Penn-Harris-Madison Director of Communications Lucha Ramey and the Communications Department was recognized at the Monday, August 27 Board Meeting for recent awards that the Department received from the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA).

This summer the Communications Department won these NSPRA 2018 Publications and Digital Media Awards:

• Excellence Happens Here marketing materials won Award of Honorable Mention
• The 2017-18 Calendar of P-H-M Activities won Award of Honorable Mention
• The P-H-M District and 15 School Brand Styleguide and Image Package won Award of Honorable Mention
• P-H-M social media activity on Facebook and Twitter won Award of Merit

There were 1,061 entries in this year’s NSPRA awards program, with 648 receiving recognition (click here to see the full list of winners). 

Other P-H-M staff and outside organizations and individuals made valuable contributions to help create the materials that received recent recognition:

• Jenny Forkner for her project management of the design, production and printing of the District Activities Calendar,
• Hirons for their graphic design support in creation of the District and 15 school Brand Styleguides, and
• Pictures in the marketing materials were taken by Penn High School's Curt Rallo, Mrs. Ramey, former PHM Multimedia Producer Tom Gropp, and some were even submitted by parents.

P-H-M’s Communications Department works to not only communicate valuable information to our parents and families through the District and 15 school websites. Through marketing and brand awareness initiatives, P-H-M not only keeps our families informed of all the terrific things taking place all across our District, but we also make the greater community aware of our student and staff accomplishments. The P-H-M audience is engaged and connected to the District through the use of eye catching photos and video storytelling on social media, websites and other digital forms of communication.

P-H-M launched the PHM Excellence Happens Here marketing campaign in August 2017. #PHMExcellence has an average of more than 58,000 impressions a month on Twitter! Click here to check out our #PHMExcellence feed. Click here to watch our PHM Excellence Happens Here video series on YouTube.

Congresswoman Jackie Walorski (R, 2^nd District) visited Walt Disney Elementary school this morning to observe and learn more about P-H-M’s school breakfast program. Walt Disney is among P-H-M’s 12 schools, nine elementary schools, that serve breakfast. At Disney, students come in the morning and pick up their meal bags and head to the classroom where they eat their breakfast comfortably in their classrooms before the start of school. As a member of the House Ways and Means Committee,  the Congresswoman reached out to Penn-Harris-Madison with an interest to observe an effective and efficient program that has been in existence for a number of years.  

Food Services Director Jill Riggs explained the program to the Congresswoman while she observed morning arrival and disbursement of meals. Disney Principal Ryan Towner then gave the Congresswoman a tour of Disney classrooms where she had the opportunity to meet students and answer their questions; one student even gave her a hug (see the photo gallery below)! Also in attendance was P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker, Board of School Trustees Member Gary Fox, and Chief Operating Officer Aaron Lenski. Principal Towner introduced Congresswoman to Nicole Parker, P-H-M’s Elementary ENL Coordinator, who explained Disney’s diverse student population where approximately 39 different languages are spoken in student family homes.

P-H-M’s annual Community Tailgate will be co-hosted this year with the Penn High School Booster’s Club and will have a new location … the new plaza picnic area at the South End of TCU Freed Field.

Come out before the Penn vs. Brother Rice football game on Friday, August 31, 5:30 – 7:00 p.m., and enjoy brats or hot dogs, chips, cookie and a drink  … all for just $4.00!!!

(no advance ticket sales!)

The first day back for the school of the 2018-19 school year for Penn-Harris-Madison schools was Wednesday, August 22. Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker and Penn Principal Sean Galiher were up early to do live interviews on local South Bend TV stations.

Dr. Thacker then began his annual 15 schools in 3 days tour. Longtime Board Member Larry Beehler accompanied Dr. Thacker on the first two days. Take a look at their visits …

When students head back to school on Wednesday, August 22nd, they’ll notice some new faces … teacher faces!

Today was New Teacher Orientation for Penn-Harris-Madison. The district hired just 68 new certified teachers for the 2018-19 school year—the most in recent history! The reason for the large incoming P-H-M teacher “freshmen” class … retirement and relocation of outgoing faculty. All 15 P-H-M schools will have at least one new teacher joining their ranks.

This year’s new teachers are not only the largest group, they are also a very smart group … with more than 300 combined years of experience (most having an average of eight years classroom teaching background), 20 have master’s degrees!

Check out the photo galleries below of our new teachers … WELCOME TO P-H-M!

P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker handed out his last round of popsicles today (Thursday, Aug. 9) visiting Penn Boys Cross Country team early this morning at 8:00 after their morning workouts. Later this afternoon, he dropped in to deliver frozen treats to Penn’s Cheerleaders as they began their practice. Click to see the photo gallery below.

Dr. Thacker began his 13^th annual tradition last Friday, Aug. 3 and continued this Monday, Aug. 6 and fished up today. He handed out approximately 460 popsicles to the following Penn groups: Girls Cross Country, Boys Tennis, Marching Band, Volleyball, Girls Soccer, Boys Cross Country and Cheerleaders.

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.

P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker brought some relief to some very grateful Penn student-athletes a hot and humid morning. Dr. Thacker delivered popsicles to the Girls Soccer players this morning (Monday, August 6) as they were winding up their early morning practice. Click to see the photo gallery below.

Penn Girls Soccer team, coached by Penn Athletic Director Jeff Hart, won their second straight state championship last year and also finished the year with a national championship title. The Lady Kingsmen are training for another stellar year.

Click here to see pictures of Day 1 of Dr. Thacker’s popsicle handout last Friday, August 3.

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.

For a week, student campers in grades 5-8 have participated in P-H-M’s Youth Theater Camp. The camp helps students who are interested in performance and stage work or those who just want to build self-confidence.

This last camp of P-H-M’s Summer 2018 Camps & Activities was held at Schmucker.

Browse the photo gallery below. Spot your child in the photo gallery, just simply click the “DOWNLOAD” button on the bottom right-hand corner of the photo while viewing it in the Photo Gallery function to download a high resolution image. We are happy to provide this service to you free of charge!

It’s August and that means Kingsmen sports and Marching Band practices are in high gear as teams and Fine Arts Academy students prepare for their fall seasons.

To help the students cool off and as a little reward for all their hard work, Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker hands out popsicles at the end of practices (check out the photo gallery below). It’s annual tradition that students come to expect and look forward to. He’s been doing it for 13 years!

Today (Friday, August 3) Dr. Thacker handed out frozen treats to Girls Cross Country runners, Boys Tennis players, Penn Band members and Volleyball players. Next week he will visit Boys and Girls Soccer, Boys Cross Country and Cheerleading practices.

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.