Saturday, March 1, 2025   

9:15 a.m. – 11:25 a.m. 

at Penn High School

for P-H-M students K – 5th grade

FREE! There is no cost for this event, but registration is required and limited.

REGISTRATION: Opens January 17 – deadline is Friday, February 14, https://bit.ly/BooksandBots

Sponsored by the P-H-M Education Foundation, Young Authors’ Conference is an opportunity for P-H-M students in Kindergarten – 5th grade to meet and hear from well-known children’s author and speaker Shannon Anderson, participate in a variety of robotic explorations, and visit a “Make It and Take It” puppet making session!

Shannon Anderson has spent 25 years teaching, from first grade through college level. She is now a full-time author, with picture books titled: B is for Belonging, Heroes Don’t Have to Fly, I Love Strawberries, and more. She is also known for her biography series, with books like The Story of Benjamin Franklin, The Story of Helen Keller, and so many more. A champion of kindness and positivity, Shannon believes that every day offers a new opportunity to make a meaningful difference.  

As part of the morning activities, students will participate in three rotations: one session with Shannon Anderson, one interactive puppet-making session, and one session where students will enjoy the hands-on exploration of technology with Sphero Bots, Dot and Dosh, Bee Bots, Ozobots and more! Our amazing P-H-M teachers and volunteers will guide students and their parents through the interactive session guiding them on how develop a character and create their own puppet.

At least one parent or guardian must accompany the student(s)!  If more than one child is registering for Books and Bots, the family will stay together so only one adult is needed.  Siblings YOUNGER than kindergarten may not accompany adults. This experience is for your young author(s) and the parent/guardian.

CONFIRMATION: Participating students will receive additional information prior to the conference through their home school at the end of February.

QUESTIONS: If you have any questions, please contact Candace Cussen at ccussen@phm.k12.in.us.

The Fine Arts programs at Mary Frank and Northpoint Elementary Schools are set to shine even brighter, thanks to a grant awarded by the PHM Education Foundation (PHMEF). Jennifer Turnblom, Executive Director of PHMEF, visited to present the check for $5,036.98 to Jason Poff, supporting significant upgrades to sound and lighting equipment at both schools.

The grant will fund enhancements to the audio and visual systems used in Fine Arts performances. These improvements aim to elevate the quality of student productions while providing students with valuable experience in technical aspects of theater, such as lighting and sound engineering. Additionally, these upgrades will create opportunities for students to develop communication and presentation skills through improved performance experiences.

By investing in state-of-the-art equipment, the grant supports the mission of fostering creativity, collaboration, and technical expertise among students. The upgraded systems will enrich performances, benefiting not only the participating students but also the audiences who enjoy their work.

Congratulations to Jason Poff and the Mary Frank and Northpoint Elementary communities for this exciting advancement in their Fine Arts programs, and thank you to PHMEF for its continued support of innovative educational opportunities!

Third grader Marjane Searl, student of Mrs. Nichol Mondy, received the IAG Distinguished Student award.

Marjane was nominated by her teacher Mrs. Mondy, who was Penn-Harris-Madison’s 2024 Teacher of the Year and a Top 25 Finalist for Indiana Teacher of the Year. Indiana Association for the Gifted presented Marjane with the award on Tuesday, December 10th. 

The Indiana Association for the Gifted recognizes students who have demonstrated distinguished achievement in academics, leadership, or the arts.

These awards are designed to inspire students to achieve, as well as highlight the distinct accomplishments and educational needs of gifted students.

The winner receives $250.

Third-grade students at Northpoint Elementary combined creativity, technology, and holiday spirit to host a spectacular Thanksgiving parade inspired by the iconic Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The event brought joy and excitement to the entire school community.

The third graders designed unique “floats” using balloons attached to cups, which they placed atop small robots. Each robot was programmed to follow a carefully planned parade route through the school. Students from other grades lined the hallways, eagerly cheering on the colorful and imaginative floats as they passed by.

Adding a festive surprise, the grand finale featured robots decorated as Santa Claus and his reindeer, spreading holiday cheer as they concluded the parade. 

This innovative project not only celebrated the season but also integrated STEM learning. By combining artistic expression with robotics and coding, the third graders showcased their skills while sharing a fun and creative experience with their peers.

Kudos to Northpoint’s third-grade students for an unforgettable parade that truly embodied the spirit of the holidays!

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U.S. News and World Report released its “Best Schools” rankings for K-8 public schools by state and Northpoint is #1 out of Indiana’s 1,000 public elementary schools!

