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Jessie Kinney named P-H-M’s 2020 Elementary Teacher of the Year

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.

Jessie Kinney working with Elsie Rogers students during a hands-on project (Dec. 2019).

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.

P-H-M Named 2022 Best Community for Music Education

Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation was named among the Best Communities for Music Education (BCME) in the country by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Foundation for the 9^th year in a row!

Now in its 23rd year, the 2022 Best Communities for Music Education program has recognized 738 school districts and 80 schools across 44 states for the outstanding efforts by teachers, administrators, parents, students, and community leaders and their support for music education as part of a well-rounded education for all children. This NAMM Foundation celebrated and recognized K-12 music teachers in school districts who found creative ways for the “show to carry on” despite schools moving online or to in-person settings where masks were required not only for student musicians and instruments.

In our elementary schools, music class is part of the regular curriculum following state standards. Students are instructed in both vocal and instrument classes. Beginning in 6th grade, P-H-M students at our three middle schools (Discovery, Schmucker and Grissom) have the opportunity to choose choir, orchestra or band as their music elective. Students at Discovery also have the option of choosing Piano Lab.

Discovery students performing Christmas piano concert in UP Mall (Dec. 2017) Grissom students in Band class (2017) Schmucker Choir Class (2017)

Penn High School offers the Fine Arts & Communication Academy as part of its unique academy structure. The seven academy design provides Penn students with relevant and meaningful coursework taught in smaller, supportive environments where each student is known well by his teacher and peers. Nearly a third of Penn’s total 3,500 students are enrolled in the Fine Arts Academy with the majority being involved with music programs, either Choir, Orchestra, Band or another music program.

To qualify for the Best Communities designation, P-H-M answered detailed questions about funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support for the music program, and community music-making programs. Responses were verified with school officials and reviewed by The Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas.

Research into music education continues to demonstrate educational/cognitive and social skill benefits for children who make music. In a series of landmark studies by scientists and researchers at Northwestern University a link was found between students in community music programs and life-long academic success, including higher high school graduation rates and college attendance. In another study from the University, it was discovered that the benefits of early exposure to music education improves how the brain processes and assimilates sounds, a trait that lasts well into adulthood.

Beyond the Northwestern research, other studies have indicated that music education lays the foundation for individual excellence in group settings, creative problem solving and flexibility in work situations, as well learning how to give and receive constructive criticism to excel.

Technology help during extended eLearning

Internet resources all over the world are currently very busy! You may encounter errors with websites, school curriculum or other internet resources. If you receive an error message when trying to access resources, please be patient and try again after a few minutes. If you continue to receive an error message after trying multiple times, you can email the teacher who assigned the work to let them know.

P-H-M’s Guide to Technology on the district website will provide parents with many of the resources you need to help your student with eLearning, click here to view that webpage.

Parents can set up parental controls on the P-H-M issued Chromebooks issued for student eLearning. Securly is the application the district uses on Chromebooks to filter objectionable content; it also allows parents to receive reports on internet use of the P-H-M issued Chromebook. Parents should have received an email from Securly providing instructions on how to set up. Please click here to learn more.

If your student’s Chromebook is in need of repair, please send an email to the P-H-M Technology Department at chromebooks@phm.k12.in.us. Please include all of the following in your email:

Parent’s name
Student’s name
Student’s email address
School Name
Describe the issue/problem Chromebook is experiencing

P-H-M Technology will respond back with details on how and where you will exchange the device for a new one. However, please note that you must turn in the damaged Chromebook and the charging cable to receive the new device. New Chromebooks will not be issued unless you return the damaged Chromebook first.

P-H-M Named 2020 Best Community for Music Education

With music education programs at all grade levels (K-12), Penn-Harris-Madison has once again been named one of 2020 Best Communities for Music Education for its outstanding commitment to music education! P-H-M is one of only 754 districts nationwide and 16 in Indiana to receive the honor from The NAMM Foundation. This is the 7th year in a row that P-H-M has received this prestigious national designation!

