The email below as sent to all P-H-M Families the afternoon of September 1, 2022.

Dear P-H-M Families,

We are happy to share with you some important information relative to the latest student achievement data in Penn-Harris-Madison. We are proud of the ongoing work of our teachers, students, and families and we will maintain our focus on continuous improvement to ensure students are ready for college and/or career success as they leave Penn High School.

The Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr. Jennifer McCormick, made a statement in 2019 in order to clarify the drastic differences between ISTEP+ (the previously used state assessment) and ILEARN (which began as the new state assessment in the spring of 2019). This assessment is given to students in grades 3-8 in both English/Language Arts and Mathematics.

As we shared with you over the summer, we are incredibly proud of our state ranking on spring 2022 ILEARN. Penn-Harris-Madison’s students scored in the top 3.67% of all public school corporations ranking 11th out of 299 districts. We want to thank our teachers for their dedication and commitment to working to accelerate the learning of our students.

As we noted above, the statewide assessment changed in 2019. But even with that change, one way we benchmark our performance is by comparing it to statewide proficiency scores. Since 2013, we have increased our variance from state averages considerably.

This graphic shows that we were 12 percentage points above the state average in English/Language Arts in 2013 and then increased that variance to 20 percentage points in 2022, an increase of 8 percentage points. In Mathematics, we were 11 percentage points higher than the state average in 2013 and increased that variance to 21 percentage points, an increase of 10 percentage points.

On this chart, we again look at our variance from the state average when students have passed both English/Language Arts and Mathematics together. In 2013 we were 14 percentage points higher than the state average, while in 2022 we were 21 percentage points higher, showing a 7 percentage point increase. 

Fourth grade teacher Amanda Fox has been selected as a “Top 10” finalist for Indiana’s Teacher of the Year. She was selected as a Top 25 Finalist on August 18.

Mrs. Fox was P-H-M’s Elementary Teacher of the Year last school year. Mrs. Fox has won a few awards this year:

• 2022 Michiana Forty under 40 class, recognizing young adults, professionals, executives and leaders, under the age of 40, achieving outstanding professional success while also engaging in his/her community through charitable and civic involvement.
• Indiana’s only math finalist for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST). She traveled to Washington, DC in May to receive her award.

Watch the video below to find out what makes Mrs. Fox such a terrific teacher …

The next step for the Indiana Teacher of the Year is for Mrs. Fox to do an in-person interview with the Selection Committee on September 12.

The camaraderie and forever bond of Penn’s “Long Black Line” was prevalent among the more than 100 former Penn football players and coaches who showed up Friday night, August 19, 2022 to help dedicate the Chris Geesman Kingsmen Athletic Center. Click to view pictures from the pregame recognition.

As part of the P-H-M Education Foundation naming rights campaign, Dr. and Mrs. Jerry Thacker generously donated $25,000 in December 2021 to the Education Foundation to have the Kingsmen Athletic Center at Penn High School’s TCU Freed Field named after Penn’s legendary championship football coach, Chris Geesman, renaming the facility the Chris Geesman Kingsmen Athletic Center. 

Coach Geesman and his family, Dr. and Mrs. Thacker, Head Coach Cory Yeoman, and the entire Penn football team were on hand for the dedication of the newly renamed facility taking place at halftime of the Penn Kingsmen’s first home football game of the 2022 season against Valpo. The Kingsmen won 35-6. It was a very special night; take a look … 

Geesman, a Hall of Famer coach, came to Penn 1973. The previous season, Penn had a 0-10 record. In Geesman’s first season, the Kingsmen posted a 5-5 record. In addition to the five state championships, Geesman led Penn to 309 wins, and the Kingsmen never had a losing season during the span of his 30-year career as head coach of the Kingsmen. 

Click here to play the full recorded audio of Coach Geesman’s thank you to the Penn football program.

Click here to view pictures from the August 19th Dedication.

“Donna and I are truly honored to have the Kingsmen Athletic Center named after this legendary coach who guided the Kingsmen to five state championships and three state runners-up,” said Dr. Thacker. “It’s only fitting that a facility built to provide Penn student-athletes with the best on field playing experience be named after the coach that led Kingsmen Football to so many wins.”

Penn’s Geesman Athletic Center is a 13,264 square-foot facility that was completed in October, 2018. It houses three locker rooms to be rotated during the Fall and Spring sports seasons: Football (Varsity, JV and Freshmen), Track & Field (Boys & Girls) and Girls Lacrosse. All three locker room areas have adjacent coaching staff office space and an on-site training room, giving Penn athletic trainers access to equipment and medical treatment supplies. Click here to read more details about the Athletic Center when it first opened.

