Friday, January 20, 2023 will go down in “Penn History Books.” It was a sell-out crowd at the Palace, all there to for two reasons:

1. to see the Kingsmen (No. 2 in 4A) beat rival, No. 1 (Class 3-A) ranked Marian; and
2. to see senior point guard Markus Burton beat Penn’s All-time Scoring Record.

The atmosphere was electrifying! Watch the video below of the starting line up.

The anticipation had been building for a few weeks as Markus was hitting bucket after bucket, averaging  29.7 points a game (the State leader according to MaxPreps). And Markus and his fellow Kingsmen teammates lived up to the hype!

Going into the game, the Notre Dame commit needed just 11 points to tie (12 to break) Noah Applegate’s All-time Scoring Record of 1,709 points set in 2019 (the previous scoring record of 1,413 points set in 1964 by Keith Berkey). The packed student section, a couple hundred students deep, were on the their feet from before the beginning of the game anxiously counting down each shot Markus made until he broke the record. The students erupted in cheers as Markus came closer and closer to breaking the record with each shot. 
 

Finally the big moment happened in the second quarter. Markus stole the ball, drove the court and swooped in for a lay-up for the record-setting basket giving him points 11 and 12 pushing him into the Penn Athletic record books as Penn’s All-time Scoring Leader. Click the image below to watch the video of the record-breaking shot.

After that, the Palace (at least Penn fans) took a collective sigh of relief—for at least that milestone portion of the game. The stakes were still high. Coach Rhodes, the senior Kingsmen players, heck all the players, students, parents, and Penn fans wanted to beat Marian, who have beaten Penn the last eight times. All of Kingsmen Nation wanted the win, and the Kingsmen didn’t disappoint.

The Kingsmen took command early and kept up the attack. Markus proved once again why he’s a top candidate for Indy Star’s Mr. Basketball! Markus eventually racked up a total of 32 points, five assists and four steals, finishing the January 20^th game with a  total of 1,730 points.

Trey Miller scored 11 points for the Kingsmen against Marian.

Joe Smith scored eight points and had five assists.

Dominic Bonner scored six points, Joey Garwood scored five points.

Penn outrebounded Marian 32-13 and owned an 11-2 edge in second-chance points.

Penn pounced on Marian early, taking a 16-7 lead after the first quarter. Penn’s biggest lead was a 17-point margin, 53-36.

PENN 66: Joey Garwood 5, Markus Burton 32, Joe Smith 8, Josh Gatete 2, Dylan Derda 2, Trey Miller 11, Dominic Bonner 6, Ethan Good 0, Mookie Ward 0, Maverick Brown 0.

Marian 52: Deaglan Sullivan 15, Dareon Thornton 7, Paxan Sullivan 0, Zion Rhoades 0, William Oweens 10, Jackson Price 11, Jackson Horvath 0, Ben Warnell 2, Thomas Murphy 0, Jordan Maust 0, Grant Mishler 0, Elias Norgaard 7.

PENN             16        15        22        13 – 66

Marian            7          15        16        14 – 52

Three-pointers: PENN 7 (Markus Burton 3, Trey Miller 2, Joey Garwood 1, Joe Smith 1), Marian 4 (Price 3, Thornton 1).

Penn’s student section went wild, albeit somewhat constrained. The students held off storming the court until Penn Principal Sean Galiher gave the students the final OK. Once on the court, the students celebrated with the each other and the team, hoisting Markus onto their shoulders chanting MVP, MVP, MVP! Watch the videos below of the different perspectives of this memorable night.

Click the image below to watch the aerial view of the students storming the court.

So if you missed this monumental night, don’t despair you’ll probably get at least another chance, maybe a couple … Markus isn’t done yet! After Penn’s win over St. Joseph Tuesday, Jan. 24 (where he was recognized with his parent’s before the start of the game as Penn’s new All-time Leading Scorer), Markus now sits at 1,809 points!

