THE DEADLINE IS NOW EXTENDED TO WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1!

P-H-M’s annual Young Author’s Conference offers an opportunity for all P-H-M elementary students in grades K-5 and their parents to meet and learn from a well-known children’s author.

This year’s guest author Judith L. Roth has written three children’s picture books (Goodnight Dragons, Julia’s Words and Cups Held Out) and a middle school novel-in-verse, Serendipity & Me. A native of California, Roth has been a resident of Indiana for almost 30 years now. Inspired by a love of music, Roth also writes some poetry. Her love of writing began with her love of reading when she was a student herself at the age 10. Roth is hoping to inspire other budding young authors like she once was!

While students are meeting with their peers, parents will attend a special presentation by Penn High School English teacher and Writing Coordinator, Mrs. Mary Nicolini, who is a recent recipient of the University of Chicago’s Outstanding Educator Award.

The Young Author’s Conference is sponsored by Corporations for Education, a division of the P-H-M Education Foundation.

DATE: Saturday, March 11, 2017

TIME: 8:45 – 11:30 a.m.

LOCATION: Schmucker Middle School, 56045 Bittersweet Road

COST: Just $5.00 per child; the registration fee is used for conference expenses. Checks should be made payable to: YAC. Cash is also accepted. 

REGISTRATION: The deadline for registration is now Wed., March 1, 2017.  Please make sure you return the registration packet and fee to your child’s school by March 1. Please contact your child’s school, if you did not receive one. We require that at least one parent accompany their student(s) to the Conference. However, keep in mind that students and parents will separate for a portion of the day.

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

QUESTIONS: Please click here to email Lisa Duerksen.

For families who live out of the Penn-Harris-Madison School District and wish to enroll their children in P-H-M schools, the window for non-resident enrollment is NOW OPEN!

The window opened the morning of Tuesday, Feb. 21. The window will remain open through 4:30 p.m., Friday, March 10, 2017.

For the coming 2017-18 school year, P-H-M will ONLY be accepting applications for ​children who will be entering kindergarten (must be age 5 before September 1, 2017) or children who will be entering second grade in the 2017- 2018 school year. 

In addition, P-H-M will ONLY be accepting seven applications EACH for first and third grade. These spots are ONLY open at Madison Elementary School. We will not be accepting first and third grade applications for any other P-H-M school this coming school year.

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More details, online application forms have been added to this page, www.phmschools.org/non-resident-student-enrollment.

Please make sure you visit this page before Friday, March 10, 2017, 4:30 p.m. to apply for non-resident enrollment. Applications submitted after March 10 will not be considered.

Registration is currently underway for Penn High School’s Volleyball Spring Clinic 2017 for any students currently in grades 6-through-8.

The Clinic will be on Saturdays (Feb. 18, Feb. 25, March 4, March 18 and March 25) from 4-7 p.m. at the Penn High School Arena.

The cost is $100 for five sessions, and $60 for three sessions.

Penn Volleyball Head Coach Sarah Hendricks, who coached the Kingsmen to a state title, and was also a state champion as a high school player, will lead the Clinic.

Click here for the Registration form.

Penn High School Fine Arts Academy leader Glenn Northern announced that 21 students from Penn High School were recently selected to participate in the 2017 Indiana All State Band. The 21 selections more than doubles Penn’s previous best of 10 students earning the coveted distinction, and the 21 selections for the 2017 All-State Band is the most for one school.

Penn students named to the All-State Band were:

Michelle Tapp, Senior, Flute & Piano

Emma Leidy, Sophomore, Oboe & English Horn

Shurun Kim, Junior Clarinet

Chris Mazurek, Junior, Clarinet

Emily Schlundt, Sophomore, Clarinet

Ryan Klinedinst, Senior, Clarinet

Taya Tu, Senior, Contra-Alto Clarinet

Gannon Bennett, Junior, Trumpet

Nick Casetti, Junior, Trumpet

Hillary Carnall, Senior, French Horn

Peter Lehmann, Senior, Trombone

Ashton Hershberger, Junior, Trombone

Carly Carnall, Freshman, Trombone

Jacob Forte, Senior, Euphonium

Angel Muro, Senior, Tuba

Madison Simpkins, Senior, Tuba

David Richards, Junior, String Bass

Peter Campeau, Freshman, String Bass

Kendra Fuelling, Junior, Percussion

Michelle Miramontes, Senior, Percussion

Anna Vukmirovich, Senior, Percussion

These twenty-one students were selected from among 500 candidates through a highly competitive audition process held in early January.