Since 2008 and including the naming rights contribution, as Superintendent of P-H-M, Dr. Thacker has contributed $194,850 to the P-H-M Education Foundation. Besides the $25,000 pledged to the Naming Rights Campaign some of the other programs he has contributed to include:

• $20,000 in matching funds for the Annual Drive
• $25,000 Corporations for Education (matching funds)
• $15,000 Silver Mile
• $39,550 total to Thacker Scholarship funds

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.

“Our goal is to provide P-H-M teachers and staff with access to grant funding for unique and creative educational programs that fall out of the school district’s budget,” PHMEF Executive Director Jennifer Turnblom. “We support P-H-M teachers by helping to ensure that they have access to the best education tools. Community partners are vital to sustaining P-H-M excellence in education.”

PHMEF’s naming rights commitment is $25,000, payable at a rate of $5,000 per year over five years. The naming rights last for 12 years. 80 percent of the donation goes into the Foundation’s endowment, which in turn provides alternative and additional funding for various P-H-M co-curricular and extracurricular programs. The remaining 20 percent directly funds professional development initiatives for P-H-M teachers. Continuing education and training of teachers is a major priority for P-H-M School District.

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

Fourth grade teacher Amanda Fox has been selected as a “Top 25” finalist for Indiana’s Teacher of the Year.

Mrs. Fox was P-H-M’s Elementary Teacher of the Year last school year. The IDOE Selection Committee notified her on August 18 that she had been selected as a finalist.

The next step is for the Committee to determine the “Top 10.” If Mrs. Fox is selected as a “Top 10” finalist, she will be invited to the “Top 10 Interview Day” at CIESC, in Indianapolis, on September 12, 2022. 

The message below was emailed to P-H-M Families on the afternoon of July 15, 2022.

Dear P-H-M Families,

I hope you are enjoying your summer. I have some great news! I am extremely proud to share that the Indiana Department of Education released the Spring ILEARN 2022 scores this week and P-H-M is once again one of Indiana's top performing public school corporations–going from the Top 6% in 2021 to the Top 3.67% in 2022. That means that Penn-Harris-Madison ranks #11 out of Indiana's 299 public school districts!

Congratulations to you and your children! I never cease to be amazed by our students' continued resiliency, hard work, and dedication. I applaud our P-H-M families and the commitment of our teachers, administrators,
and staff.

Additionally, Northpoint again is the #1 public elementary school in the state, for passing both ELA and Math ILEARN. Prairie Vista moved up to the #2 spot. Discovery is among Indiana's top performing middle schools coming in at #2, for passing both ELA and math. To see your school’s scores, please click here to visit the IDOE website.

These results are even more pleasing knowing that our students and educators have been working diligently to close the learning gaps caused by the pandemic. We have been extremely focused on providing excellence in education to help all of our students learn and achieve academic success. P-H-M’s post-pandemic learning recovery plan has included hiring additional staff, specifically adding instructional interventionists at all of our schools to assist teachers in providing more attention directly with the students who need it most. We have also added before and after school student tutoring sessions, increased targeted summer learning opportunities to help students catch up, and we continue to provide professional development for our teachers, this past year with specific and intentional focus on accelerating student learning.

We know that the pandemic created a lot of issues in a number of educational areas, and it will take the ongoing intense focus of school leadership and district administration to help our cohort of students most impacted by the pandemic regain what was lost. Our educators are committed to providing exceptional academic support to all students in all 15 of our schools and are working tirelessly to do so. The ongoing efforts by our teachers in this endeavor is greatly appreciated. The Board of School Trustees and I continue to be confident that the P-H-M “Triangle of Success”–connecting students, teachers, and parents–creates a learning environment in which our students thrive.

As the parents and families of students, your active participation in your children’s education is invaluable to student success. Educational success starts at home and that is why the “Triangle” is so important. We congratulate all our families and students on this success, and we look forward to making even more progress this coming school year.

Enjoy the rest of your summer. We look forward to welcoming your children back on Wednesday, August 17.

Dr. Jerry Thacker
Superintendent of Schools

Recipients of the PAEMST receive the following:

• A certificate signed by the President of the United States.
• A paid trip to Washington, D.C., to attend a series of recognition events and professional development opportunities.
• A $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation.

Mrs. Fox was also P-H-M's Elementary Teacher of the Year for 2022.

