Penn High School’s Girls Basketball Coach Kristi Ulrich was named among this year’s recipients selected to the 2020 Michiana “Forty under 40” class. The announcement by the South Bend Regional Chamber, in collaboration with the Young Professionals Network (YPN) South Bend, was made yesterday afternoon (Tuesday, May 26).

The Michiana Forty under 40 program recognizes young adults, professionals, executives and leaders, under the age of 40 (on May 15), achieving outstanding professional success while also engaging in his/her community through charitable and civic involvement.

Coach Ulrich is a phenomenal teacher and coach. She has been with Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation for approximately 12 years. She leads her student-athletes with integrity and brings value and success to the Penn High School Athletic program, enriching the lives of hundreds of her students.

Coach Ulrich’s highlights of excellence include:

• Overall Coaching record 256-32 .889% win percentage in 11 seasons (highest % in the State of Indiana for active Girls Coaches)
• All-time winningest coach for Penn High School Girls Basketball – 256 wins

• NIC Record 105-3 in 11 seasons

• 1 State Championship

• 3 Semi-State Championships

• 6 Regional Championships

• 9 Sectional Championships

• 9 NIC Championships

• 23 Different Players Selected to All-Conference Teams (multiple players selected more than one time)

• 3 Conference MVP’s (1 2x in a row)

• 4 Indiana All-Stars

• Produced 22 Collegiate Basketball Players

Off the court, she leads her players in community service projects such as the Penn Girls Basketball Adopt a Family for Christmas. She also runs community basketball camps and fall leagues for K-8 students in the district.

“Coach Ulrich’s leadership and commitment is truly inspiring,” said P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jery Thacker.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year's honorees with a Celebration Video, rather than present a luncheon. The video will premiere on June 26 on the michiana40.com, South Bend Regional Chamber, and YPN South Bend websites. The South Bend Tribune will also feature a special Michiana Forty under 40 section in their June 28 issue.

Tomorrow (Wednesday, May 27) at 4:33 p.m. EDT the next stage of the United States space program will blast off, in a small part due to the engineering efforts of a 1997 Penn High School alum!

Jon Edwards is a “Kingsmen Making a Difference” in the world of aerospace engineering and space travel as the working for SpaceX as the Vice President of Falcon Launch Vehicles. SpaceX is only one of two commercial companies (Boeing being the other) NASA contracted with to build private “space taxis” to fly its astronauts to and from the International Space Station. The goal of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is a turning point for America’s future in space exploration that lays the groundwork for future missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.”

The Falcon 9 rocket will launch late Wednesday afternoon from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, FL (rain days are Saturday, May 30 at 3:22 p.m. EDT, and Sunday, May 31 at 3:00 p.m. EDT) carrying NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on board the Dragon spacecraft. The Demo-2 mission is the “final major test for SpaceX’s human spaceflight system to be certified by NASA for operational crew missions to and from the International Space Station.” Coverage for the historic launch will begin about 4 hours before liftoff. Click the links for more information on watching the launch LIVE on NASA TV and to participate in the events virtually. There are lots of educational components for students.

Jon was promoted to Vice President of Falcon Launch Vehicles in February of this year. Last July, we reached out to Jon via email to ask him about his role at that time in this historic space mission and joint project with NASA. At the time of the interview, Jon was the Senior Director of Falcon Engineering and Falcon Product Director. He described his role then as leading a team of 100 engineers in the development and operation of the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles. He stated then that he was “responsible for all Falcon related development projects during all phases of the vehicle life cycle including: design, development, qualification, and operation.” SpaceX.com describes the Falcon rocket as a “reusable, two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of people and payloads into Earth orbit and beyond. Falcon 9 is the world’s first orbital class reusable rocket.” Throughout the course of SpaceX’s development and testing of the Falcon 9 rocket, the Penn grad provided briefs and updates to SpaceX CEO/CTO Elon Musk and President Gwynne Shotwell. Jon also works closely with SpaceX’s commercial and government customers including the United States Air Force and NASA.

We asked Jon about his time as a Penn High School student. Obviously his favorite subject was Physics, but we were also curious as and asked him … Who was your favorite Penn teacher and how did they influence you?
“My absolute most favorite teacher ever was Mr. Jim McPhee. He was my AP Physics I and II teacher back in ’96 and ’97. Mr. McPhee was fantastic at getting the class excited about the way the universe works. He would often start the class by beginning to discuss the normally scheduled topic, but if the class asked a question that took the discussion in a different direction, he was more than happy to spend the rest of the class exploring the tangential topic. We used to explore questions such as ‘what would happen if you jumped into a tunnel that went all the way through the earth?’ and even dove into discussions about astrophysics and electromagnetism. The discussions we had in class were so exciting to me I would often read ahead in my physics book and seek out other physics media such as Carl Sagan’s Cosmos documentaries and Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time. There is no doubt that Mr. McPhee inspired me to pursue a career in aerospace. I even think about becoming a high school physics teacher someday in the hopes that I might inspire kids in the same way.”

