It was a packed house for Tuesday’s (Dec. 1) celebration for Principal Steve Hope. Penn’s Main Arena was filled to the rafters with the student body of nearly 3,500 students. With the Marching Band playing, the students roaring applause and cheers, it felt more like a Pep Rally then an all-school assembly! But it’s not every day that a school principal wins the highest honor in the state (a first time honor for P-H-M School Corporation) … Indiana’s 2015 Principal of the Year! And the local TV news stations were on hand to capture all the excitement. Penn students and faculty snapping, Tweeting and reTweeting pictures on their smartphones and the students using the strobelight effects all added to the “paparazzi” and electric atmosphere.

Executive Director of the Indiana Association of School Principals Mr. Todd Bess was on hand to make the official presentation of the award to Mr. Hope. He modestly accepted the award and noted that his honor was Penn’s honor and would not have been possible by his great students and all Penn’s teachers and staff. Mr. Hope thanked his mentor P-H-M Superintended Dr. Jerry Thacker, Board of School Trustee members: Larry Beehler, Chris Riley and Randy Leliaert, fellow P-H-M principals, P-H-M administration Cabinet members, as well as past colleagues and a former student–all of whom were in attendance. Local officials Indiana State Senator Ryan Mishler (R-9) along with a representative from U.S. Congresswoman Jackie Walorski’s (R-2) office were also in the audience for the big celebration.
 

Click here to see more pictures from Penn’s celebration in our online Photo Gallery.

Click here for pictures from P-H-M’s Twitter feed.  

Click here to see ABC 57’s coverage of the event.

Click here to see WNDU’s coverage.

Elsie Rogers Elementary received notice that the school is one of 100 lucky schools nationwide to win $10,000 in the Grand Stand for Schools Million Dollar Giveaway. The contest is sponsored by Labels for Education. The parent LFE Coordinator submitted Elsie Rogers for the contest and Monday, Dec. 1 a letter of notification and the check were delivered to Principal Christy Campbell. Obviously taken by surprise, Principal Christy Campbell called the company to verify that the school had indeed won … and it was true! Elsie Rogers is one of 11 P-H-M elementary schools and a Title I school. So this money will be put to good use!

On Sunday, November 22, the Indiana Association of School Principals (IASP) recognized Steve Hope, Principal of Penn High School, with its highest honor … 2015 State High School Principal of the Year!

Hope was nominated by staff at Penn High School and elected by his fellow area principals as District 2 High School Principal of the Year in the spring. However, the state award Sunday night came as a surprise. The recognition ceremony was a part of the 2015 Principals of the Year Recognition Celebration during IASP’s annual Fall Professional Conference in Indianapolis.  All District winners were recognized at the dinner with the state winner being announced in a special ceremony. One principal from each of Indiana’s 12 districts was honored. Northern Indiana’s District 2 is made up of Elkhart, Fulton, Kosciusko, La Porte, Marshall, Pulaski, St. Joseph and Starke Counties.

Known to his students as an attentive and compassionate leader, Hope also serves as a mentor to Penn’s 194 teachers and staff. During his time as principal, Penn’s graduation rate accelerated from 79% in 2008 to 97% in 2014. Indiana’s Department of Education named Penn an A-rated school, a 4-Star Award winner and a 90-25-90 high school. U.S. News and World Report named Penn an Outstanding High School in 2009 and again in 2015.

Hope has been able to achieve milestones such as these by turning what could seemingly be an overwhelming high school of 3,500 students into seven smaller schools within one large one. Penn’s academy structure is a result of a $1.7 million dollar federal grant in 2010. Hope used the Smaller Learning Communities grant to lead the reorganization of Penn from a traditional high school to one that offers supportive environments that cultivate creativity and rigor where each student is known by his teachers and peers. The personalized approach starts with all students being enrolled in the Freshman Academy, which helps middle school students acclimate to high school. Penn’s other six academies support college and career readiness and pair students to their academic and professional interests:  Fine Arts & Communications, Management & Business, Health and Human Services, STEM, World Languages and the Early College Academy.

Penn’s smaller learning community structure is successful because Hope has led the effort to not just focus on the students’ success, but the teachers’ as well. Hope realized that in order for the students to excel they would have to be taught by highly engaged and trained teachers and staff. Part of Hope’s vision at Penn has been to focus on professional development, implementing a comprehensive plan for all Penn teachers with special emphasis on new teachers.

Hope started his nearly 20 year career at Penn High School as an art teacher in 1996 before being named Dean of Students in 1998. Hope then served as Director of Counseling for two years and was named Assistant Principal in 2003, Associate Principal in 2005 and became Principal of Penn High School in 2008.

