There was a break in the rain on Wednesday (May 1) for the 11^th annual “Running is Elementary.” The course was mostly dry, but the 4^th and 5^th grade runners did get a little muddy!

Click to watch the YouTube video below & then click here to see the full photo gallery on our Facebook page.

The one mile run is held at Penn’s Cross-country course, which is located behind Elm Road Elementary School. Approximately 610 students participated in Wednesday’s race. Many more students participated in the 6-week training leading up to the race, but could not participate in the rain day event held on May 1; originally the race was scheduled for Monday, April 29, but had to be rescheduled due to rain.

This annual event encourages fitness, healthy choices and wellness. Fourth and fifth graders are encouraged to sign up for the free running club. Designated coaches at each school are then tasked with training the runners for the 6-week club which then culminates with the Running is Elementary one mile race. The students are cheered on by their families, principals, teachers and running coaches; it’s amazing to see the dedication and hard work the students put in to complete the race. 

Cindy Batalis (P-H-M’s 2009 Teacher of the Year and physical education teacher at Mary Frank Elementary School) began the yearly tradition of Running Is Elementary back in 2008. Batalis’ own love for running and her desire to pass that love on to students is evident in the passion she puts into the Running is Elementary event each year. 

The top times for the 2019 Running Is Elementary Race were as follows:

5^th grade Girls Winner

BIB# 485
Northpoint
Time: 6:42

5th grade Boys Winner

BIB# 431
Moran
Time: 6:11 

4^th grade Girls Winner

BIB# 522
Northpoint
Time: 7:21
 

4^th grade Boys Winner

BIB# 163
Elsie Rogers
Time: 6:15

“Running Buddies” accompany those students who may need a little extra assistance and/or encouragement. All runners are to be congratulated for their efforts and hard work!

A big thank you to the P-H-M Education Foundation and Corporations for Education for sponsoring the event! After Race Snack Donations were donated by Urban Swirl.

For 70 years May has been the National Mental Health Month. Since 1949, Mental Health America and affiliates reach millions to spread the word that May is National Mental Health Month and mental health is something everyone should care about. A healthy lifestyle can help to prevent the onset or worsening of mental health conditions, as well as chronic physical conditions like heart disease. It can also help people recover from these conditions. 

Mental illnesses are real, and recovery is always the goal. Living a healthy lifestyle may not be easy but can be achieved by gradually making small changes and building on those successes. Finding the balance between work and play and the ups and downs of life can help you on the path towards focusing both the mind and body.

KEY MESSAGES FROM MENTAL HEALTH AMERICA:

• Mental health is essential to everyone’s overall health and well-being.

• Mental illnesses are common and treatable.

• A healthy lifestyle can help to prevent the onset or worsening of mental health conditions, as well as chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. It can also help people recover from these conditions.

• For those dealing with a chronic health condition and the people who care for them, it can be especially important to focus on mental health.

• Humor, spirituality, recreation, animal companionship, and work-life balance are important for everyone, but may be of special importance to people also living with chronic health conditions and those who care for them.

• Finding a reason to laugh, going for a walk, meditating or playing with a pet can go a long way in making you both physically and mentally healthy.

• Sometimes life is far from funny, but finding humor in a situation can lift moods with laughter and help people to better deal with and overcome difficult experiences.

• Whether you go to church, meditate daily, or simply find time to enjoy that cup of tea each morning while checking in, it can be important to connect with your spiritual side in order to find that mind and body connection.

• Living a healthy lifestyle may not be easy but can be achieved by gradually making small changes and building on those successes.

• Finding the balance between work and play, the ups and downs of life, physical health and mental health, can help you on the path towards focusing both mind and body.

For more information on May is Mental Health Month, click here to visit MHA’s website.

Now Wed., May 1

3:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

behind Elm Road Elementary School 

59400 Elm Road, Mishawaka
 

“Running is Elementary” is gearing up for another great year! This is the 11th year for the one mile, non-competitive run which will feature the participation of almost 700 fourth and fifth grade students from all 11 P-H-M elementary schools. This event is FREE to students and takes place on the Penn cross-country course located behind Elm Road Elementary School.

Each school year fourth and fifth graders are encouraged to join the running club at each of P-H-M’s elementary schools. The kids go through this six-week club trained by designated coaches at each school. The end of the six weeks is then celebrated by participating in the Running is Elementary run.

Click to download the RIE forms to sign your student(s) to participate. 

Mary Frank physical education teacher and P-H-M’s 2009 Teacher of the Year Cindy Batalis began this event in 2008. Running has always been a true passion for Batalis and she shares that passion with students by organizing this yearly event.