The Best Communities for Music Education designation is awarded to districts that demonstrate outstanding achievement in efforts to provide music access and education to all students. The BCME award acknowledges the commitment of P-H-M’s music teachers and administrators in the District’s 11 elementary, three middle schools and Penn High School.

Horizon Elementary Show Choir Middle School students

P-H-M shutdown due to “Shelter in Place” Order for Indiana (3.23.20)

Dear P-H-M Families,

As you are aware, this afternoon Governor Eric Holcomb ordered a “Shelter in Place Order” for the state of Indiana to go into effect tomorrow, Tuesday, March 24 (11:59 p.m.) through April 7, 2020 (11:59 p.m.).

The Governor called on all state agencies to do their part in helping to stop the spread of COVID-19 by closing offices and ending in-person non-essential contact. The Governor’s order calls for all state agencies that are able to shift to providing services online or virtually to do so starting tomorrow. Click here for more information on the Order.

For Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation this means that most of the essential staff who still remained in our buildings will not report on site for work starting tomorrow, March 24. Building principals and secretaries will work remotely continuing to serve and support our students, staff, and families during this period of extended eLearning. If you do not have your building principal and secretary’s email address, you can find it on your school website. Just click the yellow alert at the top of the homepage. Teachers, of course, are already working remotely from home facilitating eLearning for our nearly 11,000 students grades K-12.

The only staff who will continue to report to work in person are those needed to ensure our buildings are safe and maintained. Those who are necessary to conduct essential district business operations will still also report for work on site as permitted by the Executive Order.

Food Service has now become a critical service that we are providing to our families. Yet out of an abundance of caution, we are reducing the number of sack meal pickup sites to just three sites effective tomorrow, 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

Essential school and district staff members who are working at home remotely will be reachable via email. This is the best way to reach someone initially.

These are definitely unprecedented times for our country. Every single person is being impacted by COVID-19 in some way or another. Today Governor Holcomb called on all of us to do our part to help all Hoosiers. Cooperation by all citizens in all communities across Indiana for these next two weeks will hopefully prevent an overload to our state’s healthcare system. This is something we can all do to help the healthcare providers on the front line. Self-sacrifice for these next two weeks will also put our state in a better position to rebound economically.

I strongly urge all of you to take this Executive Order seriously. For more information on what the Executive Order permits and restricts, click here.

The sooner this pandemic crisis ends, the sooner our students can return to school and we can get back to doing what we love the most … educating and supporting your children!

Stay healthy, safe and well,

Dr. Jerry Thacker
Superintendent of Schools

Revision of COVID-19 Food Service Update (3.23.20)

Monday, March 23, 2020

Dear P-H-M Families,

Today (Mon., March 23), Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb ordered all Indiana residents to stay home except for essential duties. In an effort to reduce the potential exposure to our P-H-M families and staff, starting tomorrow Tues, March 24, we have updated the locations that will be supplying meals.

Starting Tuesday, March 24, Early Meals will be offered at Prairie Vista & Grissom from 8 – 9 a.m., Midday Meals will be offered at Prairie Vista, Grissom & Penn from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. and Late Meals will be offered at Penn from 5 – 7 p.m. This is available to ANY and ALL P-H-M students.

The student does not have to be with the parent/adult when they pick up the meals. The adult just has to be able to show proof that they have at least one P-H-M student that they are picking up a meal for. They can show an ID card, a piece of paper with the student ID number, a report card, etc.

To help parents, Early sack meals for the following day can be picked up at the Midday and the Late Meal pick up times.

We are doing our best to try and relieve as much stress as possible for our families. Even though our students are not in our buildings and classrooms, they are at the top of our minds. All of us at P-H-M are working to make things as stable as we can for you.