Hope is a native of Holt, Michigan and started his education career as a teacher at Waycross High School in Waycross, Georgia after graduating from Western Michigan University. He has a Master’s of Science and Secondary Education and Educational Leadership from Indiana University South Bend and is currently pursuing his doctorate in Education Leadership from Purdue University, which will be completed in May 2017.

He serves on a number of boards including the South Bend Museum of Art, Indiana Mock Trial Association and Indiana University of South Bend. Hope is also a member of the Indiana Association of School Principals and the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

IASP State President Kelly Andrews and Executive Director Todd Bess presented Hope with the award. Penn-Harris-Madison Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker was present along with Hope’s wife Becky. IASP notified P-H-M beforehand that Hope would be chosen as the 2015 Principal of the Year making it possible for Hope’s three daughters Mairede, Cecilia and Savannah along with his mother, brother, sister, brother-in-law and son-in-law to be present at the ceremony for the announcement.

The Indiana Association of School Principals is a not-for-profit, professional association serving over 2500 building level administrators in the state of Indiana. 

The PHMEF Grant Committee is pleased to announce the Fall 2015 grant winners. The seven proposals described below will be funded at a cost of $8,989.25. It’s estimated that 2,878 students will be positively impacted by these innovative teaching grants!

ACTIVE SEATING IN THE CLASSROOM

• Prairie Vista Elementary – Peggy Peak
• Grade K  —  70 students
• Fully funded at $1,992

Research supports the benefits of “active” seating to enhance the learning environment. Active seating improves attention and concentration, posture, blood flow, flexibility, coordination and balance. Students will demonstrate the ability to stay focused and energized throughout the day with the use of 15 stability balls and 15 HOKKI stools. Students will be trained on how to use the equipment the correct way. Offering the choice of seating will help to accommodate different learning styles in our classrooms.

WOBBLE CHAIRS FOR ACTIVE SEATING

• Elsie Rogers Elementary – Dana Latham
• Grades K  —  50 students
• Fully funded at $1,399.80

The creator of the Wobble Chair combine concepts of a stool and exercise ball and came up with a product that supports active seating in the classroom. This concept supports flexibility and movement while sitting can be beneficial to the human body. Twenty chairs will be available throughout the day for students to utilize them, especially during subjects that they have trouble focusing.  

MAKING THE INVISIBLE VISIBLE THROUGH STUDENT EXPERIMENTATION

• Penn High School – John Gensic, Kimbell Reitz and Rob Beckheiser
• Grades 9-12  —  1,200 students
• Fully funded at  $996

This grant will help students connect the CO2 they exhale with the math and science of concentrations, graphing, and cycles in nature. If students can visualize and experience line graphs, slopes, and concentrations and experimental design while breathing, they are gaining in their STEM literacy skills. Funding will support the purchase of 4 carbon dioxide gas sensors and sampling bottles that will be used in tandem with equipment from the University of Notre Dame lending library.

SCHMUCKER TECHNOLOGY CLUB

• Schmucker Middle School – Matthew Reininga
• Grades 6-8 — 30 students
• Fully funded at $861.45

The technology that would be the focus of the club would be the Arduino prototyping board. Arduino is an electronic prototyping platform intended for inventors, designers and hobbyists. Members of the club will work in teams to complete interactive projects using the Arduino and Scratch for Arduino, which is a free open-source programming language. The grant will support the purchase of 10 Arduino boards and the necessary accessories such as motors, LEDs, and cables.

JASS RESIDENCY WITH RONALD CARTER

• Penn High School – Bill Leather
• Grades 7-12 — 400 students
• Fully funded at $1,000

Ronald Carter was the director of the world-renowned Northern Illinois University Jazz Ensemble. He has spent more than 18 years in the St. Louis metropolitan area as an educator and professional freelance musician. The grant will support bringing Mr. Carter to P-H-M schools for a special 4-hour jazz clinic.

DISCOVERY MIDDLE SCHOOL MAKERSPACE

• Discovery Middle School – James Howard and Kiley Snyder
• Grade 6-8 —  128 students
• Partially funded at $2,500

A makerspace is a student-centered environment that incorporates hands-on technology to explore and create. Students will be able to develop engineering skills as they are creating projects with 3-D printers. Arduinos and Littlebits are adaptive electronic platforms that would allow students to prototype and develop different projects. Having these tools in the makerspace will foster student imagination and creativity in science, technology and engineering.