Students in the All-State Bands are assigned to one of two bands: the All-State Band and the All-State Honor Band. One hundred seventy outstanding high school band members have been selected for participation in the 2017 Festival. Captain Michelle Rakers, from the United States Marine Band in Washington D.C. will conduct the Honor Band. Mr. Alfred Watkins from Lassiter High School in Georgia will conduct the All State Band.

All members will participate in a series of activities including seating auditions, sectionals, and full rehearsals from Friday, March 10, through Sunday, March 12. A grand finale concert will be presented to the public on Sunday, March 12, at 2:30 p.m. in the Elliot Hall of Music on the Purdue University campus. 

Penn High School students earned 15 Scholastic Writing Awards, including seven Gold Key Awards. And two students, Lauren Funk  and Renee Yaseen won multiple awards, including Gold Key Awards.

Penn’s Scholastic Award Winners:

Emily Daley, Short Story, Silver Key

Lauren Funk, Poetry, Gold Key

Lauren Funk, Poetry, Silver Key

Lauren Funk, Poetry, Honorable Mention

Lauren Funk, Short Story, Honorable Mention

Lucie Horvath, Flash Fiction, Honorable Mention

Neya Johnson, Poetry, Gold Key

Rachel Kario, Poetry, Gold Key

Zoe LaBonte, Poetry, Gold Key

Anna Lang, Short Story, Silver Key

Sydney Seigel, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Gold Key

Sabrina Thayer, Short Story, Silver Key

Renee Yaseen, Poetry, Gold Key

Renee Yaseen, Poetry, Gold Key

Renee Yaseen, Poetry, Honorable Mention

Every year dozens of P-H-M students participate in the Scholastic Art Awards program. The national program encourages and fosters creativity in students’ emerging talent. The Scholastic Art Awards represents the most comprehensive national annual assessment of the creative spirit among American teens. In our region, the South Bend Museum of Art serves as the affiliate for the Northwest Indiana-Southwest Lower Michigan Region, covering 18 counties.

Regional awards are given in several categories:

• Gold Key: The highest level of achievement on the regional level.
  Approximately 5 – 7% of all regional submissions are recognized with Gold Key Awards and all are considered for national-level recognition.

• Silver Key: Approximately 7 – 10% of all regional submissions are recognized with Silver Key Awards.

• Honorable Mention: This Award recognizes students with artistic potential. Approximately 10 – 15% of all regional submissions receive Honorable Mention Awards.

• American Vision & Voice Nominees: Five works are selected out of all Gold Key works (across categories) as the “Best of Show” for each region.
   

The awards are a tremendous honor not only for the students and their families but also their art teachers. In all P-H-M students from Schmucker,  Grissom and Penn High School won a total of 58 awards in the 2017 competition, either as Gold Key, Silver Key or Honorable Mention award winners.

All student artwork will be on display at the Century Center in the South Bend Museum of Art from Friday, Feb. 3 – Saturday, March 11. The reception for the exhibition, “Meet Me in the Gallery,” will be Opening Night, Feb. 3, 5:00 – 9:00 p.m. at the South Bend Museum of Art.

Entry for this event is $5.00 for everyone other than award winners and their art teachers. The Award Ceremony for the student winners and their families is Sunday, February 5 in the Bendix Theater in the Century Center. The ceremony for 7th and 8th grades is 1:30 p.m., 9th-12th grades is 2:30 p.m. A reception will follow in the Warner Gallery.

P-H-M displays the student winning artwork in the Penn Kingsmen Art Gallery. Because the SBMA exhibit will be on display for a week longer than usual, the P-H-M Scholastic Art Award winning art pieces will be on display April 24 – May 9.

Penn-Harris-Madison’s newest Board of School Trustees member was sworn in last night at the first Board Meeting of the year (Monday, Jan. 9, 2017). James “Jim” Garrett is taking over the Penn Township Seat 3 left vacant when longtime serving Board Member Randy Leliaert completed his term in December 2016. 