Markus is on track now to become All-time Leading Scorer for St. Joseph County beating out his soon-to-be Notre Dame teammate, former St. Joseph player J.R. Konieczny. His record of 1,996 points was set between 2017-2021. Markus is 188 points away from breaking this record, and 191 points shy of the 2,000-mark, which has never been achieved by a St. Joseph County Boys Basketball Player—that includes athletes selected in last year's NBA Draft, Jaden Ivey (Pistons) and Blake Wesley (Spurs).

At his current pace and averaging 29.7 points a game, it's very possible Markus could set both records at Elkhart (Feb. 17), or at home against Mishawaka (Feb. 21). 

It could happen sooner, Markus scored 44 points on Jan. 24^th against St. Joe, Penn winning 86-69. That shooting record just projected Markus into first in the state in scoring.

Penn students and fans, you’ll want to make sure to catch as many games as you can if you want to continue to watch history! And hopefully, Markus Burton will become Penn’s first Mr. Basketball and the second in South Bend area’s history. Dave Magley, LaSalle High School, won in 1978, who went on to play for Kansas and was a 2^nd round draft pick in 1982 for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Save the date for the P-H-M’s Young Authors’ Conference:

Saturday, March 4

8:30 – 11:00 a.m.

Schmucker Middle School

P-H-M Elementary students, grades K-5

FREE! 

Space is limited. Online Registration opens Monday, Jan. 30 & closes Friday, Feb. 17.

The Young Authors’ Conference is for P-H-M students in grades K-5. The event, sponsored by the P-H-M Education Foundation, provides an opportunity for students and their parents to meet and learn from a well-known children’s authors. Click here to view the photo gallery of the 2022 event.

This year students and their parents will meet and work with former Notre Dame Leprechaun mascot turned children’s author Mike Brown. Brown’s first book Little Netta’s Gift is the touching story of a “Little Netta’s” compassion to share the gifts of Christmas with other children. Brown is the founder and CEO of SOULSTIR, a social enterprise with a mission of enriching lives by creating “soul-stirring experiences that inspire empowerment and action.” Under SOULSTIR Books, the publishing division of the company, Brown co-authored his second book with Cara Krenn The Leprechaun’s Game Day at Notre Dame. The delightful story describes the family, fun-filled experiences of a Notre Dame home football game told through the eyes of Notre Dame’s first Black student to play the mascot, Brown himself. 

Participants and parents will also enjoy an interactive experience with local illustrator Corey Mann.   As part of the morning activities, students will share their own writing piece in small group sessions with students from other P-H-M elementary schools. (Note:  Students should bring a piece of their writing with them that morning.)  While students are meeting with their peers, parents will join Dr. Michelle Fish, as she explores promoting writing through children’s literature. 

This year, thanks to P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker and other generous #GivingTuesday donors this year’s Young Authors’ Conference is FREE OF CHARGE to all attendees!

Please note, one parent only must accompany the student attendees. However, keep in mind that students and parents will separate for a portion of the day. This experience is for your young author and parent. However, we’ve found the attendance of younger siblings is not encouraged.

ONLINE REGISTRATION: Registration will open January 30, 2023. Click here to access the form.

CONFIRMATION: Participating students will receive additional information prior to the conference through their home school at the beginning of March.

QUESTIONS: If you have any questions, please contact Candace Cussen at ccussen@phm.k12.in.us.

Monday, January 9, 2023 was the first Penn-Harris-Madison School Board of Trustees Meeting of the new year and following the November 2022 elections.

Former P-H-M Trustee, now Superior Court Judge Jamie Woods swore in new board members Matt Chaffee (Seat 1 – Penn Twp.) and Dana Sullivan (Seat 7 – At Large), along with existing and re-elected members Chris Riley (Seat 6 – Harris Twp.) and Larry Beehler (Seat 5 – Madison Twp.). To see the names of the full Board and their terms, please click here.

The new Trustees were then recognized with their families.

The election of new officers of the Board also took place. In a 5-1 vote, Chris Riley was re-elected President, Ryan McCullough was elected Vice President, and Clare Roach was elected Secretary. Board Member Jim Garrett was not present at the meeting.

