Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker welcomed back retirees at P-H-M’s annual Holiday Breakfast.

It was good to catch up with former colleagues and enjoy some holiday festivities, complete with a prize drawing!

Take a look at the photo gallery below …

On Friday, December 1, 2023, the Basketball Court inside Penn High Schools Main Arena was officially renamed “Al Rhodes Kingsmen Court” in honor of long time Basketball Coach and Hall of Famer Al Rhodes. Click here for more background information.

As part of the P-H-M Education Foundation’s Naming Rights Campaign, P-H-M Superintendent​ Dr. Jerry Thacker and his wife, Donna Thacker, generously donated $10,000 to have the court to pay homage to former Penn basketball player, turned teacher and coach!

It was a special night for Coach Rhodes, his family, friends and all of the Kingsmen community.

Watch the video below to relive the evening.

On a crisp December morning, Bittersweet Elementary School hosted the cherished event: “Breakfast with Santa.”

The day began in the Planetarium, where a dazzling laser light show ignited imaginations. Families watched a wonderful light show set to holiday music before heading to the cafeteria for a delicious breakfast.

The highlight of the event was Santa’s arrival. With a jovial “Ho, ho, ho!” he listened to children’s holiday wishes and posed for photos, spreading joy to all.

Take a look at some photos below!

We’re looking for teachers who want to join the P-H-M Family. If you are a new or veteran teacher, or currently enrolled as an education major … WE WANT TO TALK TO YOU! 

Click here for more about WHY you should become a teacher with us!

Every teacher candidate will be GUARANTEED one face-to-face interview with a P-H-M administrator.

WHEN & WHERE

• Dates: Tuesday, December 19, 2023 and Wednesday, March 13, 2024
• Time: 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. (EST)
• School Location: Schmucker Middle School (Door B)
• Address: 56045 Bittersweet Rd. Mishawaka, IN 46545

WHAT TO EXPECT:

• Upon arrival, you will sign in before waiting in a common area until it is your turn
• These are REAL interviews, please dress professionally
• When it’s your turn to be interviewed, please turn off your phone or switch it to “Airplane Mode”
• It’s important to have your Application & Resume on file, please submit an online application prior to the job fair.
• If you do not have an updated online application on file with P-H-M Schools, a hard copy of your resume is recommended, but not required.

Can’t make it to the job fair? Please submit an online application.

Addition Questions? Please contact PHMhumanresourcesinfo@phm.k12.in.us

At the Board of School Trustees Meeting held Monday, November 13, several individuals and groups were recognized or presented.

Teachers who were recently recognized with the P-H-M Impact Awards were recognized. Everyone was present except for Penn High School’s Dr. Lee Morris. Click the teachers name below to see the growth they helped their students achieve.

• Brian Griman, College Algebra, Pre-Calculus & Trigonometry, and Calculus course at Penn High School
• Tony Krupa, 8th grade Math at Schmucker Middle School
• Melisa Bennett, 2nd grade, Moran Elementary School
• Matt Serge, 3rd grade teacher, Walt Disney Elementary School
• Kara Flanagan, 1st grade, Elsie Rogers Elementary School
• Josh Kelver, 8th grade ELA teacher, Grissom Middle School
• Lexie Banks and Erin Horvath, 5th grade co-teaching team, Mary Frank Elementary School
• Dr. Lee Morris,  9th grade Early College Biology, Penn High School

From September 15 – October 12, Dr. Thacker surprised all the teachers listed above by showing up in the classrooms to present them with the awards. All the surprise announcements are captured in this highlight video below. Click to watch …

Assistant Superintendent Dr. Heather Short, Director of Professional Development & Student Learning Dr. Lavon Dean-Null, and Director of Literacy Ryan Towner were recognized for  recently receiving the 2023-2024 Competitive Science of Reading Grant Notification from the Indiana Department of Education’s (IDOE’s) Literacy Center. P-H-M’s Learning Division applied for the grant and received full funding for $448,148! The money will be used to pay for Science of Reading tools and resources, teacher professional development, and materials from LETRS for teacher training/background knowledge.

Penn High School’s World Languages and Health and Human Services Academies gave presentations. Several students spoke about their experiences with the academy courses and how its helped them in their day-to-day lives and help them decide on future careers. One student signed part of her presentation

Penn High School Senior Bella Bauer gave a presentation on Epilepsy for Epilepsy Awareness Month. Bella suffers from Epilepsy having her first episode in 5^th grade. She now hopes to educate as many students, teachers, and members of the public on Epilepsy and what to do when someone has a seizure. She’s written a book “The ABC’s on Epilepsy.” Bella is also a member of Penn’s Dance team.