The event is hosted by the P-H-M Education Foundation and Corporations for Education.

The P-H-M Education Foundation announced its Fall Grant Cycle recipients. A total of $18,510 was disbursed to P-H-M staff. See the complete list is below.

Monies raised from PHMEF events like the Silver Mile Bubble Bash Run for Education make these grants possible. Since the Foundation’s inception in 1996, more than $1 million have been distributed in innovative teaching grants supporting P-H-M teachers, staff, and students. 

The Grants Committee is comprised of Foundation board members, community representatives, and a P-H-M administrator who evaluate each grant application. 

EZ Form grant winners of $250 or less:

1. Work Experience Program
   Penn High School – John Mott
   Awarded: $228.89
   Implementing works skills for Exceptional Education students
    
2. Oh Rats! On the Cutting Edge with Rat Dissection
   Penn High School  – Shellie Harshberger​
   Awarded: $195
   Rat dissection kit for freshman biology
    
3. Integrating Sensory Tools to Increase Student Success
   Mary Frank Elementary – Jill Coffman
   Awarded: $90
   Fidget devices and noise canceling headphones
    
4. Snap Circuits for 5th Grade Soft Start Morning Work
   Elsie Rogers Elementary – Rachael Givens
   Awarded: $151.95
   Snap Circuits kits for intro to circuitry and electrics
    
5. Solar Power For a Better Tomorrow
   Penn High School – Jonathan Lockwood
   Awarded: $250
   Solar panels will be used for environmental impact studies
    
6. Science Standard Resource to Support Differentiation with Instruction
   Discovery Middle School – Shelia Toth
   Awarded: $250
   Resource science books to support differentiated instruction
    
7. Shut the Box Algebraic Thinking Games
   Elsie Rogers Elementary – Carlye Ponsler
   Awarded: $178.68
   Easy to learn, algebraic thinking game for kids and adults
    
8. Creation Station
   Horizon Elementary – Dorene Pond
   Awarded: $239.12
   Art station to help students work through their emotions & refocus on learning​
    
9. SALC-IHSAA Student Leadership Conference
   Penn High School – Jeff Hart/Curt Rallo
   Awarded $250
   Cover registration fees for the student leadership conference
    
10. Horizon Elementary Omnikin Ball Unit
    Horizon Elementary – Danielle Snoeyink
    Awarded $244.99
    Multicolored ball allows for students to play different games outside of traditional ball games
     
11. Chatterboxes
    Mary Frank Elementary – Lindsay Helman​
    Awarded $250
    Boxes allow students to record their voices and reduce background noise
     
12. Building Strong, Unique Young Women Through Art
    Schmucker Middle – Mary Goldthrite-DeKever
    Awarded $237
    Materials for girls to participate in art-based activities that focuses on self-awareness
     
13. Lunch, Munch, Board Games & Doodle With My Bunch
    Schmucker Middle – Mary Goldthrite-DeKeverz
    Awarded $247.48
    Provides games during lunch time
     
14. Guided Math Resources: Learning Wrap-Ups and Puzzle/Game Books
    Elsie Rogers Elementary – Hollie Truckowski
    Awarded $73.91
    Learning tool that utilizes visual and tactical learning senses
     
15. Nonfiction Flashlight Friday
    Elsie Rogers Elementary – Hollie Truckowski
    Awarded $194.99
    Nonfiction books that students can use flashlight behind page to reveal what is hidden in and around different places
     
16. Solar Cooking
    Elsie Rogers Elementary – Diana Mendelsohn
    Awarded $250
    Solar oven fun and unique way to cook food

Full Funding/Traditional Form Grants approved for $250 or more:

1. LAMP Words For Life 
   Horizon Elementary– Mandy Stanifer
   Received $599.98
   LAMP Words for Life is an app program that is a voice output communication aid that allows nonverbal students with autism and/or other disabilities to increase communication skills.
    
2. Hike Through History
   Bittersweet Elementary – Patricia Heidkamp
   Received $938.72
   Hike Through History is for students to have access to materials that will provide them the information to act as a co-creator of a 45-foot timeline poster showing impactful people, landmarks, and historical events.
    
3. Hands Free in PE
   Walt Disney Elementary – Tom Stanton
   Received $558
   Wireless headset microphone to better communicate with students, enable teachers to model technique and interact with students through instructions, and to preserve the vocal health of teachers.
    
4. Concert Lighting for Visual Performance Unit
   Grissom Middle – Heather Baker
   Received $987.25
   Stand lights would be utilized in different capacities to provide a visual component for the audience.
    