Penn-Harris-Madison schools are focused on continuous academic improvement that results in academic success for all students.

Standardized testing, or summative assessment, is one measure of academic success, but it is not the only measure.

In pursuit of providing more comprehensive analysis and to expand upon the data provided by state standardized tests, the Indiana Department of Education publicly launched this week (Tuesday, December 13, 2022) the first iteration of the Indiana Graduates Prepared to Succeed dashboard, or Indiana GPS (click here to view the State Indiana profile).

The description of the Indiana GPS dashboard on the IDOE website states “Together, our mission is to empower Indiana’s educators, families, communities, and employers with a learner-centered, future-focused dashboard that displays how our students are building the necessary knowledge and skills—in all grades and in all schools— through the Indiana Graduates Prepared to Succeed dashboard, or Indiana GPS.”

The IDOE’s goal is to support Indiana’s goal to educate and graduate Hoosier students who can compete in the global economy. P-H-M supports this goal. Students whether they are going on into higher education, directly into the workforce or enlisting in our nation’s military must be prepared to be successful in life beyond high school. Strong and valuable education of today’s youth results in a knowledgeable and skilled adult Indiana workforce for tomorrow.

A student’s access to early education is an essential first step in their academic and overall development. Measuring kindergarten readiness, as well as a student’s PreK-2 literacy progress can provide key indicators of future success across the K-12 continuum.

We know that effective literacy skills play a vital role in helping students gain a deeper understanding of the world, explore topics in-depth, and seek credible information. At Penn-Harris-Madison, we have a well-articulated approach to teaching literacy based on the five critical pillars: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. 

All of these components woven together help create a skilled reader. Our daily literacy block incorporates whole-group instruction, small-group (leveled) instruction, explicit phonics instruction, and vocabulary building. 

Our teachers have been trained in order to deliver high-quality instruction that is supported through curriculum resources to meet the needs of all learners. Teachers are in regular contact with parents regarding their student’s progress and instructional goals.

At the elementary level, a couple of the indicators the GPS dashboard measures are early literacy and math growth. See some of P-H-M’s highlights are below; click here to view the full P-H-M GPS profile.

Early Literacy Measures

• Percentage of PHM 3rd graders showing proficiency on IREAD-3: 88.3%
  • • State Goal: 95% by 2027
    • Current State Status: 81.6%, 1 out of every 5 third graders in Indiana is not proficient in key literacy skills

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? 
Students who pass the IREAD-3 assessment by grade three are roughly 35% more likely to graduate high school (as referenced on the GPS information webpage).

Math Growth

• Percentage of PHM 6th graders meeting their individual growth targets on the math ILEARN: 41.9%
  • State Goal: 45.8% by 2030
  • Current State Status: 34.1% of Indiana sixth graders are meeting their math growth goals

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
Early mathematics instruction focuses on concrete concepts before transitioning to more complex ideas after grade six. Students who are meeting growth goals at this critical juncture have a leg up on future math and science learning.

Graduation Pathways Completion

While still in its first iteration, the goal of the GPS is to examine Indiana high school’s graduation and post-graduation data with the goal to ultimately measure long-term success of each Hoosier.
 

• Percentage of Penn Students who complete graduation requirements: 97.3%
  • State Goal: 95% by 2030
  • Current State Status: 86.4% of Indiana students complete their graduation requirements

• Percentage of Penn Seniors who completed advanced coursework (Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, or Dual Credit) during high school: 75.4%
  • Current State Status: 59.5% of Indiana students complete advanced coursework

• Percentage of Penn Seniors earning Indiana Diplomas above a General designation (Core 40 or higher): 98.3%
  • Current State Status: 90.1% of Indiana students earn Core 40 diplomas or higher

• Percentage of Penn Seniors earning high quality college and career credentials: 11.3%.
  Members of the Class of 2021 who earned either an Indiana College Core (ICC) or an Associates Degree was 11.3%–the graduates who completed one or two years of college were members of Penn’s Early College Academy. In 2021, Penn High School ranked FIRST in the state with the highest number of students earning the Indiana College Core (ICC)! Beginning in the 2023-2024 school year, non-Early College students will also be able to pursue an ICC Certificate.
  • State Goal: 60% by 2030
  • Current State Status: 5% of Indiana students earn a college or career credential before graduation, opening doors of future opportunity

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
Increased education levels are positively correlated to labor participation, wages, and overall net worth.

