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.

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! 

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 Sunday, September 8, the Michiana community joined Penn and P-H-M in giving Olympic Gold Medalist Sarah Hildebrandt a Heroine’s Welcome!

Before Sarah’s “Welcome Home” kicked off, the local media got some one-on-one time with Sarah, her parents, and Penn Head Wrestling Coach Brad Harper during a news conference. Coach Harper was Sarah’s wrestling coach when she was at Penn; he became her personal coach and coached her at the Tokyo Olympics wear she won Bronze. Coach Harper planned this special homecoming for Sarah. Click to see the full photo gallery below.

The parade left from Penn High School and went down McKinley approximately two miles and ended at Zolman’s Tire.

Thank you to all the parade participants who volunteered their time on a Sunday afternoon: Mishawaka and Penn Twp. Fire Departments, St. Joseph County Police, the Marching Kingsmen, Penn Girls and Boys Wrestling Teams, Penn Cheerleaders, Penn Youth Wrestling Club, Rocket Football cheerleaders, and Dr. and Mrs. Thacker. Along with Sarah with her mom Nancy and dad Chris, Sarah’s extended family were also in the parade. Sarah and her parents were in a golden yellow convertible Mustang driven by St. Joseph County Sheriff Bill Redman. Thank you to Zolman’s Tire for supplying some trucks.

After the parade was over, hundreds gathered at Urban Swirl in Granger for an Olympic Celebration emceed by Mark McGill. A representative from Mishawaka Mayor Dave Wood’s office read a proclamation declaring September 8th as Sarah Hildebrandt Day! U.S. Congressman Rudy Yakym read the historical entry on Sarah’s Olympic achievement that he will be submitting to the official U.S. Congressional Record.

Sarah was able to see and catch up with the coach who gave her first break, then Discovery Middle School Wrestling Coach Raoul Donati.

Sarah threw out free T-shirts featuring her smiley face tattoo on the front and her viral X tweet on the back.

Grateful for all the love and support that her hometown gave her, Sarah graciously took hundreds of pictures with all of her adoring fans. She also signed hundreds of autographs on posters, shirts, singlets, wrestling shoes and even foreheads! 

Check it all out in the photo gallery below.

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Penn High School’s “Golden Girl” is coming home! On Sunday, September 8th the community will have a celebratory parade for the Female Wrestler Olympic Gold Medalist.

The parade starts at 3:00 at the intersection of Bittersweet and McKinley Highway. The parade will proceed West down McKinley Highway and will end at Zolman’s Tire (2014 E McKinley Ave., Mishawaka).

There will be an Olympic Celebration 4:30 p.m. at Urban Swirl (Heritage Square, Granger). Congressman Rudy Yakym will present Sarah with a special gift; and Mishawaka Mayor Dave Wood’s office will present a proclamation. Mark McGill will emcee the event.

There will be free posters, available on a first come, first serve basis. T-shirts will also be available for sale.

Sarah Hildebrandt earned a Gold Medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics in Women’s Wrestling (50kg). Hildebrandt was one of two American women to win a Gold Medal in Wrestling at the 2024 Olympics. She is also just the fourth woman to win Gold in Team USA Wrestling history.

Hildebrandt earned a Bronze Medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. She is also a two-time national collegiate champion. A 2011 graduate of Penn High School, Hildebrandt became the first female to qualify for the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) Wrestling Semi-State competition and led Penn High School to the IHSAA Team Championship. Her personal coach is Penn Boys Wrestling Head Coach Brad Harper.

Click here for Sarah’s full list of accomplishments from her early years at Discovery Middle School. 

Penn High School’s “Golden Girl” is coming home! On Sunday, September 8th the community will have a celebratory parade for the Female Wrestler Olympic Gold Medalist.

The parade starts at 3:00 at the intersection of Bittersweet and McKinley Highway. The parade will proceed West down McKinley Highway and will end at Zolman’s Tire (2014 E McKinley Ave., Mishawaka).