After Jon graduated from Penn in 1997, he attended Purdue University’s School of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in 2001, and later a Master of Science degree in 2004. Jon also earned his MBA from Kelly School of Business at Indiana University in 2012.

Jon started at SpaceX in 2004. His career highlights over the years at SpaceX include:

• Lead Engineer for the Kestrel rocket engine and Responsible Engineer for the Falcon 1 2nd Stage (2004-2009)
  • Falcon 1 became the first ever privately funded liquid fueled rocket to achieve earth orbit in September 2008
• Responsible Engineer for the Falcon 9 2nd Stage (2009-2010)
  • Falcon 9 successfully reached orbit on its first launch attempt in June 2010
• Promoted to Manager of Falcon 9 Propulsion Systems Engineering (August 2010)
• Promoted to Director of Falcon 9 Propulsion Systems Engineering (May 2013)
• Promoted to Falcon Product Director (May 2014)
  • The Falcon 9 1st stage booster successfully landed after performing an orbital launch on December 22, 2015; the first time an orbital class rocket has ever successfully landed propulsively (with propulsion force) 
• Promoted to Senior Director of Falcon Engineering (January 2016)
  • Successful reflight of recovered Falcon 9 booster on March 30, 2017, proving orbital class rocket reusability.
  • Successful inaugural launch of the Falcon Heavy in February 2018. Falcon Heavy is the most powerful rocket in operation today. 
• Promoted to Vice President of Falcon Launch Vehicles (February 2020)

Jon received the Purdue Outstanding Aerospace Engineer award in April 2017–the school’s highest honor to recognize the school’s most distinguished alumni!

Jon Edwards is not the only Penn graduate involved in our nation’s efforts to return humankind to space. Last summer during the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch, we told you about 2010 alumna Sadie Holbert–a government contractor for Leidos working as a flight controller in mission control at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.  Sadie, also a 2015 graduate of Purdue University, is involved in NASA’s “Explore Moon to Mars” missions that will send humans back to the moon. 

Sadie is on the Guidance, Navigation, and Control team for the first Orion mission. The Orion capsule will fly out around the moon and back, testing the vehicle before NASA flies humans on the capsule for deep-space missions to mars and possibly beyond. The project was delayed because of COVID-19 and is now projected for November 2021, with the goal of flying astronauts around the moon on the second SLS/Orion flight in late 2022 or early 2023. Click to read the full “Kingsmen Making a Difference” profile on Sadie Holbert here.

Penn High School will graduate approximately 820 students on Friday, May 29 at 7:00 p.m. in a Virtual Commencement will premiere LIVE on P-H-M District’s Facebook page and YouTube Channel.

Click to preview a pdf copy of the 2020 Commencement program (a version will be printed and given to graduates when they receive their diplomas at a later date).

The Class of 2020’s Senior Recognition was held online this year due to the pandemic that shutdown schools. Instead of a Recognition Night ceremony seniors were recognized on Penn’s Facebook and Twitter accounts academic excellence, scholarships, leadership, service to school and community, citizenship, attendance, athletic accomplishments, Academy awards and many other accomplishments. Click here for a full listing of this year’s Academy award winners. Many of the award winners will also be recognized during the Virtual Commencement on the 29^th.

This year’s graduating class seniors have earned more than $9 million in scholarships!

This year’s graduating class includes 17 valedictorians: Elisabeth Casetti, Richard Chapple, Abbie Clay, Rajeev Datta, Andew Kabowski, Vishrut Khandelwal, Michelle Kwok, Darbie Kwon, Lyvia Li, Yewon Oh, Mia Schwartz, Courtney Sharpe, David Simonetti, Seunghoon Sun, Emma Tornquist, Karen Wang, and Peter Yang. This year’s valedictorians have an average GPA of 4.4 on a scale of 4.0.

There are three salutatorians with an average GPA of 4.3 on a scale of 4.0. This year’s salutatorians are Jack Dinnon, Jeffrey Du, and Josiah Railton

The Principal’s Leadership Award is presented annually to students who contribute their talent, time, energy, and motivation to the leadership of Penn’s student body. Haley Sidorowitz  and Aidan Meuninck were honored for helping to make a difference in the culture of Penn on behalf of their classmates. 