STUDENTS AGAINST DESTRUCTIVE DECISIONS (SADD)

• Penn High School – Kristine Smith
• Grades K-12  —  1,000
• Partially funded at $240

Students Against Destructive Decisions’ vision is to create a school district in which young people make positive decisions that advance their health and safety. Penn students will join together to create an awareness program to inform students about positive approach to decision making. Students will promote the club’s message by wearing SADD t-shirts.

UPDATE: TICKET SALES AT THE EDUCATIONAL SERVICES CENTER ARE NOW CLOSED—TICKET SALES AT PENN WILL END AT 1:00 PM WEDNESDAY NOV. 25—TICKETS WILL BE SOLD AT THE STADIUM DAY OF GAME

Who: Penn (12-1) vs. Center Grove (13-0)

What: IHSAA Football 6-A State Championship

When: Saturday, November 28th

Where: Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis)

Time: Kickoff is set for 7:05 p.m. (the Class 2-A state championship game is scheduled for noon, and the Class 4-A state championship game is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.).

Gates Open: 11:00 a.m.

Ticket Price: $15.00 per day. Seats are all general admission.  

Location: Lucas Oil Stadium, 500 S. Capitol Avenue, Indianapolis

Television:  Fox Sports Indiana Plus

Radio: IHSAA Championship Network (locally 91.1 The Globe)

Webstream: IHSAAtv.org

Twitter: @The_Pennant

Indiana’s Gold Standard for Spell Bowl, Penn High School coach Pete DeKever’s Kingsmen, took their elite status to a higher level at the Spell Bowl state championship Saturday, Nov. 14, at Purdue University.

Penn earned the state championship with a perfect score of 90. Martinsville placed second with a score of 89.

In addition to winning the state title for the 15th time, Penn put the finishing touches on a remarkable season. The Kingsmen only missed three words out of 810 words spelled this season, setting a school record and what is believed to be a state record.

“This has been an historic season for Penn Spell Bowl,” Penn High School principal Steve Hope said. “A 15th state championship crowns a hallmark season. This team has competed more than any previous Penn Spell Bowl team and has also had more perfect scores in regional competitions than any previous Penn Spell Bowl team. This is a testament to how well this team has worked to accomplish such lofty goals.

“On behalf of the entire Penn faculty and staff, we congratulate Coach DeKever and the entire Penn Spell Bowl team!”

DeKever said that the 2015 campaign was marked by an outstanding effort from the students.

“The state championship is really an endorsement of the hard work that the students put in, and the high expectations that we have,” DeKever said. “We go into every season with the goal of being the state champion, and getting a 90 (perfect score) in the state finals. It’s just really very rewarding and fulfilling when it’s all able to work out according to plan.”

 DeKever said that experience and depth played key roles in the state championship performance of 2015.

“We have a nice core of seniors who were with us for four years,” DeKever said. “We have six seniors who were four-year team members. There’s a lot of experience with them, and the other returning players are sophomores and juniors who have also spelled on the varsity or in the state finals last year.

“It also helped that we had a really big team this year. We had 21 students, and that’s the largest team that we’ve had in five to 10 years. That’s has created momentum within the team. There were times when our Junior Varsity scored a 90. We believe those are the first and second times in Indiana that a school took a varsity and junior varsity to a Spell Bowl competition and earned a perfect score in each competition. That creates an expectation among the students that our job is to get a nine (perfect) every time a player spells. It creates a team expectation of a 90 every time we compete. It was exciting to see that play out.”

Presto George and Chris Yun are the Spell Bowl captains.

“I think it’s a great accomplishment, that out of some 170 schools that participate in Spell Bowl, that we finished at the very top with a perfect score of 90,” George said. “That’s really impressive. It shows our commitment to spell bowl. To be a part of the most consistent and the best team at Penn is a great feeling.”

George, who hopes to transition from Penn’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Academy to Purdue University, said that the Spell Bowl experience has been invaluable.

“Spell Bowl has given me a really good work ethic,” George said. “We have to put in a lot of effort, including outside of practice, in order to achieve our goals. That will translate into a strong work ethic for college.”

Penn Principal Steve Hope, athletic director Aaron Leniski and Penn-Harris-Madison Supt. Dr. Jerry Thacker (pictured left to right) celebrate the semistate championship victory against Carmel with Kingsmen seniors Cedric Vakalahi and Jason Alexander.

Penn High School’s Kingsmen knocked off No. 2-ranked Carmel, 16-10, Friday night in the Class 6-A northern semistate championship game to punch their ticket to the state championship game.

Coach Cory Yeoman’s No. 4-ranked Penn Kingsmen (12-1) will take on No. 1 Center Grove (13-0) on Saturday, Nov. 28, at 7:05 p.m. at Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of the Indianapolis Colts. Ticket information will be announced later.