Managing COVID-19 Anxiety & Stress

Talking with Your Child & Teen About Infectious Diseases (such as the Coronavirus) … Helping to Relieve Anxieties

With all the information out about Infectious Diseases, such as the COVID-19, coronavirus, many people may have concerns and anxieties looming about their own health and the spread of the disease. As parents, we may have questions about how to talk to our children about the disease. With that in mind, we wanted to offer ways to support you from the social-emotional side. Please click to watch the video below from P-H-M's Director of Social-Emotional Learning & Mental Health Jennifer Sears, Ph.D.

Dr. Sears has also prepared a multitude of tips and resources below for parents.

The following are guidelines or suggestions on the type of information that is age-appropriate for most. Remember, you know your child best.
- Early Elementary: Keep the conversation brief, simple and stick to the facts. Assure the child home and school are safe. Let the child know IF someone gets sick, adults will help. Help the child learn ways to stay healthy, such as washing their hands, maintaining a sanitary environment, eating properly, getting enough rest, etc.
- Upper Elementary and Early Middle Schoolers: Share facts as above, but keep in mind children at this age are processing information more and may question if they are really safe. Therefore, it is important to separate fact from rumor. Share the ways people at home and school are taking measures to help keep them healthy. Monitor or limit media intake.
- Upper Middle School and High Schoolers: Information can be shared more in-depth and more adult-like. Be honest, accurate and factual. Make sure they feel a sense of control in the situation, which comes by engaging in activities that will help keep themselves and others be healthy. Monitor media intake.
Key Talking Points: When you talk with your child, keep the above in mind as well as a few key talking points for your consideration — State that at home and school, adults are taking every effort to keep everyone safe. Not everyone will get the disease/virus. Steps are being made to limit the spread of the disease and care for those who are sick. They can do things to help stay healthy (i.e., wash hands with soap and water, use alcohol-based hand sanitizer, avoid contact with people who are sick, do not touch your mouth, eyes, nose or face, use your elbow to catch your sneeze or cough, clean and disinfect surface areas, etc.).
Here are some additional helpful suggestions about how to talk with your child about Infectious Diseases, such as the COVID-19:
- Be available and present: Take a few minutes to have a conversation with your child. Chances are they have heard something about the virus, and if not, it is a good time to set the tone with your child. Stick to the facts and reassure them that everyone is making every reasonable effort to keep people safe. Tell them you are aware of the symptoms (e.g., fever, cough, shortness of breath, per the CDC) and will monitor their health and seek immediate medical attention if you have concerns.
- Remain calm and reassuring: Children will imitate what is modeled for them, so keep your voice calm, soothing and reassuring as you talk to them. Tell your child your family and the school are taking every precaution to help keep them safe.
- Do not blame others: At times, we may find ourselves blaming a person or group of people, but it is really important to avoid stereotyping and blaming, especially in an instance when no one has meant to cause any harm. Any negative talk should be stopped and if there are concerns, you can report this to the school or make a call to the Safe School Helpline.
- Listen to Concerns to Help Keep them Manageable: As do adults, children’s minds can wonder and they can imagine horrible situations. They may be worried about their loved ones becoming sick. Listen to their concerns, stick to the facts, and only share age-appropriate information. You know your child best.
- Be aware of signs of anxiety in your children. You may notice some behaviors in your child that are a little out of character. For instance, on the mild side, they may hang around you more, seem clingy or want to be with you to help build a sense of security. Be patient. Younger children will have more difficulty expressing their worries than older children so they may not be able to put their thoughts into words, but their behaviors will help you gauge what they are feeling. Also keep in mind, young children may ask a few questions, play and then come back with more questions. They are unpacking a lot of information and attempting to make sense of it based on their experiences and knowledge. This is why it is important to stick to facts, answer what you are able to and what is age-appropriate, and prevent or limit access to media or talk that will heighten concerns.
Other Important Considerations:
- Relieving Anxieties: Oftentimes, we feel a sense of anxiety because we do not feel in control or want to gain some control over the situation. With this in mind, remind children and adults alike that they have a sense of control in that they can help prevent the spread of the virus by taking appropriate measures to keep their hands sanitized using soap and warm water or an alcohol-based sanitizer, not touching face or mouth, not touching others, covering their mouths when they cough or sneeze, not eating or drinking after others, which all can provide provide a sense of control in people that they are not spreading the virus. We can also feel a sense of control when we take measures to stay healthy and give our immune system what it needs to keep our bodies healthy by eating right and getting enough sleep for their age. Assess your own risk to gain a sense of control over your health. Please consider speaking with your medical provider if you have individual concerns. The CDC also offers information on risks to different populations. Please find the link here to CDC Website with information about people at high risk. If you know your risk, you can take the recommended precautions in order to help gain a sense of control, which will help alleviate some anxieties.
- Self-Care: It is vital that we continue to engage in self-care activities to promote physical, psychological, personal, emotional, spiritual and professional well-being and help strengthen our ability to be resilient, or bounce back. If you are feeling more stress during this time, it is a good idea to make self-care more of a priority than it usually is for you. Self-care activities include eating and exercising properly, getting plenty of sleep, as well as engaging in activities that are safe and you enjoy.
- Flexible Thinking: Practice flexible thinking, which is thinking about things in a new way. During times of change, we can practice flexible thinking when we think about our routine, for example. During times of change, we can practice cognitive flexibility by realizing we might do school work differently than normal, but we are still learning-we are just going about it in new ways than we typically do.
- Supervise media consumption. Make sure information is age appropriate. Sensitive topics such as death can cause extreme worry and confusion. Limit the amount of time and conversation surrounding the Infectious Disease (e.g. COVID-19). While it is important to take precautions, adults should not dwell on the topic or share information with students that can be frightening and cause unnecessary panic. Reference the cdc.gov for the most accurate information. Communication regarding school will come from school administration. Be careful not to get caught up in rumors. If you have specific concerns, please report those to your child’s school. Rather than spending too much time with social media, especially with your children around (remember, they pick up on more than you know), engage in a game or other healthy activity to build relationships and ease their concerns by having the attention and presence of an adult.