The Principal’s Citizenship and Service Award was presented to eight Penn High School students who have selflessly donated many hours to make sure that Penn High School is well represented in whatever service project they’re involved in. The winners of the 2020 Principal’s Citizenship and Service Award were: Elisabeth Casetti, Caroline Dell, Jada Edison, Michelle Kwok, Abigail Nush, Megan Rach, Rachel Santosh, A.J. Tu, 

Every year since 1967, Penn’s faculty vote to recognize an outstanding member of the graduating class based on service, character and leadership; the student must also, at the end of seventh semester, be in the top 10% of their graduating class. The senior selected is awarded the Paul H. Schmucker Award in memory of the distinguished member of Penn High School faculty from 1960-1967. This year’s recipient is Abbie Clay.

The graduating class also nominates a classmate who best exemplifies the qualities of service to his/her school community, school spirit, respect for classmates and Penn High School for the Kingsman of the Year Award. A tradition since 1970, the recipient is recognized for his/her leadership and willingness to accept challenge and is a great honor and show of respect from the recipients fellow classmates. The Class of 2020 Kingsman of the Year Award winner is Karen Wang.

Some P-H-M elementary or middle schools award scholarships to students who attended those schools. Click to see this year’s P-H-M school scholarships on Penn’s Facebook page. Scholarships for the Dr. and Mrs. Jerry Thacker Scholarship and the Larry Beehler Scholarship are also awarded every year. Dr. Jerry Thacker is Superintendent of Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation and Mr. Larry Beehler is a longtime member of P-H-M’s Board of School Trustees. Anna Madlem received the Larry Beehler Scholarship; and Abbie Clay won the Dr. & Mrs. Jerry Thacker Scholarship.

Here are some other points of excellence from the Class of 2020:

• 374 students graduating with Academic Honors Diplomas (3.0 GPA)
• 31 students graduating Summa Cum Laude (4.25 GPA)
• 83 students graduating Magna Cum Laude (4.0 GPA)
• 103 students graduating Cum Laude (3.75 GPA)
• 303 students graduating with High Honors (3.5 GPA)
• 73 students graduating with Technical Honors
• 12 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists, 11 were named Finalists
• 11 students Commended Scholars
• 5 Students were nominated for Presidential Scholars: Lyvia Li, Richard Chapple, Rajeev Datta, Andrew Kaboski, and Michelle Kwok
• Elisabeth Casetti was named Indiana Regional Academic All-Star, one of only 40 students across our state to be honored.  Elisabeth chose her Penn English teacher, Michael Coffee to be recognized along with her.
• Michelle Kwok, Courtney Sharpe, and Lyvia Lee are being awarded the Community Foundation of Saint Joseph County Eli Lilly Endowment Scholarship based on their high academic merits and test scores. 
• David Simonetti was named one of four winners of the 2020 Governor’s STEM Team awards. David received the Technology award. Each student will receive a $1,000 scholarship, courtesy of the College Choice 529 Program.
• 11 students are enlisting in the military: United States Marine Corp, United States Army, United States Air Force, United States Navy, and the United States Army National Guard
• Josh Temeles will be attending the Naval Academy
• 12 students competed Penn’s Cadet Teaching program

This is the 3rd co-hort for Penn’s Early College Academy. Here are the highlights from the Class of 2020:

• 100 graduates
• 19, earned 30 credits or more through Ivy Tech Community College
• 64, earned Associate’s Degrees

On Friday, May 22, approximately 130 teachers and staff from Penn High School and P-H-M staff and Administration, practicing safety precautions, delivered signs to the more than 800 seniors. Penn Principal Sean Galiher and P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker paired up to deliver some of those signs. See the pictures below. 

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 Food Service Department of the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation is participating in the Summer Food Service Program for Summer 2020. The summer program will run June 4 – August 18 at nine locations. 

Our school year meal service at the three locations of Prairie Vista, Grissom and Penn will continue through June 3. Click here for details on those pickup hours. Monday, May 25 is Memorial Day and no meals will be available. However, we will be handing out food backpacks at Grissom and Penn Friday, May 22 during lunch. Each backpack will have enough food for two meals for two kids. More details can be found here. 

The summer meal program will operate Monday through Friday, June 4 – August 18 at nine locations. Each location has different hours and dates of service. Please click here for more information and a complete list of sites and dates.

All sites will be closed on Friday, July 3, 2020.

