Mrs. Anne Tschetter didn’t think anything of it when Penn Principal Steve Hope and Fine Arts Academy Leader Glenn Northern asked to meet with her (May 1, 2017) about the recent ISSMA competitions, especially since the Orchestra just won a Gold Rating with Distinction at this past weekend’s competitions. But she got the surprise of her life when Principal Hope and Mr. Northern walked her back to her classroom …

Penn-Harris-Madison Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker, Mrs. Tschetter’s husband, Lyndon, several members of P-H-M Administration and her students were waiting to surprise her that she had been named 2017 P-H-M Teacher of the Year!

Mrs. Tschetter is in her 21st year with P-H-M, spending her first 20 years at Discovery Middle School as Orchestra Director there as well. For six of those years, she also taught music at Penn High School, switching to the high school exclusively this school year.

Mr. Northern, who nominated Mrs. Tschetter for the Teacher of the Year award, describes her as a passionate, kind and inclusive teacher who “believes that music needs to be both challenging and fun … to touch learners in personal and exciting ways.” She believes in being firm, fair and be fun!

As a practicing violinist and violist herself, who performs regularly with the South Bend Symphony Orchestra and other local string quartets, Mrs. Tschetter models the techniques she seeks in her students, playing alongside them as she’s teaching. She has taught and trained some of the finest student orchestras in the region and country. 

Since 1998, her ensembles have been recognized consistently for their high level of performance at the local, regional, state and national levels winning Gold Ratings at Indiana State School Music Association (​ISSMA) and multiple “With Distinction” awards, including this year’s competition (April 28 & 29, 2017).

Among her other accomplishments, Mrs. Tschetter was a conductor with the Cincinnati Orchestra, working with the Symphonic Orchestra. In January 2016, she received the Indiana American String Teacher's Association "Middle School Teacher of the Year" Award; and in 2015, received the "Michiana Outstanding Music Educator Award" sponsored by Quinlan & Fabish Music Company.

Mrs. Tschetter will be officially recognized and receive her plaque and a grant from the P-H-M Education Foundation at P-H-M’s Employee Recognition Dinner on May 17th. Also being recognized at that dinner are P-H-M service award employees, retirees and Meadow’s Edge Teacher’s Aide Shari Cerney who was named the Employee of the Year on Thursday, April 27.

Jayson Snyder, principal of Meadow’s Edge Elementary School, was named 2017 District 2 Elementary School Principal of the Year! Jayson was elected by his fellow District 2 principals. The Indiana association of School Principals will choose the state winner from all the district winners and announce the Indiana Elementary Principal of the Year at their Fall Conference in November.

Principal Snyder has been principal at Meadow’s Edge for the past five years. Under Principal Snyder Meadow’s Edge has achieved an “A” rating from the Indiana Department of Education. In 2014, the school was nominated for a National Title I Distinguished Award. The year prior, Meadow’s Edge was honored as an Indiana “Top 3” Title 1 School for Student Achievement. In Principal Snyder’s first year (2012) as principal, Meadow’s Edge was named a “Reward School” by the IDOE.

Principal Snyder created a school-wide RtI (response to intervention) model to provide early, systematic academic and behavioral assistance to students who are at risk for or already performing under grade level. This model was replicated and implemented at Penn-Harris-Madison’s 10 other elementary schools.

Before becoming principal at Meadow’s Edge, Snyder was assistant principal at Schmucker Middle School from 2010-2012. He started at P-H-M as an elementary school teacher at Prairie Vista in 2003. He also taught at Walt Disney (2005-2007) before returning to Prairie Vista in 2007-2010.

Principal Snyder is a Penn-Harris-Madison student alum. He attended Mary Frank Elementary and Schmucker Middle School and graduated from Penn High School in 1997.

Principal Snyder was named a member of the “Forty Under 40” 2014 Class by the St. Joseph County Chamber of Commerce and won the IUSB Excellence in School Administration Award in 2010. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership at Purdue University (expected completion December 2017).

Shari Cerney, a teacher’s Aide at Meadow’s Edge Elementary, got the shock of her life when she walked back into the classroom after recess on Thursday (April 27, 2017).