Garrett is no stranger to P-H-M; as a 43-year veteran teacher, Garrett started his education career at Schmucker Middle School in 1971 as a Business Education teacher.

“The P-H-M Board of School Trustees and I are delighted to welcome Jim back to P-H-M,” said P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker. “As a former P-H-M teacher and coach, Jim will provide great insight to the Board. I look forward to working with Jim and the rest of the Board as we all work together to serve the great students and families of P-H-M, one of Indiana’s best school districts. We welcome Jim back into P-H-M’s Triangle of Success!”

During his 20 years at Schmucker he also coached Spartan football, basketball and track middle school teams. Garrett transferred to Penn High School in 1990 continuing to teach Business Education. He became the Head Girls Golf Coach in 1996. During his 18 years as Head Coach, Penn’s Girls Golf teams were Indiana State Champions three times in 2002, 2004 and 2005; and runners-up in 2011 and 2013. The team also won 13 out of 14 Northern Indiana Conference titles, 11 IHSAA Sectional Championships and 10 IHSAA Regional Championships. Garrett, a Ball State University alum, has won numerous coaching recognition awards including Ball State University Alumni Girls Golf Coach of the Year Award, along with being named 2006 National Coach of the Year by the National High School Coaches Association; and was inducted into the Indiana High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2014.

Returning members Gary Fox (Seat 4-Harris Twp.) and Jamie Woods (Seat 2-Penn Twp.) also took the Oath of Office at the January 9 Board Meeting. During the Election of Board Officers for 2017, the following Trustees were re-elected for a continuation of offices: Gary Fox as Board President; Larry Beehler (Seat 5-Madison Twp.) as Vice President; and Chris Riley (Seat 7-At-Large) as Secretary.

For a full list of Penn-Harris-Madison’s Board of School Trustees members, please click here. P-H-M Board Members serve four year terms and Officers serve for one year terms with elections taking place at the beginning of the calendar year.

Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation has received a planning grant of $50,000 under Lilly Endowment Inc.’s Comprehensive Counseling Initiative for Indiana K-12 Students.  The aim of the Counseling Initiative is to increase significantly the number of K-12 students in Indiana public school corporations and charter schools who are emotionally healthy, realize academic success, graduate from high school, obtain valuable postsecondary credentials, certifications and degrees necessary for meaningful employment and are prepared to compete and prosper in the global society in which they will live and work.

P-H-M filed for the planning grant independently, but will collaborate with our fellow St. Joseph County school districts, School City of Mishawaka and South Bend Community School Corporation, for the planning and implementation of this grant. While all three public school entities operate independently, we see the imperative need to work collectively and collaboratively on behalf of the students within St. Joseph County.  Within the three school corporations, there are approximately 33,000 students. This collective venture will enable us to address specific needs and areas of additional support that will help us to address our students' needs in academic, social/emotional and College and Career Readiness. Collectively our school districts have countless state and national partnerships. However, this implementation grant will allow us to coordinate efforts, combine resources and work together instead of competitively against one another.

Penn-Harris-Madison is one of 284 Indiana public school corporations and charter schools in Indiana receiving planning grants through the initiative.

In addition to helping public school corporations and charter schools assess their current counseling programs and identify best practices in comprehensive counseling efforts, planning grants will help recipients prepare implementation grant proposals to fund their strategies to improve their counseling programs. Implementation grant proposals are due to Lilly Endowment by May 19, 2017. Applicants may request up to $100 per enrolled student, and amounts of the implementation grants will range from $100,000 to $3 million. The implementation grant phase is competitive. Notification of implementation grant approvals is expected by Sept. 30, 2017.  

Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by three members of the Lilly family – J.K. Lilly Sr. and sons J.K. Jr. and Eli – through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly & Company. The Endowment is primarily committed to the causes of community development, education and religion and has a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and its home state, Indiana. Learn more at http://www.lillyendowment.org/.

The Indiana Department of Education has recognized yet another P-H-M program as one of the state’s 200 Promising Practices celebrating Indiana's 200 years of statehood.