P-H-M’s Employee Recognition Program returned to an in-person dinner and event on Monday, May 16 after a two year hiatus due to the pandemic (the dinner was canceled in 2020 and a video recognizing retirees and years of service was put online last year). While not all were present, the Corporation as a whole did honor PHM's Teachers of the Years, Employee of the Year, retirees, as well as employees who've been with PHM for 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 years. This year we celebrated a total of more than 140 Service Award winners and more than 40 retirees. Click to see the full list, photo gallery and videos of the TOYs and EOY.

During the program Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker and Board of School Trustees President Chris Riley honored this year’s retirees, as well as Amanda Fox, Elementary Teacher of the Year; Becky Hope, Secondary Teacher of the Year; and Employee of the Year Julie Demske.  

Service Awards were also handed out to employees who have dedicated 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, an 35 years of service to Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation. Click here to read the full program and list of retirees, Service Award Winners, and bio information on the Teachers of the Year and Employee of the Year.

Board Members Larry Beehler and James Turnwald were on hand to applaud and congratulate employees for their honors. The dinner was generously sponsored by Teachers Credit Union. Human Resources Director Seth Molnar served as Master of Ceremonies.

Miss Fox, Mrs. Hope and Ms. Demske all spoke at last night’s dinner; they also received a commemorative plaque for their award. As part of the recognitions for Miss Fox and Mrs. Hope, P-H-M Education Foundation Executive Director Jennifer Turnblom gave each teacher a $1,000 grant from the Foundation to use in their classrooms. Ms. Demske received a gift certificate from the District. Click here to view the full photo gallery below for pictures of the recognitions.

Spring is always a busy time of year for Penn-Harris-Madison; the first couple of weeks of May is when Dr. Thacker makes his rounds of the schools surprising a couple of teachers naming an elementary and secondary teachers of the year; he also names a Classified Employee of the Year. This year Dr. Thacker kicked off National Teacher Appreciation Week (May 2 – May 6) by walking into the 4^th grade Elsie Rogers classroom of Miss Amanda Fox. 

See the surprise and learn who inspired Miss Fox to become a teacher herself …

Excellent teachers do more than just help students learn a subject; they inspire them to not only find their inner genius, but also encourage them to dream big. Penn High School Art teacher Mrs. Becky Hope does just that! She is thrilled beyond belief to be her students’ fun loving tour guide on their creative journey as they develop their artistic style. She enjoys spreading joy and hope! The saying “they broke the mold when they made her” definitely applies to Mrs. Hope!

Click to watch video below and see for yourself why students love Mrs. Hope so much …

“A behind the scenes person,” that’s how Ms. Julie Demske describes herself. As Schmucker’s Head Custodian, Julie takes pride in helping things run smoothly and being the person you call when you need help. That’s why on May 2^nd when Principal Dr. Lavon Dean-Null radioed Julie to come to the WSMS studios, Julie came running—she actually was up on the school roof doing a repair and dropped everything to get to the studio since it was during morning announcements. But as soon as she walked into the studio, right on que, and saw and heard Dr. Thacker talking about P-H-M’s Classified Employee of the Year, she knew what was up. 

Watch P-H-M’s first school wide surprise live broadcast … 

After these special employees were recognized for their awards, teachers Jeanne Rehlander and Shelli Treely handed out recognition Service Award pins and Dr. Thacker and Chris Riley recognized retirees. Click to see the full list of all the Service Award winners and retirees in the dinner program.

View the photo gallery below of those who attended the May 16^th dinner. Just simply click the “DOWNLOAD” button on the bottom right-hand corner of the photo while viewing it in the Photo Gallery function. 

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

The first couple of weeks of May is when Superintendent Dr. Thacker generally makes his rounds of the schools surprising a couple of teachers naming an elementary and secondary teachers of the year. He also names a Classified Employee of the Year. So when employees see him unexpectedly this time of year, they usually realize right away what’s going on once the astonishment wears off! Click to look through the photo gallery on Schmucker’s website.

This was the case with our Head Custodian Miss Julie Demske on the morning of Monday, May 2. She was actually on the roof of Schmucker when she was radioed to come to the school’s WSMS studios to fix an emergency. Since it was during morning announcements, Julie thought maybe there was a light out or something. But as soon as she walked into the studio, right on que, and saw and heard Dr. Thacker talking about P-H-M’s Classified Employee of the Year, she knew what was up. Watch P-H-M’s first school wide live surprise in the video below … 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

More About Principal Towner

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

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

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

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

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

More about Walt Disney Elementary School:

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

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

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

More About the Milken Educator Award

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

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