Penn-Harris-Madison Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker, Principal Jayson Snyder and several members of P-H-M Administration were waiting for her. That’s when Dr. Thacker surprised Mrs. Cerney telling her that she had been chosen as the 2017 P-H-M Classified Employee of the Year. The announcement was made even more special because several of her family members were also in the classroom waiting. Her husband Jim and her two daughters, Tai Cerney and Ali Renz, who is a kindergarten teacher at Elm Road, were present along with Mrs. Cerney’s first cousin, Shane Galloway and his wife Jaye Galloway, who is a P-H-M Board of School Trustees member.

Understandably, Mrs. Cerney was just a bit startled when she walked in and saw the TV news cameras and all the invited guests in the back of the room. She was moved to tears telling the students that they are the reason why she comes to work every day and thanked her fellow Meadow’s Edge staff members noting “It takes a village!”  The students of 2nd grade teacher Ms. Leah Gerbeth's class were elated to celebrate with her.

Mrs. Cerney has been a P-H-M employee for 21 years! She started as an instructional aide in 1996 at Elm Road Elementary, where her daughter was attending at the time. After two years, she transferred to Meadow’s Edge and has been there ever since. Mrs. Cerney has had many roles at Meadow’s Edge including running a program that helped struggling students turn around their behavioral and academic problems. She takes great pride watching her students grow and excel. Her love for education is infectious and permeates everything she does.

Meadow’s Edge Principal Jayson Snyder describes Mrs. Cernery as  “collaborative and committed to excellence in everything she does. She leads by example, providing a model of what integrity and selfless leadership looks like for both students and staff,” said Mr. Snyder. “Simply put, Shari makes everyone around her better.”

Mrs. Cerney will be officially recognized and receive her plaque at P-H-M’s Employee Recognition Dinner on May 17th.

What a way to celebrate its 20th year … Penn High School Robotics Team 135 is heading to the FIRST Robotics World Competition!

The team of 36 students loaded up and left today (Wednesday, April 26) headed for St. Louis for the competition that begins today and runs through Saturday, April 29.

Last week before the team left, they were busy in Room 140 making last minute preparations for their big trip, doing everything from making 20 year commemorative buttons, to scouting out their completion online, to tracking down restaurants in the St. Louis area near the event venues.

Each team member of Team 135 plays multiple roles. The team is made up of both juniors and seniors who design, build and program a robot, volunteer in the community, as well as raise all funds needed to compete from the regional level all of the way to the World Championships.

In the Robotics Lab, students were practicing with the test robot on their practice field, testing last minute techniques and strategies.

In the Lab, you can get a glimpse back at Team 135’s 20 year history of competitions. Along the walls are shelving units that house the previous years’ competition robots, going back all the way to the team’s first robot from 1998!

Team 135 will compete against some 400 other high school robotics teams from around the globe in hopes to bring back another Chairman’s Award just like they’ve done in their past two competitions: State Championship (Huntington, April 7-9) and Perry Meridian (Indianapolis, March 23-25).

Penn Robotics is led by Jim Langfeldt, Evan White, and Josiah Parker — the coordinators of this top-caliber FIRST Robotics team.

Want to follow Team 135’s quest for the World Title?

Click here for the full schedule. 

Click here to watch the competitions LIVE as they are happening. 

Click to read an article in the South Bend Tribune on April 21st about the Team 135’s Preparations. 

Director of Food Services Jill Riggs has been named the 2017 Indiana School Food Service Director of the Year. As Indiana's state winner, Jill will be honored at the upcoming 2017 ISNA Annual Conference in South Bend, as well as the annual ISNA national conference in Atlanta in July where the national winner will be announced.

This award recognizes the contributions of school nutrition directors who manage effective, fiscally sound school meal programs that provide healthy, appetizing meals to students.

Riggs has been a member of the School Nutrition Association for the last 18 years and served on the ISNA Executive Board for the past 5 years. She started on the Board as the representative for Region 2 and was then elected to a second term. The past two years Riggs was the Co-Chair for Professional Development working on the planning of regional and statewide conferences and workshops. Riggs is the current Vice President for ISNA, the first year on the presidential track. She will move to President Elect, President and Past President through the next three years.

On Thursday, April 13, Mrs. Jodi Cramer’s 4th grade class took the field trip of a lifetime … all the way from Walt Disney Elementary School on North Filbert Road, Mishawaka to Wrigley Field at Clark and Addison on the North Side of Chicago!

For some of her students, it was their first time to Chicago and it was definitely the first Cubs game for the majority of “TEAM Cramer.”