FREE MEALS will be available to children 18 years of age and under, or persons more than 18 who are determined by a state or local public education agency to be mentally or physically disabled and who participate in a public or non-profit private school program established for the mentally or physically disabled. 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is limited access to our administrative offices until July. 

We have created an easy electronic registration process for families new to P-H-M or existing families with new students to enroll.

Please click here to visit our Enrollment page for more information and details.

P-H-M making school meals available during COVID-19 national Emergency through June 3, 2020:
 

“To Go” sack lunches for ALL students have been available for pickup at three sites since March 24:

• Early Meals (8-9 am)
  • Prairie Vista & Grissom 
• Midday meals (11 am – 1 pm)
  • Prairie Vista, Grissom, & Penn
• Late meals (5 – 7 pm)
  • Penn High School only

*We will not be handing out meals on Memorial Day, May 25. In addition to the additional sack meals we give given out at each meal, we will give out extra sack meals for the long weekend. We will be giving out backpacks Friday, May 22 at lunch at Grissom and Penn. They will have enough food for two meals for two kids in each pack.

This meal service schedule and locations will continue through June 3, 2020. The current pickup school locations (Prairie Vista, Grissom and Penn) will continue throughout the summer.

The summer meal program will operate Monday through Friday, June 4 – August 18 at nine locations. Each location has different hours and dates of service. Please click here for more information and a complete list of sites and dates.

All sites will be closed on Friday, July 3, 2020.

FREE MEALS will be available to children 18 years of age and under, or persons more than 18 who are determined by a state or local public education agency to be mentally or physically disabled and who participate in a public or non-profit private school program established for the mentally or physically disabled. 

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Longtime P-H-M employee Rita Szweda got the surprise of her 19-year career when P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker surprised her with the news that she had been named P-H-M’s Classified Employee of the Year!

Last Friday, May 1, Rita was on a video call with Horizon Principal Tressa Decker and Assistant Principal Amy Fadorsen when Dr. Thacker and other P-H-M administrators popped in on the call to surprise Rita with the news. Watch the video below …

Rita Szweda is the Secretary/Treasurer at Horizon Elementary School, a role she’s held for nine years. Rita began working at P-H-M when she was hired as a Teacher’s Aide at Horizon in 2001. She reflects back on her time as a TA and remembers fondly helping to instruct students; at one point, she even knew every student at Horizon by name! Rita continued to serve Horizon’s students, families, teachers and building staff when she became a full time Office Aide at Horizon in 2007.

Rita loves P-H-M and bleeds black and gold as a Kingsmen. When the position of Freshman Cheerleading Coach at Penn High School came open in 2004, Rita was a perfect fit for the job! In 2010, she became the Varsity Cheerleading Coach. She enjoys not only training the female student-athletes, but also getting them involved in a number of service opportunities/projects in the community. “Representing Penn High school in a positive way with these athletes has been so rewarding,” said Rita. “I feel I have been able to install confidence and friendship in the teenagers that I have worked with over the years and brought a cheerful heart to many students and staff members that have crossed my path.”

Rita is praised by Horizon’s Leadership Team, Mrs. Decker and Fadorsen, as being a dedicated and diligent employee who always has a smile to share. “Rita never stops working, whether it is as our Treasurer (the busiest treasurer in P-H-M) or as our building Secretary or as the Varsity Cheer Coach at Penn,” remarked Principal Decker. “She eats, breathes, and sleeps Penn-Harris-Madison Excellence!”

Amy Zimmer, Penn High School Exceptional Education Teacher, learned in a surprise pop-in video call on Friday, May 1 that she had been named P-H-M’s 2020 Secondary Teacher of the Year. Penn-Harris-Madison Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker surprised Amy by joining a Google video Hangout meeting she was having with a colleague. Click to watch the video below …
 

Amy teaches Applied Biology/Life Skills Science at Penn High School working with Exceptional Education students. Amy jointed P-H-M in 2015 from School City of Mishawaka where she worked as an Exceptional teacher 23 years in a variety of roles from preschool and elementary to middle school. Amy was even named School City of Mishawaka Teacher of the Year in 1998 when she was an Ex Ed teacher at then Beiger Junior High School.

Amy’s devotion to her students is well recognized and admired by her fellow teachers, “She has provided hundreds of Exceptional Education students with the best learning experience not only concerning academics, also but their wellbeing,” said Colleen Gish Penn High School teacher who nominated Amy for the award. “Amy works tirelessly as a teacher, case manager, CPS liaison, special need's advocate, and team-player (substituting for her colleagues).”