COMING SOON:

The second iteration of the Indiana GPS dashboard – which will display all local data, including longitudinal and disaggregated data – is coming soon. Later in 2023, schools will be able to use the dashboard to view authenticated student-level data (not available to the public). 

• PreK-Grade 2 Literacy – Percentage of PreK-Grade 2 students demonstrating progress in essential early reading skills from one year to the next.
• Kindergarten Readiness – Percentage of students demonstrating the skills necessary to be considered ready to start kindergarten.
• Employment & Enrollment – Percentage of high school graduates employed or enrolled 1 year after their expected graduation year. Goal TBD.

Click here to learn more about the Indiana Graduates Prepared to Succeed dashboard.

Click here to view the full P-H-M GPS profile (scroll to the bottom of the webpage to find links to all 15 P-H-M schools–11 elementary schools, 3 middle schools, and Penn High School).

Tonight, Monday, November 14, the P-H-M Board of School Trustees approved 7% increases for the district’s hourly and salary employees. This comes after the Board unanimously voted at the October 10 meeting to approve an overall 7% increase to P-H-M teachers’ base salaries (click here to read more).

Annually, P-H-M Administration works with the teachers’ association to negotiate and finalize teachers’ contracts first before negotiating contracts for the other employee groups. P-H-M employs nearly 1,500 employees. Contracts for the following employee groups were approved at this evening’s meeting: Custodians, ESP, Exceptional Education Professionals, Food Service, Kids Club, Service Technicians and Maintenance, Food Distributors, and Administrators. P-H-M Bus Operators are in the second year of a two-year agreement, thus this group’s pay raise for 2023 was negotiated last year. 

P-H-M Administration and the Board of School Trustees mindful that Exceptional Educational Assistants are some of the hardest positions to fill and retain are providing this group the opportunity to be eligible for benefits. EAs work with students with special needs. In order to reward and retain these employees, they will now be able to increase their hours from 29 to 32.5, thus making them eligible for medical, vision, and dental benefits. 

Other notable increases for other groups include increasing the annual clothing allowance for Service Technicians and Maintenance employees from o115 to $325.

All personnel currently eligible for the insurance program will see a five percent (5%) increase to their contribution levels. A vision plan for all P-H-M employees has also been added.

Penn High School junior Felix Zhang talked to South Bend local news media this afternoon about earning a perfect score, not missing a single question, on the college-level Advanced Placement® (AP®) Calculus AB Exam—the only student in the world to do so!

The media coverage of Felix Zhang’s amazing accomplishment continues to roll in, including a shout-out by Trevor Noah on “The Daily Show” with more than a million views …

Below is a sampling of local, state, national and international news coverage:

• ABC 57
  • ABC 57’s story was then picked up by ABC News network, along with the ABC affiliate stations in Los Angeles, and Chicago
• WSBT-TV
  • WSBT’s story was picked up by the CBS station in Kansas City, MO
• WNDU-TV
  • WNDU’s story was picked up by the Boston affiliate
• Fox News Network
• 13 WTHR-TV (Indianapolis)
• WVPE (Elkhart Public Radio)
• New York Post
• Britain’s the Daily Mail
• Click to see all the Tweets about Felix

Click here to view the photo gallery on Penn’s website.