Several P-H-M’s elementary schools are also at the top of the list:

• Northpoint #1 in Indiana  
• Prairie Vista #2 in Indiana  
• Horizon #19
• Mary Frank #32
• Bittersweet #56
• Moran #163
• Madison #200
• Elm Road #205
• Elsie Rogers #393
• Meadow’s Edge #239

P-H-M’s middle schools were also recognized:

• Discovery #3 in Indiana
• Schmucker #40

This year’s “Short Hair Because We Care” will hold a hair donation event for the Children With Hair Loss organization will be held Saturday, November 16 at Penn High School’s Studio Theater.

Anyone in the community can donate their hair, but the minimum is 8 inches of hair. Hair that is colored and permed is accepted. Local professional hair stylists will be donating their time to cut volunteers hair for free. Because this is for hair donation, the service provided is just a simple cut, no style.

This event was started in 2019-2020 school year by a group of 7th grade Grissom Middle School students. 

“It started as something that students could give, that wouldn’t be money or something they wouldn’t have control over being young students, but everyone can donate their hair, so that’s why we started it: to give everyone an opportunity to serve even if they don’t have other resources,” Ella Smoker Class of 2024. Click to see the WNDU-TV’s story.

Last year, 33 people donated a total of 334 inches (click to see photos)! Donate this year and help beat last year’s totals!

If you’re interested in donating, click here to sign up using the Google form.

Email shbwcphs@gmail.com with questions, and follow the group on Instagram at @shbwc_phs. 

If you can’t make it to the event or don’t have enough hair to donate, you can still help out by donating directly to Children With Hair Loss.

Children With Hair Loss is a nonprofit organization that provides hair replacements at no cost to children or young adults facing hair loss at no cost. Whatever the cause, hair loss can have effects that go deeper than cosmetics. Providing this hair is how this organization gives back to the community. You can help us give back to your community and the children facing hair loss by donating your hair or simply spreading the word about the event to everyone! 

Thank you to EVERYONE who came to the 2024 Homecoming Parade and Football game. It was a terrific time not only for the Penn students, but also for the entire community.

The Parade, Expo, Fun Zone, Food Trucks and Fireworks were all bigger and better than ever.

After the game was over, the fans in attendance were treated to a fireworks show set to music!

There are three photo galleries below, one of the parade floats and participants, one of the parade spectators and one of the fun zone and expo. Take a look and we’ll see you in 2025!

Parade Floats

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Parade Spectators

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Fun Zone & Expo

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Today the IDOE announced the recipients of the K-12 Robotics Competition Grants and 15 Penn-Harris-Madison robotics teams from eight P-H-M schools were awarded a total grant of $53,600! 

• Penn High School (2 existing teams) – $14,000
• Grissom Middle School (2 existing teams) – $5,000
• Bittersweet Elementary School (1 new team) – $3,175
• Elm Road Elementary School (2 existing teams) – $6,137.50
• Horizon Elementary School (2 existing teams) -$6,137.50
• Meadows Edge Elementary School (1 new team) – $3,175
• Northpoint Elementary School (4 new teams) – $12,800
• Walt Disney Elementary School (1 new team) – $3,175

For all teams, existing and new teams, the grant pays for coaching stipends, team registration, competition registration, game specific materials, and supplies for building competition robots. Funds can also be used for transportation to events. 

For existing teams, most of their supplies will be updating and replacing used parts, tools, storage, and new parts needed for the new game. New teams’ supplies will be start-up kits, tools, storage, and game specific parts. 

The P-H-M proposal was selected from more than 145 grant proposals submitted for this funding opportunity, 137 school corporations and non-profit groups were ultimately chosen. The IDOE review team was impressed with P-H-M’s plan to design, construct, program, and participate in competitions with the goal of increasing Indiana student interest in STEM.

This grant removes barriers for schools and gives students opportunities to excel. It also creates a P-H-M pipeline of future Kingsmen robotics students with experience and excitement about robotics. Ultimately this opportunity gives students more STEM co-curricular experiences and broadens their horizons for future careers.

Secretary of Education Dr. Katie Jenner and state leaders recognized Horizon Elementary and other schools from across the state at the Literacy Achievement Celebration.

The event celebrated elementary schools that achieved a 95% or higher pass rate on the 2024 IREAD assessment!

Principal Lorraine White and teacher Nichol Mondy represented Northpoint with a 95% pass rate.

Two other P-H-M schools were also honored: Prairie Vista for PV’s 97.7% pass rate; and Horizon with a 95.3% pass rate. 

PHM’s overall Spring 2024 IREAD pass rate was 86.8%, the state’s was 82.5%, with a 4.3% variance over the state average.

On Friday, September 20th, Kindergarten students took a field trip to “Amazing Acres,” a local pumpkin patch, where they spent the morning doing fall-themed activities. The students enjoyed a tractor “hayride” to a pumpkin patch where they each got to pick their very own pumpkin!

The morning wrapped up with free time where students could jump on a “jumping pillow” and a wide variety of games that are on site. Special thanks to all of our parent volunteers who made this trip possible.

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