Identified programs, like the English Language Summer Academy (E.L.S.A.), are student-centered and focus on positively impacting students through innovative programming and activities that provide a high-quality learning environment and experience.

E.L.S.A. is an intensive three-week and is free-of-charge to every elementary student who has received ENL support services during the preceding school year. E.L.S.A. provides students guided practice in academic English–reading, writing, speaking, and listening in selected grade-level content areas. In the Summer 2016, the curriculum featured Reading/Language Arts (including informational writing and a novel study), hands-on STEM studies (Life Science, Engineering! Math, Coding), Theater (role playing), and Art (image making through the writing process). Our session culminated with a Family & Friends Finale with over 200 guests attending!

In 2014-2015, P-H-M renewed focus on best practices for supporting the District’s English language learners, capitalizing on what our students can do, and seeking to move them more purposefully through the English language acquisition process. With the initial launch of

E.L.S.A. in the summer of 2015–and after extensive ongoing training opportunities for professional ENL staff, ENL Instructional Aides, and General Education teachers—70% of our ELLs increased a minimum of one proficiency level on the 2016 WIDA ACCESS for ELLs. The state average for growth in proficiency is around .5 level. In addition, 87% of our ELLs passed the 2016 I-READ 3 assessment. Parent involvement has also risen dramatically with our outreach and new ENL programming.

P-H-M’s ELSA Promising Practice will be shared with educators across the state of Indiana as an example of best practices that are having a positive impact on Hoosier students. Other P-H-M programs that were named Promising Practices in 2016 include: the Visual Arts Academy, “Hablo Arte,” Discovery Middle School and P-H-M’s safety and security measures.

Additional information about the Promising Practices initiative can be found on the IDOE’s  website.

Penn Township Board Member Randy Leliaert received quite a surprise at his last Penn-Harris-Madison School Board Meeting tonight (Monday, Dec. 12, 2016). The retiring School Trustee was presented with Indiana’s highest honor, the Sagamore of the Wabash Award.

The Award is presented as a tribute to those who’ve rendered distinguished service to the governor and/or the state of Indiana. Governor Mike Pence chose Leliaert as one of this year’s honorary Hoosiers for his 20 years of service on the Penn-Harris-Madison School Board of Trustees.

Board President Gary Fox has served with Mr. Leliaert for 15 of those 20 years … “Randy has worked tirelessly, contributing his expertise in both business and education, to help make P-H-M a better school district for all students. Defining the District’s mission and governance were among Randy’s top priorities. His focus on continuous improvement and excellence in education supported the District’s goals of helping students reach their fullest academic potential. His insight and dedication will be missed.”

Leliaert, owner/operator of the independent Randy Leliaert Agency for 30 years, was an elementary education graduate of Indiana University and worked as a first grade teacher at P-H-M’s Elsie Rogers Elementary School. He’s been a resident of Osceola and a Penn-Harris-Madison patron since 1973. His two children, Matthew and Elizabeth both attended P-H-M schools and graduated from Penn High School during his time on the Board. Leliaert was first elected to the Penn-Harris-Madison Board of School Trustees in 1996. During his tenure, he served as Board Secretary for three years, Vice President for two and President for two. Leliaert also served as Indiana School Boards Association legislative liaison and P-H-M School Board Policy liaison earning the distinction of Master Board Member from the Indiana School Boards Association.

Tonight was Leliaert’s last P-H-M Board meeting. In August, he decided not to run for re-election, opting instead to enjoy his semi-retirement, his children and grandchildren. Leliaert’s wife of 44 years, Karen, and his son Matthew, his grandchildren and business associates were present for tonight’s presentation of the Sagamore of the Wabash Award.

Leliaert will remain active by volunteering for the Osceola Business Association, Osceola Bluegrass Festival Committee and Penn Park Osceola Baseball Softball Association.

Retired P-H-M business education teacher and Penn Girls Golf Coach Jim Garrett will succeed Leliaert as Penn Township Seat 3 Board Member. He was elected in the November 2016 elections. He will be sworn in at the Monday, January 9, 2017 Board Meeting to be held at the P-H-M ESC Administrative Building (55900 Bittersweet Road, Mishawaka) at 7:00 p.m.