The College Board, which administers the AP® exams, recently notified Penn Principal Sean Galiher that Zhang not only attained a perfect score of 5 (on a scale of 1 to 5), but Zhang was the only student in the world to earn every point possible on the AP® Calculus AB exam! This means Zhang accomplished the maximum score on each portion of the exam (108 out of 108). In 2017, a student from Carmel, Indiana, was 1 of 3 people in the world to get a perfect AP Calculus score (click to read a story in Indy Star). In 2016, a student from California was 1 of 12 in the world  to get a perfect AP Calculus score (click to read the story in LA Times).

In an email sent to Principal Galiher notifying him of Zhang’s phenomenal achievement, Head of the Advanced Placement Program Trevor Packer said, “This outstanding accomplishment is likely a direct reflection of the top-quality education being offered at Penn High School. We applaud Felix's hard work and the AP teacher responsible for engaging students and enabling them to excel in a college-level course.”

“The teachers in Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation are some of the best in the state of Indiana,” said Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker. “Their incredible dedication and commitment to academic excellence and making sure every single student reaches their highest potential is nothing short of extraordinary; and they do this every day across our district, in all 15 schools. Felix Zhang and teacher Mrs. Denise White are just one of the many examples of great student/teacher relationships that result in phenomenal achievements for our students. It exemplifies our ‘Triangle of Success’—connecting students, teachers and parents!”

When asked by reporters if he was surprised with his score, Zhang replied “I felt pretty confident knowing that I knew what to do on the test, but there was always a chance I would make a small error or something. So I wasn't really expecting to see a perfect score. And that was pretty surprising to me because I felt like, there's a lot of other people out there who probably perform very well on this test, and I'm pretty surprised that no one else got a perfect score.”

Zhang took the AP® Calculus AB exam last spring 2022 when he was a sophomore along with approximately 270,000 students worldwide. Approximately 20% of students who took the test in May 2022 earned a 5—the largest percentage of 5s since 2016 (click here for more data related to the 2022 AP® Calculus AB exam).

Zhang’s AP® Calculus AB teacher at Penn High School last school year was Mrs. Denise White and this year she’s teaching Zhang again in the next level AP® Calculus CB class. Mrs. White has been a teacher for 30 years and is in her fourth year of teaching AP® Calculus at Penn.

“I love the students. I think that's why I do it. I call them my kids because now I have a daughter that just graduated and she's away at college. And so they have sort of fill that gap for me,” said Mrs. White talking to reporters. “I love to like go to their sporting events. I sponsor two clubs; and I used to coach here at Penn. So just getting involved in the students’ lives is very enjoyable for me. It's not a profession that you probably can do without loving it. I don't know what I would do if I didn't teach.”

Mrs. White also told reporters that not only is she extremely proud of Zhang, but she’s also overjoyed with last year’s class overall performance sharing that 50% of her students last spring scored 5s (click here for more information about the percentage breakdown of the 2022 AP® Calculus AB scores).

“There’s a lot of strategies that teachers can put in place to help students learn. But when you have kids scoring at a five, you know that the curriculum is intentional, it's focused, the kids are engaged and there is a collaborative environment,” said Penn Principal Sean Galiher. “When you take an AP Calculus course in high school, you're essentially taking the first year of Calculus as a college student; and that's the whole reason why we we push dual credit and AP type courses here at Penn High School. We want students to feel prepared so they can succeed in college and finish college, in four years at least. So if we can expose them at the high school level and help them experience the rigor and the challenge and be successful, we know they're going to be successful when they leave our our walls.”

Information supplied by the Advanced Placement® Program states that students who succeed in AP® are not only more likely to succeed in college, but have the chance to save a significant amount of time and money by earning college credit or placement. Colleges and universities around the world receive AP® scores for college.

Penn High School is the only high school within Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation, which is located in suburban South Bend, Indiana (home to the University of Notre Dame). P-H-M Corporation serves nearly 11,000 (K-12) students in 11 elementary schools and three middle schools which all feed into Penn High School. Penn has approximately 3,500 students. Zhang attended Northpoint Elementary and Discovery Middle School. With the release of the Spring 2022 ILEARN results and out of all 299 Indiana public schools that passed both ELA and Math, Northpoint Elementary is #1 is the number one public elementary school and Discovery Middle is #2 public middle school in the state. P-H-M is among Indiana’s top performing public school corporations. It in the Top 3.67%, #11 out of Indiana’s public school districts. The School Corporation has consistently received an “A” rating from the Indiana Department of Education since 2011.

