Board Members and Administrators, representatives of Milken, members of the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET), and local and state officials. Notables on hand to help surprise Principal Towner were:

• Milken Educator Awards Senior Vice President Dr. Jane Foley
• Indiana Secretary of Education Dr. Katie Jenner
• Director of Leadership & Innovation, IDOE, Ms. Rebecca Estes
• P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker
• P-H-M Board of School Trustees President Mr. Chris Riley
• P-H-M Board of School Secretary Mrs. Clare Roach
• Indiana State Representative Dale DeVon
• Representing U.S. Senator Mike Braun's Office Mary Martin

Towner is one of the few principal recipients of the Award for the 2021-22 school year chosen from among Indiana's 80,000 plus incredible educators. He’s also among more than 60 educators nationwide to be named a Milken Educator this season.

Towner and Walt Disney teachers educate the school's diverse students with differentiated instruction. He leads by providing unique professional development methods and gets students excited about school through unique engagements like playing the ukulele and piano for students at arrival and dismissal.

Hailed as the “Oscars of Teaching,” the Milken Educator Awards celebrate, elevate and activate the American teaching profession and inspire young, capable people to join it. The Milken Educator Award is not a lifetime achievement honor. Recipients are heralded while early to mid-career for what they have achieved — and for the promise of what they will accomplish given the resources and opportunities inherent in the Award.

“Educators are an invaluable resource, and the Milken Family Foundation seeks to emphasize that this work does not go unnoticed,” said Dr. Foley, who is herself a 1994 Indiana Milken Educator. “Ryan Towner fully embodies the qualities of an effective leader: innovation, enthusiasm and the ability to inspire those same merits in his colleagues.”

“Mr. Ryan Towner represents the best of Indiana’s educators, as he engages with students daily in unique ways to get them excited about learning,” said Dr. Jenner. “Leveraging his passion and his creative side, he leads by bringing his fellow educators, families and community members together to help students learn and grow. We’re thankful to have him representing Indiana and setting a great example for how we might best serve our students.”

“Ryan is one of P-H-M’s many excellent and dedicated educators,” said Dr. Thacker. “His devotion to his students, staff, and school is limitless. We are so proud of Principal Towner and the Walt Disney community; winning Milken Educator award is an amazing opportunity for Ryan to grow professionally, but to also help Disney become an even better school.”

More About Principal Towner

Innovation: Raising the bar for both student and educators’ practices, Towner introduced tiered academic interventions with ongoing progress monitoring, new curriculum maps with common assessments and a renewed focus on phonics instruction for the school’s younger students. He creates an environment where students and staff feel valued, motivated and appreciated and often brings lightheartedness to campus where he greets each student by name as he plays the piano or ukulele at arrival and dismissal. He created Walt Disney’s annual Culture Night, which celebrates the school’s linguistic and cultural diversity and is one of the best attended events in the district.

Leadership: A role model to both students and colleagues alike, Towner created a teacher leadership team that holds regular professional learning community meetings, encouraging staff to make data-informed decisions in curricular planning, differentiate instruction and collaborate across grade levels. Since taking the helm, his school has charted steady gains in student achievement and exceeded state averages with some of the strongest growth in the district. He helped create a three-week STEM camp, chaired the district’s wellness committee and led its federal grant program for several years. Education runs in Towner’s family—his father served as a longtime administrator for a nearby district and has strongly influenced the principal’s career.

Education: Towner earned a bachelor’s in education in 2010 and a master’s in education administration in 2016 from Indiana University South Bend.

Career: Towner is a creative leader and has been with P-H-M since 2011 when he joined the district as a teacher with Prairie Vista. He did an administrative internship at Madison Elementary for a year and then came to Walt Disney as Assistant Principal in 2014 and became principal of Walt Disney 2017.

Click here for more details about Mr. Towner's Milken Educator Award on the Foundation's website.

More about Walt Disney Elementary School:

Walt Disney is part of the “A” rated Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation, where excellence in education is pursued and achieved at all levels. Walt Disney is one of P-H-M’s five Title I schools. Our students feel supported and encouraged to reach their full potential. 

Walt Disney has also earned the distinction of being among Indiana’s Top 30% of Public Elementary Schools by U.S. News & World Report (data is based on the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 school years). Click here to learn more.

The school values and celebrates diversity. More than 40 different languages are spoken in the homes of the students. Which is why one of Disney’s annual traditions that they love to celebrate is Culture Day and Cultural Night. Click to read an Edutopia article about how Walt Disney celebrates it’s diversity (this article was written by Clare Roach in 2015, before she was elected to the P-H-M Board of School Trustees).