Additional Resources:

Important Message from Dr. Thacker re: COVID-19 (3/11/2020)

The message below was sent out to all P-H-M staff and families the afternoon of March 11, 2020.

Dear P-H-M Families,

The Saint Joseph County Department of Health held a news conference shortly after 3:00 p.m. this afternoon (Wednesday, March 11, 2020) to announce that St. Joseph County has its first positive case of COVID-19.

If you are not yet aware, the Health Department stated that the patient is an adult male in his 50s and is quarantined at home. They stated that the patient does not need to be hospitalized. Due to patient privacy, no other information was released.

Out of an abundance of precaution and to minimize risk of exposure to the elderly and those with medically compromised immune systems, Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation has decided to postpone large community events that we are hosting for the remainder of this week through Sunday, March 15. Building principals will notify the groups affected by the postponement of these events.

P-H-M Administration will take the rest of this week to examine what future action may need to be taken. We will be following the recommendations and direction of local, state and federal health officials.

We shared with you yesterday afternoon that we met with the Health Dept. officials. Their recommendation was to continue to stress the importance of hand hygiene and the importance for students and staff who are displaying flu-like symptoms to remain at home until they are fever and symptom free for at least 24 hours. CDC recommendations include:

Wash your hands. Washing your hands often will help protect you from germs. Soap and water is best, washing the hands for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
Cover your mouth and nose. Remind your students to cover their mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing. The best thing is to cover the mouth and nose area with a tissue and then throw the tissue immediately away. Second best, if tissues are not available, is to cough/sneeze into your elbow.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs are often spread when a person touches something that is contaminated with germs and then touches his or her eyes, nose, or mouth.

Both influenza and COVID-19 are respiratory viruses and the symptoms are very similar (click here for COVID-19 symptoms as described by the CDC). If you or a family member is having flu-like symptoms, you should contact your family physician for medical guidance.

Please use these resources for more information on the COVID-19 situation nationally and in our state:

We appreciate your patience during this time.