5. Maslow Before Bloom SEL Library
   Mary Frank Elementary – Lindsay Helman
   Received $795.36
   Books that cover numerous topics on social emotional learning to help students learn to accept strong emotions and cope effectively.  
    
6. Getting Better, Together
   Penn High School – John Gensic, Jennie Mitchell, Danielle Black
   Received $1,100
   Video reflection software will improve student and teacher classroom speech, practice, dialogue, and engagement via specific timed asynchronous video peer feedback.
    
7. Metal Working to Make Visions Become Reality
   Penn High School – Scott Shelhart
   Received $2,500
   Welding machine to be used for a new after school club – the Kingsmen Metal Society – that will provide exploration and learning opportunities to people that would not otherwise be able to access the metalwork area. This is the first step to working toward involving the Arts in the shop areas, with the option of adding a metal sculpture class.
    
8. It’s All About the Bass … No Treble
   Elsie Rogers Elementary – Erin Elliott
   Received $1,439.69
   This will provide a bass xylophone to the school. With proper care, this instrument can last decades. Adding the instrument will provide more opportunities for students during playing time to practice their music skills.​
    
9. Circuits in 132
   Penn High School – Kylee Wetzel
   Received $326.99
   The circuit machine is a smart machine that can use a computer to design their item they are going to cut. The machine will be used by Penn’s Child Development and Education Professions classes.
    
10. All The Feels: Sensory Word Work
    Walt Disney Elementary – Trisha Leddy
    Received $932
    Sensory word work will enable students to improve their phonemic awareness, sensory development, and social emotional growth.  A container will be filled with a variety of materials to let children explore and manipulate letter, words, and sounds. It will also help children develop fine motor skills, cognitive skills, and language skills. 
     
11. Leaping Forward with VEX Robotics
    Penn High School – Jim Langfeldt
    Received $5,000
    Starting in 2004, VEX Robotics Platform has been the backbone of mostly all applied pre-engineering projects in the STEM academy. This will provide updated materials allowing students to design, build, program, and test autonomous vehicles.

Click to see the Fall 2018 Grant Recipients.

In a surprise announcement Tuesday (April 23) afternoon at Horizon Elementary, Penn-Harris-Madison Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker honored the District’s 2019 Classified Employee of the Year … Kids Club Assistant Program Coordinator Diane Dyer (click to view the entire photo gallery below).

The surprise announcement was held at Horizon because Diane was Kids Club Site Coordinator there for four years before she was recently promoted to Kids Club Assistant Program Coordinator. Everyone at Horizon was happy to have her back and get in on the surprise.

Watch the video below to see her reaction when she walks into Horizon’s cafeteria to find Dr. Thacker, cameras, her family, a couple hundred students, and staff waiting to surprise her …

Diane has worked for P-H-M for five years; she started at Prairie Vista Elementary School as a Kids Club Assistant in August 2014. In 2015, she was promoted to Site Coordinator at Horizon; and in February 2019, she was named Kids Club Assistant Program Coordinator, based at Elsie Rogers Elementary School. In her new role, she’s helping to train the other Kids Club Site Coordinators and is working with the rest of the Kids Club staff to put into place the best practices at all other nine P-H-M Kids Club locations.

During her time as a Site Coordinator for Horizon, Diane implemented “After Homework Clubs” like LEGO League, Cooking Club, Helping Hands, Art Club, Tai Chi, Comic Book Club, Reading Club, Board Games Club and Knitting Club among several others. Her goal was to enhance the experience for the students by extending the academic experiences. In doing so, Diane brought about a cultural change helping Kids Club to be seen as an extension of the school. Her work at Horizon Kids Club now serves as a benchmark for the other locations.

Horizon’s Kids Club has the largest Kids Club enrollment. Students absolutely coming to the program, even over their other evening extracurricular activities like sports!

“Great collaborator, positive, kind.” “She goes above and beyond; she’s committed and gives her all every day!” These are just some of the many ways Diane’s co-workers describe her. As a true leader and role model they say she strives to make Kids Club better than the day before.

Diane and her husband, Sam, are raising their four grandchildren and have been foster parents to 10 children. She volunteers at a food pantry and is very involved with her church.

To download high resolution jpg files from the photo gallery below, just simply click the “DOWNLOAD” button on the bottom right-hand corner of the photo while viewing it in the Photo Gallery function. We are happy to provide this service to you free of charge.