There will be an Olympic Celebration 4:30 p.m. at Urban Swirl (Heritage Square, Granger). Congressman Rudy Yakym will present Sarah with a special gift; and Mishawaka Mayor Dave Wood’s office will present a proclamation. Mark McGill will emcee the event.

There will be free posters, available on a first come, first serve basis. T-shirts will also be available for sale.

Sarah Hildebrandt earned a Gold Medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics in Women’s Wrestling (50kg). Hildebrandt was one of two American women to win a Gold Medal in Wrestling at the 2024 Olympics. She is also just the fourth woman to win Gold in Team USA Wrestling history.

Hildebrandt earned a Bronze Medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. She is also a two-time national collegiate champion. A 2011 graduate of Penn High School, Hildebrandt became the first female to qualify for the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) Wrestling Semi-State competition and led Penn High School to the IHSAA Team Championship. Her personal coach is Penn Boys Wrestling Head Coach Brad Harper.

Click here for Sarah’s full list of accomplishments from her early years at Discovery Middle School. 

What do you get when you mix Pomp & Circumstance with Taylor Swift?

Former Northpoint Elementary students, now Class of 2024 graduating seniors, did their Senior Parade through our school on Thursday, May 30th. Not only did they get to see their old teachers, but as an added bonus it was “Mini Economy Mall” Day! This time around though they were given their Mini Economy Mall money and they got to buy whatever they wanted! Our current Northpoint Stars enjoyed haggling with the seniors.

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The last Teacher Impact Award of the school year was handed out this morning to our very own 3^rd grade teacher Kori Woods.

With the help of Principal Lorraine White, Dr. Thacker, along with Assistant Superintendent Dr. Heather Short, Director of Professional Development and Student Learning Dr. Lavon Dean-Null, and Director of Literacy and Title I Ryan Towner surprised Mrs. Woods in class with the award.

Impact Awards  are given to teachers who had the most significant individual student growth with DIBLES, ILEARN, and SAT assessments for Spring 2024.

Mrs. Woods had the district’s highest student growth in 3rd grade on ILEARN ELA! P-H-M’s 2024 Elementary Teacher of the Year 3^rd grade teacher Nichol Mondy is right next door, so she stopped in to congratulate Mrs. Woods. Congratulations to Mrs. Woods and her students! Click to see the photo gallery below.

Other teachers who received Spring 2024 Impact Awards include:

• Sherri Potts (Kindergarten, Bittersweet Elementary) had the highest DIBELS composite growth. (click to see the photo gallery on Bittersweet’s website)
• Heidi Tornquist’s 2^nd grade students at Elm Road had the highest DIBELS composite growth among all second graders in the district! (see the full photo gallery on Elm Road’s website)
• Katie French’s 3^rd grade class at Meadow’s Edge had the highest growth in Math scores among all six of P-H-M’s Title I schools! (see the full photo gallery on Meadow’s Edge website)
• Kristie Reynolds’ Walt Disney 5th graders had the highest growth in Math among all 5th grades at P-H-M’s 11 elementary schools! (see the full photo gallery on Walt Disney’s website)
• Monicah Fratena (Schmucker, 7^th grade Language Arts) had two class sections with the highest student growth on ILEARN in 7th grade Language Arts, as well as four out of the top eight sections. (click to see the photo gallery on Schmucker’s website)
• Gianna Keim (Discovery, 6^th & 7^th grade Math) had the highest growth in middle school math. (click to see the photo gallery on Discovery’s website)
• Candice Beelaert, Penn High School, SAT – Growth in English (click to see the photo gallery on Penn’s website)
• Rebecca Horvath, Penn High School, SAT – Growth in Math ​(click to see the photo gallery on Penn’s website)

As this school year comes to a close we want to thank all our teachers and students for their commitment to academic excellence this school year. The hard work really paid off!

Thank you to the P-H-M Education Foundation for covering the cost of the awards for purchasing the beautiful crystal awards given to the teacher award recipients.