Interested in being a P-H-M substitute teacher, Educational Assistant (EA), or a Teacher’s Aide (TA) ?

Come to one of the upcoming job fairs to learn more about the positions and earning possible benefits.

ESS manages P-H-M’s substitutes. Those hired become ESS employees with the compensation listed below:

• Sub Teachers – $100 per day ($135 for Retired Teachers)
• Sub Educational Assistants (EA) – $85 per day
• Sub Teacher Aides & Sub Office Aides $14 an hour

Click here for more details on these positions.

This afternoon P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker handed out the last two teacher Impact Awards as part of Round 1. This portion of the awards highlighted the teachers with the most significant overall student growth during the 2022-2023 school year.

Today’s awardees are both math teachers. Penn’s Brian Griman teaches College Algebra, Pre-Calculus & Trigonometry, and Calculus courses; and Tony Krupa teaches 8th grade Math at Schmucker Middle School. Dr. Thacker was able to surprise both Griman and Krupa with the help of some other members of P-H-M A Administration: Asst. Superindent of Instruction Dr. Heather Short, Director of Professional Development Dr. Lavon Dean-Null, and Director of Literacy & Title I Ryan Towner. P-H-M Education Foundation Executive Director Jennifer Turnblom was also on hand. The Foundation covered the cost for the awards given to each winner.

To surprise Mr. Griman, Dr. Thacker enlisted the help of Penn Principal Dr. Sean Galiher. At Schmucker, Principal Sarah Smith and Assistant Principals Cam Brundage and Matthew Garber helped surprise Mr. Krupa in the middle of class.

Serendipitously, both Griman and Krupa’s children were both in their father’s classroom today when they received the surprise awards, making the awards even more special.

Click here to see more pictures on Facebook.

Griman received his Impact award because he had the largest increase of student growth in passing, from PSAT to SAT. The growth in the number of students proficient from PSAT to SAT was 11%.

Krupa was recognized because his students had 85% growth in proficiency from Clear Sight 1 to ILEARN. Krupa also had two of the top three highest growth 8th grade math classes.

We appreciate all P-H-M teachers across the district for their commitment to helping their students achieve academic success. 

Round 1 of the Impact Awards is now complete. Round 2 of the Impact Awards will be handed out mid winter.

The Penn-Harris-Madison Board of School Trustees unanimously voted on Monday, Oct. 9, 2023 to approve the P-H-M teachers’ contract for two years, the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 school years, and increase teachers’ overall base salaries by approximately 5% and 3% respectively.

P-H-M Administration and the P-H-M Teachers Association effectively negotiated contracts that not only give salary increases to both new and existing teachers, but also provide a $650 retention bonus incentive (new teachers will get one in July 2024 and existing teachers will get one this December and again in July 2024). The new teacher’s starting salary is now $47,007 (up from $44,940 last year). The salary range now goes to $81,360 (last year’s high end of the range was $77,412). The new salary range will be retroactive to the start of the fiscal year July 1, 2023 running through June 30,2024. The breakdown of percentage increase is below.

“Negotiating a contract for two years instead of one is more efficient and shows P-H-M’s support and commitment to our teachers,” said Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker. “The salary increases and retention bonuses support P-H-M’s talent acquisition and retention strategies to recruit and retain the best teachers for our students. Combined with our total compensation package, P-H-M offers a premier package for teachers in our area.” 

For year two of the contract (July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025), new teachers will get a 2.9% increase and existing teachers will get 3.1%, making the salary range $48,370 – $84,204. Existing teachers will receive a $650 retention bonus in December 2024. See the chart below.

Additionally, a yearly stipend of $250 will be paid to eligible teachers who have earned 36 credit hours beyond their Bachelor’s degree or Master’s degree after 2012. For the two-year period of this contract, there will also be an annual 2% stipend increase for all teachers who also serve as athletic and extracurricular academic coaches. Employee contributions for health insurance premiums will also increase a marginal 5% during the first year of this agreement.

A tentative agreement was reached on September 19 and PHMTA members ratified the agreement by an overwhelming majority on Tuesday, September 26.

“Penn-Harris-Madison Teachers Association appreciates the collaboration with P-H-M administration to reach this two year agreement. With this agreement, P-H-M continues to stand out in this area as a leading district in wages and benefits. It is an agreement that will truly benefit our outstanding teachers and allows P-HM to continue to attract and retain the very best” said PHMTA President Lisa Langfeldt.

The teachers’ contract is negotiated first followed by the rest of P-H-M employee groups. Annually the process takes place after the school year has begun, approximately September thru November. Announcements about other P-H-M employee groups will be forthcoming.