The students were treated like celebrities from the minute of they stepped off their Royal Excursion bus. Anxiously awaiting the arrival were South Bend’s three TV stations, Cubs representatives and P-H-M Administrators.

The students were beyond excited, not sure what or where to look first trying to take in all the sights and sounds of Wrigleyville. They were whisked away to begin their V.I.P. tour of the stadium that included an on-field photo opportunity. The classes’ personal tour guide gave the students all the historical background on the Cubs from the team’s creation and first name the “Chicago Chickens,” through the “Loveable Loser” years, all the way up to present day as the 2016 World Series Champions. And the kids soaked it all in, relishing every last detail.

The most exciting part of their day was of course the game … and what a game it was! The students not only saw a shutout game with the Cubs winning 4-0 against the Dodgers. They also saw not one, but two homeruns, one from Anthony Rizzo and the other from Addison Russell. They also witnessed two amazing catches against the ivy by Cubs center fielder Albert Almora Jr. It was a chilly day at the ballpark, but all the cheering definitely warmed the students up!

Their treatment as little celebrities continued throughout the game with a 5th inning video board welcome from the Cubs to the students. And during the 7th inning stretch singing of “Take me out to the ballgame,” some of the students got the extra thrill of being featured on the video board.

Want to know the full back story of how TEAM Cramer made it all the way to Wrigley? Click here to read the story on Walt Disney’s website.

Click here to view the picture gallery on Walt Disney’s website to see how TEAM Cramer’s “Day at the Cubs” unfolded.

Click the links below to watch the TV news coverage from Thursday, April 13:

• ABC 57 “Fourth grade class gets opportunity of a lifetime at Wrigley Field” 
• WNDU-TV “Local 4th graders treated to trip to Wrigley Field as guests of the Cubs” 
• WSBT-TV “Walt Disney fourth-grade class takes trip to see the Chicago Cubs” 

Penn High School’s Robotics Team 135 earned the coveted Chairman’s Award at the FIRST State Championship, and qualified for the FIRST Robotics World Competition in St. Louis on April 26-29.

Penn’s FIRST Robotics team of 36 students traveled to the FIRST State Championship in Huntington, Indiana,  to compete against the top 32 teams in Indiana on April 7-9. These 32 teams competed in 64 qualifying matches. Penn Robotics Team 135 achieved its goal of finishing as the first seeded team after the qualifying matches.

The team also came home with the most prestigious award in FIRST Robotics, the Chairman's award. This award recognizes a team for being a model for other teams to emulate. The Chairman's award celebrates community outreach, inspiring engineering, helping other teams grow, and acting with gracious professionalism. It is earned over an extended period of time and is strived for by all teams throughout the world.

Both the robot’s competition performance and winning the Chairman’s award earned Penn Robotics a spot at the FIRST Robotics World Competition in St. Louis from April 26-29.

Each student on the team plays multiple roles. The team is made up of both juniors and seniors who design, build and program a robot, volunteer in the community, as well as raise all funds needed to compete from the regional level all of the way to the World Championships.

The 2017 Penn Robotics team is made up of 36 students: Olivia Adam, Conrad Adams, Kelsey Anderson, Shino Antony, Sam Battalio, Thomas Blankenship, Maguire Burton, Drason Chow, Emma Clark, Kayla Cole, Daniel Datuel, Chris Dell, Adam Dewey, Italia Fields, Austin Finnessy, Kenny Ham, Cole Harding, Lizzie Heisler, Mia Heisler, Kaitlin Kelsey, Chase Kidder, Jonathan Laatz, David Li, Eric McDonald, Alyssa McNarney, Aidan Palonis, Nathan Petrie, Mackenzie Richards, Frank Salek, Alex Simmons, Parker Smithberger, Conner Swift, Jack Wheet, Blake Witchie, David Wojciechowski, and Brandon Ziegert.

Taking on their 20th year, Penn Robotics is led by Jim Langfeldt, Evan White, and Josiah Parker — the coordinators of this top-caliber FIRST Robotics team.

Students also work with professional mentors who help guide them along the engineering, business, and design process, while also helping them to establish best practices, and gain a practical understanding of machines. The Penn Robotics mentors include: Dave Adam, Allison Adams, Holly Austin, Joe Bishop, Grant Carlile, Andy Edelbrock, Tom Evans, Nancy Heisler, Tom Leathers, Troy Stabelfeldt, Bob Stevenson, Robin Varmette, Andrew Whiteman, Bill Whiteman, and Don Zmudzinski.