Teaching Applied Biology/Life Skills Science at Penn, Amy looks for opportunities to expose her students to “maximize each student’s potential, whatever that potential may be.” This school year, she piloted a program with her students and local non-profit Cultivate Food Rescue. Once a month, a team of Penn Exceptional Education students volunteered at Cultivate learning how to process and package food in a commercial kitchen facility while following health and safety protocol. This unique learning experience as Amy describes it “allows students to develop citizenship and leadership skills as well as many important life skills. To date, my Exceptional Education students have packaged 1,696 balanced meals for underprivileged kindergarten and first grade students participating in Cultivate’s Backpack Program.” Through this program, students are learning so much more than how to do a job, Amy says her students “have gained a sense of pride in their work, possessed a feeling of satisfaction knowing they are helping children.” Little did Amy and her students know that the 300 meals they helped package on their last visit to Cultivate on March 9th would go to help students and families affected by the COVID-19 school shutdowns and the Shelter in Place order. 

There’s no doubt about the passion Amy has for her students, stating “It takes a village and at Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation, we prioritize the collaboration of students, parents and teachers. … I incorporate the Triangle of Success model when developing differentiated instruction for my science lessons. … By utilizing all of the resources and supports available, I guide and connect students to opportunities, services, experiences, personnel, and programs.”

Amy along with P-H-M’s Elementary Teacher of the Year, Jessie Kinney, will be considered for the honor of the Indiana Teacher of the Year. Both P-H-M Teachers of the Year will receive a $500 classroom grant from P-H-M’s Education Foundation.

In a surprise video meeting drop-in morning of Friday, May 1 Penn-Harris-Madison Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker named the District’s 2020 Elementary Teacher of the Year … Jessie Kinney, Technology Curriculum Integration Coach for P-H-M elementary schools. 

Click to watch the video below to see Jessie’s reaction when Dr. Thacker and other P-H-M Administrators dropped in on her Google Video Hangout Meeting with a colleague …

Jessie Kinney has 13 years’ experience as an educator starting her career as a reading specialist with Portage Township School District. She joined P-H-M in 2009 as a traveling Physical Education teacher serving Prairie Vista, Horizon, and Walt Disney elementary schools; she also served as an Assistant Volleyball coach at Penn High School.  Jessie moved to Elsie Rogers Elementary School as a 5th grade teacher in the fall of 2010 and taught 4th grade for the next six years there. In 2017, Jessie moved into the role of Elementary Title I Technology Integration Coach for the district. In this teacher on assignment position, Jessie regularly supports more than 200 elementary teachers in the successful integration of instructional technology with the goal to increase student engagement and improve student learning outcomes. Now in her 11th year with P-H-M, Jessie is currently based at Moran Elementary School.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic that shutdown schools, Jessie traveled between P-H-M’s elementary schools working with students in small group settings on hands-on projects like coding miniature robots. But more directly, she helps students by teaching their teachers! She assists educators with ways to incorporate STEM into all facets of their curriculum.

While providing supports to all P-H-M elementary teachers spread out over 11 buildings, Jessie has a targeted focus of supporting P-H-M’s five Title I schools. Most recently, she put her passion and knowhow for technology to work by supporting Elm Road Elementary’s application to become an IDOE STEM certified school. While the outcome of the IDOE certification process is not yet known, Jessie’s contributions to help Elm Road land this designation are appreciated by her fellow teachers … “She has made a difference in every student's life by investing energy in training, encouraging, and motivating the Elm Road team of teachers to be their best for students who need to be college and career-ready in a new era,” said Elm Road teacher Heidi Tornquist, who nominated Jessie for P-H-M Elementary Teacher of the Year.

When COVID-19 abruptly shut down our schools, Jessie shifted gears quickly to help support and collaborate with teachers as a tech resource on how to keep their students engaged during this period of extended eLearning. She sends weekly “Tech Tips” on new educational tools that teachers can use in their virtual classrooms.

“By embracing technology and being open to the change,” says Jessie, “we have learned that relationships are stronger and can come in many different formats.  My message to my fellow teachers would be to remember sometimes all you need to overcome your limits is a little encouragement and the ability to jump in and build your wings on the way down.  The last few months have taught us to be flexible, embrace the unknown, and that technology can be used as a tool to enhance relationships and the learning environment.   Embrace the technology and be open to the change, and with a little bit of grace we will be able to create a new and possibly even better new-normal within our classroom.” 

Jessie along with P-H-M’s Secondary Teacher of the Year, Penn High School’s Amy Zimmer, will be considered for the honor of the Indiana Teacher of the Year. Both P-H-M Teachers of the Year will receive a $500 classroom grant from P-H-M’s Education Foundation.