Quarterback Camden Bohn scored a touchdown on a tackle-busting seven-yard run with 3:59 left in the second quarter, using a spin move to blast into the end zone. The only Kingsmen TD gave Penn a 10-3 lead.

Jason Alexander intercepted a Carmel pass at the Kingsmen 38  and return it 24 yards to set up the Penn TD drive.

Kingsmen senior Sam Scholtes booted three field goals – 21 yards, 40 yards, and 38 yards – to supply Penn with the rest of its points.

Bohn led Penn’s offense with 13-of-17 passing for 169 yards. He also rushed for 66 yards.

John Ohlson hauled in nine passes for 116 yards.

Will Vakalahi led Penn’s defense with nine tackles, including one tackle for loss. 

Kobe Woods hammered Carmel for seven tackles.

Austin Laughman also had an interception for Penn.

Schmucker Middle School's Spell Bowl team won their second back-to-back Academic State Championship on Saturday, November 14 … way to go Spartans! Spell Bowl coach Sue Dale (seen in the back row of the picture above) is a retired SMS teacher who loves helping students so much that she still volunteers to help the students. She is also the yearbook sponsor.

Students learn about our nation’s wars in Social Studies classes, but Veteran’s Day awards them a unique learning opportunity to interact with and honor our country’s veteran heroes.

Every Veteran’s Day, two of P-H-M’s Middle Schools welcome local veterans into the schools so that students, teachers and staff can honor them for their sacrifices.

At Grissom and Schmucker Middle Schools, the eighth grade students plan the program inviting family members, friends or neighbors who are vets as special guests. At both schools, the choir, band and orchestras perform for the veterans.

The color guard led a procession of veterans into Grissom’s school cafeteria beginning with two World War II veterans followed by service men and women who have served in the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Assistant to the Principal Chris Grossnickle’s father was one of the WWII vets honored during today’s program.

At Schmucker, a similar program took place. At both schools, students introduced their family or friend veteran and presented them with a flower. P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker was on hand at the Schmucker ceremony. Middle school students at Grissom and Schmucker also read poems and short essays that they wrote noting the sacrifice veterans have made for all of us.

Colonel Charles Ware, distinguished orthopedic surgeon in the U.S. Army, spoke to Grissom students and veteran guests about what veterans represent and the day-to-day lessons they teach all of us. National Junior Honor Society Grissom also presented a donation of $450 to a local program that supports area veterans.

Both programs concluded with a playing of taps. At Schmucker, Band teacher Jeff Carnall performed the tribute on a trumpet.

Students at P-H-M’s other middle school, Discovery, honored veterans by producing a commemorative program which was shown to all students broadcasting on the school’s in-house television network.

Penn High School had a strong display of talent on November 11, when 21 student-athletes gathered on “early signing day” to meet the press and formally announce their college plans.

Representing eight varsity sports, these seniors have accepted offers to continue their academic and athletic careers at colleges and universities across the nation.

BASEBALL, coach Greg Dikos

• Skylar Szynski                     Indiana

BOYS BASKETBALL, coach Al Rhodes

• Trey Burns                         Bethel

GIRLS BASKETBALL, coach Kristi Kaniewski-Ulrich

• Camryn Buhr                      Lehigh
• Claire Carlton                     Univ Indianapolis
• Lindsay Chrise                    Tennessee-Martin
• Delaney Jarrett                   St. Mary’s of the Woods
• Kaitlyn Marenyi                  American University

GIRLS GOLF, coach Dominic Demeter

• Cassidy Jurkaites                Western Illinois

GIRLS SOCCER, coach Jeff Hart

• Sydney Bright                       Holy Cross
• Hannah Ehrhardt                St. Francis
• MacKenzie Mason               Wittenberg
• Kamra Solomon                  Furman
• Jensen Stroinski                  IPFW

SOFTBALL, coach Beth Zachary

• Alyssa Griman                     Illinois-Chicago
• Halle Hixenbaugh               Boston College
• Olivia Magaldi                      Wisconsin-Green Bay
• Addison Pixley                     Valparaiso
• Allie Piatt, travel team        Lewis

SWIMMING, coach Jess Preston

• Kyle Morris                          Indiana

WRESTLING, coach Brad Harper

• Drew Hildebrandt           Central Michigan
• Kobe Woods                     Purdue

In their remarks, students gave credit to their coaches and thanks to their parents, along with expressing excitement for what lies ahead.

Click here to access an in-depth article which includes photos, stats, and coaches’ comments on each of these outstanding students.