P-H-M’s “Triangle of Success” connects students, teachers and parents for excellence in education. To learn more about academic excellence Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation, please click here. To learn about the achievements of Penn students and faculty, please click here.

There is going to be a little something for everybody happening at Penn High School on September 23^rd and 24^th, so mark your calendars and be sure to bring the whole family!

Friday, September 23^rd, 2022

P-H-M Education Foundation Family Fun Zone

• Time 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
• Cost: FREE!
• Location: Behind Penn High School in the Door E Parking Lot / West of TCU Freed Field

• Inflatables

• Food Trucks

• Penn Teacher Dunk Tank
• Voting for parade costumes and floats

*All monies raised by the P-H-M Education Foundation goes into funding innovative school and teacher grants which in turn provide #PHMExcellence in all 15 P-H-M schools!

Saint Joseph Health System Health Fair

• Time 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
• Cost: FREE!
• Free Health Screenings PLUS interactive booths for children

Homecoming Parade

• Time: 5:30 p.m.
• Location: Behind Schmucker Middle School > Bittersweet > Ends at the P-H-M ESC
  **SEE THE MAP BELOW**
• Parade Grand Marshal P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker, 2022 Penn Homecoming Court, Kingsmen Marching Band, Penn Cheerleaders, Penn student groups and clubs, local Fire trucks & Police cars

Penn Homecoming game, Kingsmen vs. Marian Knights

• Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.
  • Homecoming Court Presentation at halftime
• Cost: $6
• Elementary students in grades K-5 get in FREE with a paying adult

Saturday, September 24th, 2022

Silver Mile Bubble & Color Run for Education – Sign up Here!
All monies raised by the P-H-M Education Foundation goes into funding innovative school and teacher grants which in turn provide #PHMExcellence in all 15 P-H-M schools!

• Late Registration & T-Shirt Pickup
  • ​Time: 7:15-8:00 a.m.
  • Location: TCU Freed Field
• Warm Up
  • ​Time: 8:15
  • Location: TCU Freed Field Track
• 1-Mile Fun Run / Walk
  • ​Start Time: 8:30 a.m.
  • Cost: $10 Per Person (4 & under free!) | T-Shirt $10
    • ​Price for Preregistration by September 22nd, 2022
    • Friday & Saturday (Day of) Registration: Cost $15
  • Location: TCU Freed Field Track
• Water and light post race snacks will be available to participants
  

On Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, 8:00 a.m., Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation administration and members of the Penn-Harris-Madison Teachers Association (PHMTA) will conduct a Public Hearing.

Please click to read the notice.

P-H-M award winning educators were recently recognized by the Indiana Department of Education. Walt Disney Principal Ryan Towner and 4^th grade Teacher Mrs. Amanda Fox were honored at the IDOE’s inaugural Educational Excellence Awards Gala held Friday, Sept. 9, 2022 in Indianapolis. P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker was on hand to applaud them both as great examples of the excellent teachers we have in Penn-Harris-Madison.

Principal Towner was recognized on stage by IDOE Secretary of Education Dr. Katie Jenner and Dr. Rebecca Estes, Senior Director of Educator Talent (see picture below). Principal Towner was Indiana’s only 2021-22 Milken Award Winner, which he learned by surprise in March 2022. Principal Towner was awarded the prestigious Milken Award for his excellence and innovation in education. 

The Gala brought together nearly 400 educators and guests from across the state. Along with Principal Ryan Towner as the Milken Award winner, the event also recognized Elsie Rogers Teacher Mrs. Amanda Fox as Indiana’s finalist for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST).

The IDOE also awarded up to $4.6 million to schools across the state to celebrate their progress and achievement in supporting student excellence and growth. Click to read more.