P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker surprised another couple of teachers today letting them know that they were winners of the Spring 2024 Impact Awards. At Grissom, Assistant Principal Eric Spatt helped Dr. Thacker and a group of P-H-M Administrators surprise 6th grade teacher Ms. Natasha Bean. Click to see the full photo gallery below.

This round of P-H-M Impact Awards recognizes teachers with First Semester growth. While all P-H-M teachers across the district are dedicated to helping their students achieve personal academic success, the Impact Award shines the spotlight on educators who have helped their students achieve individual academic growth on their formative assessments over time. The first-ever Impact Awards were handed out in September 2023 and recognized the teachers with the most significant overall student growth during the 2022-2023 school year.

Ms. Bean is being recognized with an Impact award because she had the two highest class sections for growth in 6th grade reading!

Thank you to the P-H-M Education Foundation for covering the cost of the awards for these amazing teachers.

Penn’s school musical this year is “The Music Man.” You won’t want to miss Penn’s talented student performers as they act out the play that follows fast-talking traveling salesman, Harold Hill, as he cons the people of River City, Iowa, into buying instruments and uniforms for a boys’ band that he vows to organize – this, despite the fact that he doesn’t know a trombone from a treble clef!

This year’s musical also includes the talents of a few P-H-M elementary and middle school students:

• Mary Cortes, 5th grade, Prairie Vista Elementary School
• Maxwell MacMillan, 5th grade, Mary Frank Elementary School
• Anniston Steele, 7th grade, Grissom Middle School
• Ezra Carrico, Katherine Hawkins, Benjamin Robertson and Noah Rohde, all in 8th grade, Schmucker Middle School
   

This isn’t the first year Penn’s musicals have included students from younger grades. In 2016, younger students also participated in “Mary Poppins.” But this is the first year in recent memory to have this many!

Visit bit.ly/PennMusicMan to purchase tickets.

Story Updated March 28^th, 2024

Click below to watch the recap of the inaugural class of Grissom Middle School’s Fourteen Under Fourteen!

Original Story Posted on Friday, February 23, 2024

This morning Grissom administration and special guests honored our school’s inaugural class of ”Fourteen Under 14.” Click to see the photo gallery below.

P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker, Kate Lee, Executive Dir. of Education & Workforce at South Bend Regional Chamber of Commerce, and Dr. Jenny Sears, P-H-M Director of Student Support Services joined Principal Jen Sinclair in recognizing the students during a special breakfast before the start of school. The award is modeled after Michiana’s Forty Under 40 (of which several P-H-M leaders have been a part of), which is sponsored by the South Bend Regional Chamber of Commerce.

The students were notified last week (Thursday, Feb. 15) by surprise announcements by Principal Sinclair. Click to see those photos.

The students were praised for their community involvement, student leadership, commitment to academics, entrepreneurial skills, and kindness towards others. Families of the award winners were on hand to celebrate as well. Students were given a crystal award to commemorate their achievement. 

Below is a list of the winners in alphabetical order, congratulations!

1. Briar Barrier
2. Sadie Charbonneau
3. Jenna Fair
4. Ethan Guzman
5. Nora Haab
6. Lali Juarez
7. Tate Mackiewicz
8. Anastashia Michael
9. Mari Powell
10. Dottie Pogue
11. Emily Schmidt
12. Anniston Steele *could not be present
13. Betty Smoker
14. Leyna Tropp

Football Cheerleading Tryouts will be Monday, March 25; Tuesday, March 26; and Wednesday, March 27 at Penn High School.

Those interested please email Coach Szweda for more information at rszweda@phm.k12.in.us.

Grissom Middle School held a Veterans Day celebration on Friday, November 10th, 2023, to honor and express gratitude to our veterans. The event was a heartfelt tribute to those who have served in the armed forces.

The ceremony featured a patriotic songs performed by the school's choir and orchestra, creating a fitting atmosphere for the occasion. Students and staff gathered in the school's cafeteria to pay their respects and recognize the sacrifices made by veterans.

During the event, veterans from the local community were invited to stand and be recognized.

The Veterans Day celebration at Grissom Middle School served as a meaningful opportunity for students to learn about and appreciate the sacrifices made by veterans and to express their gratitude. 

Grissom placed 7th out of 25 teams in the Junior Class 2 Area Competition on November 1. Only eight16 teams are moving on to the Spell Bowl State Championships on Saturday, November 11.

Congratulations to our Mr. Josh Kelver, our Guardsmen Spell Bowl team, and the other three teams for representing P-H-M well!

• Discovery: Class 1 Junior Champions with the highest overall score in their class, with 6 perfect spellers and 2 near perfect spellers

• Schmucker: placed 7th out of 39 teams, with 16 teams moving on to the Class 1 Junior Championship

• Penn: finished in 2nd place with five perfect spellers

Now that's how you spell #PHMExcellence!!!

Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker awarded three more P-H-M teachers with the Impact Award today (Monday, October 2). Dr. Thacker visited Walt Disney Elementary, Elsie Rogers Elementary and Grissom Middle School. Awards handed out this time around were to the following teachers:

• Matt Serge, 3^rd grade teacher at Walt Disney
• Kara Flanagan, 1^st grade teacher at Elsie Rogers
• Josh Kelver, 8^th grade ELA teacher at Grissom Middle School

The P-H-M Impact Award is presented to educators who have helped their students achieve individual academic growth on their formative assessments over time. All P-H-M teachers across the district are dedicated to helping their students achieve personal academic success. The P-H-M Impact Award is shining the spotlight on those teachers who are showing the most significant overall student growth during the 2022-2023 school year. They are prime examples of how our teachers and students achieve P-H-M Excellence!

Dr. Thacker popped in and surprised the teachers with the help of the school principals, Disney’s Dr. Higginson, Elsie’s Christy Campbell, and Grissom’s Jenn Sinclair. Dr. Thacker was also joined by P-H-M administrators Assistant Superintendent Dr. Heather Short and Director of Professional Development Dr. Lavon Dean-Null.

Josh Kelver had the highest growth class section in 8th grade ELA across P-H-M (15% higher than the second highest class)! Mr. Kelver’s class went from 8% proficiency at the beginning of year, to 75% proficiency on ILEARN. That’s the highest average growth across all 8th grade P-H-M ELA teachers! Mr. Kelver’s wife, Ashley Kelver, also works at Grissom, so she was able to be included in the the surprise. Check out all the photos of today’s award presentations on Facebook.

Matt Serge was recognized for having the highest growth in ELA of all Title I 3rd grade teachers in P-H-M! Mr. Serge’s class went from 9% (Clear Sight) to 55% proficiency on ILEARN; that’s 21% higher than average Title I proficiency growth!

At Elsie Rogers, the team caught Kara Flanagan completely off-guard. The students really got into the surprise. Flanagan had the highest growth of all P-H-M Title I first grade teachers! 90% of her students had average or higher growth for their overall Dibels composite growth; and 58% of her students were in the “above average” or “well above average” categories!

We thank the P-H-M Education Foundation for covering the cost of the awards.

There are more P-H-M teachers to recognize in the days, weeks and months ahead!

As part of the annual statewide College GO! Week, Grissom Middle School has taken their commitment to promoting higher education to new heights. With a dedicated team of students and counselors, the school has been actively participating in this event by creating daily features for WGMS, along with hosting engaging activities and giveaways to inspire students to pursue a college education.

Each day during College GO! Week, the WGMS morning show has been the talk of the school. The talented student crew has been diligently producing informative and entertaining segments about the benefits of attending college. These segments cover a wide range of topics, from highlighting area schools to asking what colleges staff members attended to asking fellow students what their dream college is, the goal is to show how attainable college success is.

But the excitement doesn't stop with the morning show. Grissom's dedicated counselors have been hard at work as well. They've been conducting special lessons in advisory classes focused on what students need to know about college. These lessons are designed to empower students with the knowledge and tools they need to pursue higher education successfully.

As College GO! Week continues, the students and staff at Grissom Middle School are excited to see the positive impact their efforts will have on inspiring a new generation of college-bound individuals. 

For more updates and highlights from Grissom Middle School's College GO! Week celebrations, be sure to tune in to WGMS's morning show!

Boys in grades 2nd to 8th are invited to participate in “Back to School” Basketball League at Penn High School.

2nd – 6th grade League

DATES: September 24th; Oct. 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd 29th LOCATION:

• 2nd-4th, Penn Fitness Center
• 5th-6th, Main Arena/West Balcony/Aux Gym Time

TIMES:

• 2nd-4th, Sundays, Noon – 4:00 p.m.
• 5th-6th, Sundays, 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.

COST: $99 Click here to register online.

7th & 8th grade League

DATES: September 10th, 17th, 24th; Oct. 1st, 8th

LOCATION: Penn High School

TIMES: Sundays, 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.

COST: $79 Click here to register online.

Questions? Please contact the League Director Coach Smith if you have any questions at jsmith5@phm.k12.in.us

This year’s annual Community Tailgate will be a great way to kick off the return of the Backyard Brawl between the Kingsmen and the Mishawaka Cavemen. 

All fans are welcome, Cavemen and Kingsmen! There’s plenty of food for fans on both sides.

Gates open at 5:00 p.m. You must have a ticket to the football game to enter. Once inside the stadium head down to the white tents in the South End Zone, near the Zolman’s Tire & Auto Care South Concession Stand.