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.

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. 

Registration for the Girls Basketball Youth League will take place at Penn High School on Sunday, September 8th, 2024 from 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Please enter Door “D”.

This league is designed for girls in grades 3rd – 8th who live within the P-H-M District Boundaries.

Visit the PDFs posted below for information on how to register, dates/times/locations and cost.

CLICK HERE for complete league registration information.

CLICK HERE for important dates. 

Registration is open for Basketball Youth Leagues designed to help players develop their skills.

Visit the PDFs posted below for information on how to register, dates/times/locations and cost.

CLICK HERE for information on the Basketball Leagues for Boys in Grades 5-6 and 7-8.

CLICK HERE for information on the Basketball Leagues for Boys and Girls in Grades 1-2 and for Boys in Grades 3-4.

We are so excited to have everyone back at school, please view the photo gallery below to see some “First Day of School Smiles!” 

With the start of the 2024-2025 academic year, P-H-M is switching to ParentSquare, a new unified, user-friendly, communications platform designed with parents and guardians in mind. CLICK HERE TO GET ALL THE INFO YOU NEED TO GET STARTED.

ParentSquare provides a centralized location for families to receive communications from school principals, teachers, coaches, and front office staff on all their students, in all schools, in all classrooms! CLICK HERE TO GET ALL THE INFO YOU NEED TO GET STARTED. 

Parents/guardians receive alerts, updates, and posts on:

• important notifications, such as school closings and delays
• attendance
• principal & teacher newsletters
• school & classroom calendar of events
• volunteer & RSVP for events
• fill out permission slips & other forms
• … ALL IN ONE LOCATION!

Families chose their preferred mode of communication for non-urgent notifications– app, text, email, phone. Parents/guardians can also chose to have all communications automatically translated to their preferred first language.

As we approach the first day of school (Wednesday, August 21), principals and teachers will be using ParentSquare to share important “Back to School” information. Parents and guardians are asked to activate their accounts by Monday, August 12, 2024.

PLEASE NOTE: If your child is transitioning to a new building from last school year, the information will be updated later this summer. You are still able to register for ParentSquare.

To activate parent/guardian accounts, parents need to check their email for the welcome and introductory email.

The email was sent between Thursday, July 11 and Friday, July 12, 2024 with the subject line: “Penn-Harris-Madison School Corp. is now using ParentSquare.” 

The sender of the email will appear as “Penn-Harris-Madison via ParentSquare” with a donotreply @parentsquare.com email address, similar to this … donotreply+01d8d49e-b6f1-47f3-ac23-d45abf67b233@parentsquare.com

Every year the graduating seniors go back to their former elementary schools for “Senior Parades.” It’s fun not only for the students to see their former teachers, but it’s also fun for the current elementary students to see the graduates, congratulate them and wish them good luck!

Moran’s Senior Parade was Thursday, May 30, 2024.

Our Field Day on the last day of school (Friday, May 31, 2024) was a big hit, or should we say splash!

Thank you to the Penn Fire Department for providing the water for 5th grades slip-n-slide. Even Mrs. Fox got in on the fun!