More About the Milken Educator Award

The very first Milken Educator Awards were presented by the Milken Family Foundation in 1987. The Awards provide public recognition and individual financial rewards of $25,000 to elementary and secondary school teachers, principals and specialists from around the country who are furthering excellence in education. Along with the $25,000 financial prize, recipients join the national Milken Educator Network, a group of more than 2,800 top teachers, principals and specialists. The network serves as a rich resource for fellow educators, legislators, school boards and others dedicated to excellence in education.

• The honorees will also attend an all-expenses-paid Milken Educator Awards Forum, where they will network with their new colleagues as well as veteran Milken Educators and other education leaders about how to increase their impact on K-12 education. In addition, they will learn about how to become involved in the Milken Friends Forever (MFFs) mentoring program, in which freshman Milken Educators receive personalized coaching and support from a Milken Educator veteran on ways to elevate their instructional practice and take an active role in educational leadership, policy and practice.
• Over the years, more than $140 million in funding, including $70 million for the individual cash awards, has been devoted to the overall Milken Awards initiative, which includes powerful professional development opportunities throughout recipients’ careers. 
• Veteran Milken Educators frequently go on to serve in leadership roles at state, national and international levels. 
• “We find you. You don’t find us!” Unlike most teacher recognition programs, the Milken Educator Awards initiative has no formal nomination or application process. Candidates are sourced through a confidential selection process and then reviewed by blue ribbon panels in each state. The most exceptional candidates are recommended for the award, with final selection made by the Milken Family Foundation. 
• The $25,000 cash award is unrestricted. Recipients have used the money in diverse ways. For instance, some have spent the funds on their children’s or their own continuing education, financing dream field trips, establishing scholarships, and even adopting children.  

This year’s Young Authors' Conference, held this past Saturday, March 5, was a huge success!  Gabrielle Balkan was this year’s celebrity speaker. Mrs. Balkan is best known for non-fiction books that delight readers ages 3-12 with curious and essential facts about the United States, animal record-breakers, and ground-breaking artists. 

During this unique learning experience, P-H-M students in grades K-5 have the opportunity to learn directly from a well-known children’s writer. Through interactive, engaging Q&A with the children, Balkan led the students through the process of creating engaging storylines. 

Students also participate in small group sharing sessions, led by P-H-M teachers, where they share stories they’ve created. Students give each other positive feedback, encouraging and inspiring their fellow students.

Students aren’t the only ones that benefit from the Young Authors’ Conference, parents do too! While students were participating in their small group writing sessions, parents attended a special presentation by Penn High School English Teacher Mary Nicolini. Nicolini gave parents fun tips on ways to inspire ideas for creative writing with their children.

Students and parents also enjoyed a presentation of from the Potawatomi Zoo!. The Young Authors’ Conference is sponsored by Corporations for Education, a division of the P-H-M Education Foundation. 

To download high resolution jpg files from the photo gallery below, just simply click the “DOWNLOAD” button on the bottom right-hand corner of the photo while viewing it in the Photo Gallery function. We are happy to provide this service to you free of charge.

The information below was shared via email with P-H-M staff and families the afternoon of Feb. 25, 2022.

The CDC announced a short time ago that it will no longer require the wearing of masks on buses or vans operated by public or private school systems, including early care and education/child care programs.

Effective February 25, 2022, CDC is exercising its enforcement discretion to not require that people wear masks on buses or vans operated by public or private school systems, including early care and education/child care programs. CDC is making this change to  align with updated guidance that no longer recommends universal indoor mask wearing in K-12 schools and early education settings in areas with a low or medium COVID-19 Community Level. School systems at their discretion may choose to require that people wear masks on buses or vans. Click here to read the full update.

Therefore, P-H-M will no longer require masking on our buses and vans.

The changes were part of the CDC's overall updated guidelines for masking. Click here to read the new guidelines.
 

Community Connections Fair

Saturday, March 26, 2022

10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Schmucker Middle School

56405 Bittersweet Rd., Mishawaka

The Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation’s ENL Services’ is sponsoring the District’s FREE Community Connections Fair!

Come check out what the Mishawaka, South Bend, and Elkhart communities have to offer to your families!

P-H-M is inviting area businesses who want to participate in the Community Connections Fair to sign up. Click here to request a table at the event. 

The Fair will also include cultural performances from P-H-M students and families. Families wishing to sign up to perform, click here.

Flyers about the event are available in the following languages, please click to download and print:

• English
• Arabic
• Chinese
• Spanish
• Gujarati
• Telugu
• Hindi
• Korean
• Punjabi

Bilingual interpreters will be on hand at the event to assist those families who need it.

Come out and enjoy the many cultural performances and student work that will be on display representing countries from all over the world! 

Please join us!

For more information, please contact:

Nicole Parker

P-H-M Elementary ENL Coordinator

(574) 259-2486, Ext. 53261

nparker@phm.k12.in.us