To help the team by giving your time to help with events to coordinate, to help students connect with the community, help plan with community partners, or to donate a trailer for traveling, donate a full drill index, or even donate some fasteners for the robot, contact the team at robotics@phm.k12.in.us or at (574) 254-2881.

About FIRST®

Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self- confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. With support from over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies and more than $20 million in college scholarships, the not-for-profit organization hosts the FIRST® Robotics Competition for students in Grades 9-12; FIRST® Tech Challenge for Grades 7-12; FIRST® LEGO® League for Grades 4-8; and Junior FIRST® LEGO® League for Grades K-3. Gracious Professionalism® is a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. To learn more about FIRST, go to www.usfirst.org.

Dave Misener, P‑H‑M Teachers Association President for the past 38 years, will be retiring at the end of this school year after 41 total years of service with Penn-Harris-Madison.

Mr. Misener began his long-standing career as a math teacher at Schmucker Middle School in 1976 and has remained at Schmucker during his entire career. In addition to his teaching duties, Mr. Misener has also served in Schmucker’s Athletic Department as an assistant football coach, assistant track coach, and as head track coach for more than 20 years.

Before tonight’s Board Meeting, P-H-M Board Members and members of Administration hosted a reception for Mr. Misener to thank him for hours of work, dedication, and expertise he put put into leading the P‑H‑M Teachers Association.

“On behalf of the Penn-Harris-Madison Board of School Trustees and Administration, I would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere appreciation to Dave Misener for the 41 years of dedicated service that he has given to the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation,” said Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker at tonight’s Board Meeting.

The School District benefited immensely from the collaborative nature of the relationship between the teachers and administration under Mr. Meisner’s leadership, as well as his involvement with the Indiana State Teachers’ Association and the National Education Association.

After receiving a plaque of recognition, Mr. Meisner thanked Dr. Thacker and the Board for their collaboration through the years and noted that he takes pride that several prominent members of the local area, as well as the state level, are P-H-M Schmucker Middle School alums.

On Tuesday, April 11, Grissom Middle School Principal Nathan Boyd was recognized by both houses of the Indiana State Legislature for being named 2016 Indiana Middle School Principal of the Year. Sen. Ryan Mishler (R, District 9, Majority Whip) submitted a Resolution, which was read on the Senate floor, and South Bend State Rep. Joe Taylor (D, District 7) also read a Resolution on the floor of the House of Representatives. Mr. Boyd received a standing ovation (see video below)  by the state representatives! Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker was also on hand.

Mr. Boyd was named District 2 Middle School Principal of the Year in Spring 2016. Subsequently Boyd was named 2016 Indiana Middle School Principal of the Year by the Indiana Association of School Principals (IASP) in November. Boyd will represent Indiana at the National Association of Secondary School Principals Recognition Program in the Fall of 2017, where he’s up for National Principal of the Year. Last year, Boyd was also selected as a member of the South Bend Regional Chamber of Commerce’s "Forty under 40” Class of 2016.

P-H-M Exceptional Education Program Supervisor Dr. Jenny Sears has been named a member of the 2017 Michiana "Forty under 40" class, by the South Bend Regional Chamber of Commerce. 

Sears is a psychologist and has a Ph.D. in Educational and Psychological Services from Indiana State University. She supervises special education programming for Penn High School, all three middle schools, and 11 elementary schools in the Penn-Harris-Madison school district. In addition, Dr. Sears supervises P-H-M staff speech and language pathologists, speech and language assistants, psychologists, occupational therapists, and the young adult program. 

Since coming onboard at P-H-M in 2015, Dr. Sears has been dedicated to improving transitional programming and raising awareness of available student mental health services. As an Exceptional Education leader, she's worked with staff helping to make invaluable contributions to the services we provide not only to our exceptional education students, but to all P-H-M students. She’s currently partnering with Logan Industries and Corvilla for an opportunity to work grant which will provide our students additional community work experiences.

Dr. Sears has served as an adjunct professor at both Saint Mary’s and Bethel Colleges. She has presented at several national conferences on child psychology and is also a member of a number of professional organizations: National Association of School Psychologists, Indiana Council of Special Education Administrators, Indiana Special Education Administrators Northeast Roundtable, Psi Chi, and the American Psychological Association.