In a surprise announcement Tuesday (April 23) afternoon at Walt Disney Elementary School, Penn-Harris-Madison Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker honored the District’s 2019 Elementary Teacher of the Year … fourth grade teacher at Walt Disney Christine Austin (click to view the entire photo gallery below).

Watch the video below to see her reaction when she walks into the room to find Dr. Thacker and the cameras waiting …

Christine Austin is in her sixth year of teaching. She started with P-H-M full-time in 2014 as a teacher at Prairie Vista Elementary School. She moved to Walt Disney in 2015 and is currently teaching fourth grade there.

Fellow teachers describe Christine as innovative, creative, and willing to try new things in her ongoing quest to get her students engaged and keep them engaged. She is proactive and is able to differentiate instruction in the classroom, exploring all avenues to provide excellent, personalized instruction to all students. Her students’ consistent growth is evidence that her dedication and ability to go above and beyond for her students pays off.

Christine is devoted to her students working in a number of after school co-curricular activities serving as a Spell Bowl Coach and as a sponsor for After School Learning Clubs; she also teaches Saturday Enrichment for the District and has volunteered for Young Authors’ Conference.

She shows extraordinary commitment not just to her students, but in the leadership and support she lends to her colleagues. Christine’s an important integral part to Disney’s Teacher Leadership Team (TLT), supporting all grade levels as well as her own fourth grade team. She’s even led staff PDs for Guided Math, Guided Reading for Exceptional Education, and presented at Technovation. Christine is a mentor not only for beginning teachers, but is also a great resource for veteran teachers.

She’s involved in many school related programs and activities including PTO and serves on the Cultural Night Committee. In the past, Christine has also been a coach for Running is Elementary and for Girls on the Run.

In the community, Christine volunteers at the local humane society with her daughter and helps in the nursery at her church.

To download high resolution jpg files from the photo gallery below, just simply click the “DOWNLOAD” button on the bottom right-hand corner of the photo while viewing it in the Photo Gallery function. We are happy to provide this service to you free of charge.

In a surprise announcement Tuesday (April 23) morning at Penn High School, Penn-Harris-Madison Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker honored the District’s 2019 Secondary Teacher of the Year Penn Freshman Academy Leader & World Languages French Teacher Jeanie Mitchell (click to view the entire photo gallery below).

Watch the video below to see her reaction when she walks into the room to find Dr. Thacker and the cameras waiting …

Madame Jeanie Mitchell came to P-H-M and to Penn High School to teach French in the World Languages Academy in 2008. Last September, she also became Freshman Academy Leader.

Through her French classes Mme. Mitchell brings the world to her students providing classroom project based learning projects, as well as field trips to the French Market in Chicago and even to France! Mme. Mitchell sees her role as a French teacher is to “encourage students to gain a better understanding of themselves and their own world by studying and relating to the practices and beliefs of others.”

As the Freshman Academy Leader, Jeanie helps make the transition from middle school to high school manageable and less daunting for incoming freshmen. She worked with other Academy teachers to begin recognizing two freshman “Students of the Month” (two from each of the four freshman houses); so far more than 60 students have been highlighted this year.

Jeanie has also worked on a Tier 3 RtI program to identify Penn’s most at-risk freshmen students pairing them up with an administrator, counselor or dean. These students not only get the wraparound support they need, but more importantly they also come to realize that they have trusted adults who care about them and who they can go to for help. Speaking of help … Jeanie is also involved in Penn’s Natural Helper’s program, which helps students to not only care for themselves, but to also show compassion and reach out and help others.

Jeanie is a leader among her peers at Penn, frequently leading staff professional development on a variety of topics such as technology, literacy strategies, effective parent communication, and how to use social media to develop teachers’ personal learning networks.

Jeanie and her husband have two children who attend Horizon Elementary School.

To download high resolution jpg files from the photo gallery below, just simply click the “DOWNLOAD” button on the bottom right-hand corner of the photo while viewing it in the Photo Gallery function. We are happy to provide this service to you free of charge.

South Bend Regional Chamber announced today (Thursday, April 4, 2019) their 2019 “Forty Under 40” class and for the eighth time in 12 years, a P-H-M administrator or teacher has made the list! This year’s honoree is P-H-M Chief Operating Officer Aaron Leniski.

Leniski became the Chief Operating Officer at Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation in 2018. In this administrative role, he brings his expertise as an outstanding leader and educator, supporting the many initiatives and projects occurring district-wide.

Leniski is one of six K-12 educators in this year’s class. He along with the other members of the 2019 class will be honored at a Luncheon to be held at the Northern Indiana Event Center in Elkhart on Thursday, May 23. The “Forty Under 40” program is an annual collaborative effort between the South Bend Regional Chamber, Young Professionals Network South Bend as well as other partners and chambers in the Michiana region.