As part of the P-H-M Education Foundation naming rights campaign, Dr. and Mrs. Jerry Thacker have generously donated $10,000 to the Education Foundation to have the basketball court in Penn High School’s Main Arena named after Hall of Fame and Penn’s legendary coach, Al Rhodes, renaming the court “Al Rhodes Kingsmen Court.”

The Penn-Harris-Madison Board of School Trustees voted to approve the sponsorship agreement at the Monday, October 9, 2023, Board meeting. The donation will be paid in one lump sum to the Foundation.

Coach Rhodes retired at the end of the 2022-2023 school year, with a 28-2 record. The Kingsmen reached the Final Four led by Rhodes protégé and standout Markus Burton who won the coveted Mr. Basketball Award. Burton is only the third player from St. Joseph County to be named Mr. Basketball. Now at Notre Dame, he was the MVP of the 2023 Indiana-Kentucky All-Star series.

Rhodes also played for the Kingsmen from 1966-1970. He went on to play for Tri-State University (now Trine University) before embarking on his coaching career.

Starting his head coaching career at Warsaw in 1980, Rhodes coached the Tigers through the 2002 season. His 1984 Warsaw team claimed the State Championship.

Rhodes and his Kingsmen teams cut down the nets six times as Sectional or Regional Champions. Penn reached the Final Four in Indiana’s revered Hoosier Hysteria state tournament for the third and fourth times in the school’s 65-year history. Rhodes posted an overall record of 693-320 in 42 seasons, including an overall state tournament record of 101-41. The Kingsmen won 18 Sectional Championships, nine Regional Championships, four Semi-state Championships and one State Championship. Coach Rhodes retired as the winningest coach in Kingsmen Boys Basketball history with a record of 239-128 in 15 seasons.

Dr. and Mrs. Thacker’s donation to name the court after the Hall of Famer was a natural decision, said Dr. Thacker. “It’s only fitting that the hardwood where Kingsmen student-athletes racked up so many wins under Coach Rhodes’ leadership would be named after him. This is an excellent way to commemorate and celebrate Penn Basketball’s winningest coach ever!”

The unveiling of the new court signage is scheduled to take place at the Penn-Clay game on December 1, 2023. The new court name will be displayed above the scoreboard.

Per PHMEF’s naming rights fundraising initiative, 80 percent of the donation will go into the Foundation’s endowment, which will in turn provide alternative and additional funding for various co-curricular and extracurricular programs. The remaining 20 percent directly funds professional development initiatives for P-H-M teachers. Continuing the education and training of teachers is a major priority for P-H-M School District.

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.

Dr. Thacker has been superintendent of Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation since 2006 and has supported the Education Foundation wholeheartedly. Over the course of 17 years, Dr. and Mrs. Thacker have donated $202,500 to the P-H-M Education Foundation, including this most recent donation of the naming rights. Most of this money has either been unrestricted donations or used as matching funds for fundraising initiatives. This is the second time they have made a donation to the naming rights campaign. In 2021, they donated $25,000 to have the Kingsmen Athletic Center renamed the Chris Geesman Kingsmen Athletic Center after Penn’s legendary football championship coach. Click here to see pictures and video of the dedication.

“The Foundation Board and I are so appreciative of Dr. and Mrs. Thacker’s generosity through the years,” said Jennifer Turnblom, Executive Director of the P-H-M Education Foundation. “Their unwavering support has been a tremendous help to us fulfilling our mission. The Thackers’ 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!”

The Arena is still available for naming rights.

Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker dropped by Moran Elementary School today to surprise another teacher with a P-H-M Impact Award.  This time around, the noteworthy educator is Moran 2nd grade teacher Melisa Bennett.

All P-H-M teachers across the district are dedicated to helping their students achieve personal academic success. The P-H-M Impact Award is shining the spotlight on those teachers who are showing the most significant overall student growth during the 2022-2023 school year. They are prime examples of how our teachers and students achieve P-H-M Excellence!

With the help of Principal Principal Lisa Russell, Dr. Thacker was able to catch Melisa Bennett off guard. Dr. Thacker was also joined by P-H-M administrators Assistant Superintendent Dr. Heather Short, Director of Professional Development Dr. Lavon Dean-Null and Director of Literacy and Title I Ryan Towner.

Melisa Bennett had the highest growth of all P-H-M Title I second grade teachers! 92% of students of her Moran second graders’ overall Dibels composite growth was average or higher. 36% of students were in the “above average” or “well above average” categories.

Check out all the photos of today’s award presentations on Facebook.

We thank the P-H-M Education Foundation for covering the cost of the awards.

There are more P-H-M teachers to recognize in the days, weeks and months ahead!