Dr. Jerry Thacker
Superintendent of Schools

Important Message from Dr. Thacker re: COVID-19 (3/10/2020)

The message below was sent out to all P-H-M staff and families the afternoon of March 10, 2020.

Dear P-H-M Families,

Several members of the P-H-M Administration Team met with leaders of the St. Joseph County Department of Health today to discuss the evolving health protocols and procedures for COVID-19. Today’s meeting was part of P-H-M’s ongoing communication with local health systems and the county health department.

The Indiana State Department of Health Department (ISDH) is tracking the state’s COVID-19 cases and sharing the information on their website (click here to read). Currently the ISDH has tested 36 people across the state and six people have tested positive in the following counties: Hendricks (2), Marion (1), Boone (1), Adams (1); and Noble (1). Right now, there are no confirmed cases in Saint Joseph County.

We are taking guidance and direction from St. Joseph County Department of Health and ISDH. At this time, we have not been advised to make any changes to our academic or extracurricular calendars. The guidance provided at this time is that the elderly and those with serious medical underlying conditions should avoid large gatherings of any kind.

St. Joseph County Department of Health will notify us immediately of a confirmed case of COVID-19 should it impact our district. If there was a confirmed case, we would work directly with and take guidance from these local and state health experts. We will only be able to share information as permitted by HIPPA and by health officials.

We are also following the Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommendations on disinfection and sanitization of high traffic areas in our buildings. P-H-M Custodial Staff has been conducting extra cleaning in our schools since the beginning of flu season; we have since increased those measures to help prevent the spread of seasonal contagious diseases. These same cleaning measures are recommended by the CDC to minimize the spread of COVID-19.

We are reminding all P-H-M staff of proper hand hygiene, and teachers are reminding students. With our younger students, teachers are giving refreshers on proper hand washing techniques. St. Joseph County Department of Health officials reiterated with us today that the CDC recommendations continue to be the best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19:

Clean hands. Washing your hands often will help protect you from germs. Soap and water is best, washing the hands for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
Cover your mouth and nose. Remind your students to cover their mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing. The best thing is to cover the mouth and nose area with a tissue and then throw the tissue immediately away. Second best, if tissues are not available, is to cough/sneeze into your elbow.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs are often spread when a person touches something that is contaminated with germs and then touches his or her eyes, nose, or mouth.

Please remember that we are still in flu season. If students are sick please keep them home. Students should not return to school until they are fever and symptom free (this includes coughing and sneezing during flu season) for 24 hours. Both influenza and COVID-19 are respiratory viruses and the symptoms are very similar (click here for COVID-19 symptoms as described by the CDC). If you or a family member is having flu-like symptoms, you should contact your family physician for medical guidance.

Please use these resources for more information on the COVID-19 situation nationally and in our state:

You can also contact the St. Joseph County Department of Health at (574) 235-9750.

Thank you for your patience during this rapidly evolving situation. We will continue to provide updates to the P-H-M family when they become available.

Dr. Jerry Thacker
Superintendent of Schools

Parent information on Naviance

P-H-M is excited to offer Naviance to students in grades 6-12. Naviance is a college, career and life readiness web-based platform that helps identify and align students' individual strengths and interests to post-secondary goals, including college and careers. Naviance was built for students to learn about who they are as learners, what their interests and strengths are, and then tie their personal interests and strengths to potential career pathways and colleges.

Starting in the Spring 2020 semester, students in 6th-12th grades will be doing two to four learning activities through the Naviance platform as part of Phase I of our Naviance launch.

During the 2019-2020 school year specifically, in middle school, students will engage in Naviance during social studies, and high schoolers will engage in Naviance during English for 11th & 12th graders, science for 10th graders, and PCC for 9th graders.

Students will have access to Naviance using their Clever credentials, and parents can have access to their student's account using their child's Clever credentials as well.

Please click here to access the presentation used at a parent informational meeting on March 2, 2020 for additional information.

We are pleased to offer this robust tool to continue to support your student to reach his or her potential and set them on a path toward success!