Leniski, a 1998 Penn High School graduate, began his career in the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation in 2001 as an Assistant Football Coach at Penn, later going on to also teach Mathematics and Technology at the high school from 2003-2005. In 2004, he was one of the teacher coaches for Penn High School’s Robotics Team, which was a National Qualifier and the very next year went on to become a National Finalist.

In 2005, Leniski was named Penn High School’s Assistant Athletic Director, a position he held until 2012. During his tenure as the Assistant AD, Leniski oversaw 22 sports and activities at the high school.

Leniski became principal of Madison Elementary School in 2012. He successfully led Madison Elementary School for three years, during which time Madison received an “A” rating from the Indiana Department of Education.

In 2015, Leniski return to Penn as Athletic Director. During his tenure, nine Penn teams advanced to the state tournaments–five reaching Semi-State, 3 winning the State Championship, and 1 National Championship team.

Leniski is also a certified Indiana School Safety Specialist, a member of the Indiana Association of School Business Officials and the Indiana Association of School Principals. He has also served as a former board member of the Indiana Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association and was a member of the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.

P-H-M has had eight other employees recognized as part of the “Forty Under 40” program:

• Assistant Principal Randy Williams, Class of 2018
• Dr. Jennifer Sears, then Exceptional Education Program Supervisor & current P-H-M Director of Social Emotional Learning, Class of 2017
• former Grissom Middle School Principal Nathan Boyd, Class of 2016
• Sean Galiher, then principal of Schmucker Middle School now principal of Penn High School, Class of 2015
• Dr. Jayson Snyder, then principal of Meadow’s Edge now Director of Talent Acquisition & Development, Class of 2014
• Lavon Dean-Null, current Schmucker principal, Class of 2013
• Dr. Heather Short, current Assistant Superintendent for Instruction, Class of 2008
• Pete DeKever, Penn teacher and former Spell Bowl coach, Class of 2007

Saturday, May 4

8:30 a.m. – Noon

Penn High School

Register online today! Early Bird Registration is available until Sunday, April 21 ($20 for adults, $10 for students)!

Do you like bubbles? Well, if you do, you’ll enjoy the Silver Mile Bubble Bash!  

Highlighted changes for this year’s event:

• Earlier start time, 8:30 a.m.
• 1.5 mile and 5K route options
• Lower early bird prices:$20 for adults, $10 for students
• The school with the most participation will win a Gaga Ball Pit or 9 Disc Golf Baskets ($2,500 value)!
• And more bubbles!

Missed out on all the bubbly fun last year? Don't let it happen two years in a row! Watch the video and see how much fun you and your whole family will have …

The Student Talent Show starts at 9 a.m.

The Health & Fitness Expo will be in the cafeteria where everything from free health screenings by presenting sponsor Saint Joseph Health System to numerous businesses showcasing their health-related items will be offered.

And don’t forget about the Silent Auction!

The Silver Mile Run is the largest fundraiser for the P-H-M Education Foundation and all the proceeds go towards providing innovative P-H-M teaching grants, scholarships to students, staff development, and other corporation-wide initiatives.

Click here to take advantage of early bird registration and for more information on the Bubble Bash.

Four times each school year, the Penn-Harris-Madison Board of School Trustees visit a school within the district to "spotlight" a particular program or accomplishment. The Board's third visit for the 2018-2019 school year was Monday night, March 25 here at Elsie Rogers Elementary School.

Principal Christy Campbell and some of the students shared information with the Board about the school’s “Lemonade War” with sister school Elm Road Elementary—a type of “One Book, One School” except with two schools! September and October, students in K-5 at both schools read Jacqueline Davies’ book “The Lemonade War.” Reading took place on multiple levels: school community reading, family reading at night and in partnership with the buddy school.

The schools took it a step further by having a friendly competition to raise money to buy teddy bears and other comfort items for children who are admitted to Beacon Health Children's Hospital Pediatric Oncology Hematology Department for treatment.  

Elsie Rogers won the “Lemonade War” by raising $1,246! Elm Road students raised $1,023. Together both schools raised a total of $2,269! That money was donated to Becky Wachs at the School Board Meeting. 

Other highlights of the evening included Music Teacher Mrs. Erin Elliott leading Elsie's “Circle the State” singers in song and a special glow and the dark performance by the Orff Ensemble.

Click here to view the full photo gallery of the student performances and check donation presentation on Elsie Rogers’ website.