South Bend Chamber’s Michiana “Forty under 40” shines the spotlight on 40 of the region’s most talented and dedicated young professionals who are leaders and engaged in the community in a variety of ways.

We are proud that our own Principal Ryan Towner was named to the 2022 Class, along with fellow P-H-M educator, Elsie Rogers’ 4th grade teacher Mrs. Amanda Fox! The Chamber announced the winners on April 28.

This is the latest honor for Principal Towner; back in March, he was surprised in a school wide assembly and named a Milken Educator.

Principal Towner and other honorees will be treated to a photo shoot with their families, friends, colleagues or nominators. He and Mrs. Fox will also be featured in a Recognition Video being produced by the Chamber, debuting in late June. The South Bend Tribune will feature all Michiana Forty under 40 winners in a special edition that will June 26. A reception is slated for late summer.

Walt Disney Elementary School Principal Ryan Towner experienced the “Luck of the Irish” a day early! In a surprise assembly today, Wednesday, March 16,  was named a Milken Educator Award for his excellence and innovation in education AND received a $25,000 check! Click here to see the photo gallery below.

Filling the auditorium were members of the local media, cheering students, teachers and colleagues, P-H-M Board Members and Administrators, representatives of Milken, members of the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET), and local and state officials. Notables on hand to help surprise Principal Towner were:

• Milken Educator Awards Senior Vice President Dr. Jane Foley
• Indiana Secretary of Education Dr. Katie Jenner
• Director of Leadership & Innovation, IDOE, Ms. Rebecca Estes
• P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker
• P-H-M Board of School Trustees President Mr. Chris Riley
• P-H-M Board of School Secretary Mrs. Clare Roach
• Indiana State Representative Dale DeVon
• Representing U.S. Senator Mike Braun’s Office Mary Martin

Towner is one of the few principal recipients of the Award for the 2021-22 school year chosen from among Indiana’s 80,000 plus incredible educators. He’s also among more than 60 educators nationwide to be named a Milken Educator this season.

Towner and Walt Disney teachers educate the school’s diverse students with differentiated instruction. He leads by providing unique professional development methods and gets students excited about school through unique engagements like playing the ukulele and piano for students at arrival and dismissal.

Hailed as the “Oscars of Teaching,” the Milken Educator Awards celebrate, elevate and activate the American teaching profession and inspire young, capable people to join it. The Milken Educator Award is not a lifetime achievement honor. Recipients are heralded while early to mid-career for what they have achieved — and for the promise of what they will accomplish given the resources and opportunities inherent in the Award.

“Educators are an invaluable resource, and the Milken Family Foundation seeks to emphasize that this work does not go unnoticed,” said Dr. Foley, who is herself a 1994 Indiana Milken Educator. “Ryan Towner fully embodies the qualities of an effective leader: innovation, enthusiasm and the ability to inspire those same merits in his colleagues.”

“Mr. Ryan Towner represents the best of Indiana’s educators, as he engages with students daily in unique ways to get them excited about learning,” said Dr. Jenner. “Leveraging his passion and his creative side, he leads by bringing his fellow educators, families and community members together to help students learn and grow. We’re thankful to have him representing Indiana and setting a great example for how we might best serve our students.”

“Ryan is one of P-H-M’s many excellent and dedicated educators,” said Dr. Thacker. “His devotion to his students, staff, and school is limitless. We are so proud of Principal Towner and the Walt Disney community; winning Milken Educator award is an amazing opportunity for Ryan to grow professionally, but to also help Disney become an even better school.”

More About Principal Towner

Innovation: Raising the bar for both student and educators’ practices, Towner introduced tiered academic interventions with ongoing progress monitoring, new curriculum maps with common assessments and a renewed focus on phonics instruction for the school’s younger students. He creates an environment where students and staff feel valued, motivated and appreciated and often brings lightheartedness to campus where he greets each student by name as he plays the piano or ukulele at arrival and dismissal. He created Walt Disney’s annual Culture Night, which celebrates the school’s linguistic and cultural diversity and is one of the best attended events in the district.

Leadership: A role model to both students and colleagues alike, Towner created a teacher leadership team that holds regular professional learning community meetings, encouraging staff to make data-informed decisions in curricular planning, differentiate instruction and collaborate across grade levels. Since taking the helm, his school has charted steady gains in student achievement and exceeded state averages with some of the strongest growth in the district. He helped create a three-week STEM camp, chaired the district’s wellness committee and led its federal grant program for several years. Education runs in Towner’s family—his father served as a longtime administrator for a nearby district and has strongly influenced the principal’s career.

Education: Towner earned a bachelor’s in education in 2010 and a master’s in education administration in 2016 from Indiana University South Bend.

Career: Towner is a creative leader and has been with P-H-M since 2011 when he joined the district as a teacher with Prairie Vista. He did an administrative internship at Madison Elementary for a year and then came to Walt Disney as Assistant Principal in 2014 and became principal of Walt Disney 2017.

Click here for more details about Mr. Towner’s Milken Educator Award on the Foundation’s website.

More about Walt Disney Elementary School:

Walt Disney is part of the “A” rated Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation, where excellence in education is pursued and achieved at all levels. Walt Disney is one of P-H-M’s five Title I schools. Our students feel supported and encouraged to reach their full potential. 

We have also earned the distinction of being among Indiana’s Top 30% of Public Elementary Schools by U.S. News & World Report (data is based on the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 school years). Click here to learn more.

Our school values and celebrates diversity. More than 40 different languages are spoken in the homes of our students. Which is why one of Disney’s annual traditions that we love to celebrate is Culture Day and Cultural Night. Click to read an Edutopia article about how Walt Disney celebrates it’s diversity (this article was written by Clare Roach in 2015, before she was elected to the P-H-M Board of School Trustees).

More About the Milken Educator Award

The very first Milken Educator Awards were presented by the Milken Family Foundation in 1987. The Awards provide public recognition and individual financial rewards of $25,000 to elementary and secondary school teachers, principals and specialists from around the country who are furthering excellence in education. Along with the $25,000 financial prize, recipients join the national Milken Educator Network, a group of more than 2,800 top teachers, principals and specialists. The network serves as a rich resource for fellow educators, legislators, school boards and others dedicated to excellence in education.

• The honorees will also attend an all-expenses-paid Milken Educator Awards Forum, where they will network with their new colleagues as well as veteran Milken Educators and other education leaders about how to increase their impact on K-12 education. In addition, they will learn about how to become involved in the Milken Friends Forever (MFFs) mentoring program, in which freshman Milken Educators receive personalized coaching and support from a Milken Educator veteran on ways to elevate their instructional practice and take an active role in educational leadership, policy and practice.
• Over the years, more than $140 million in funding, including $70 million for the individual cash awards, has been devoted to the overall Milken Awards initiative, which includes powerful professional development opportunities throughout recipients’ careers. 
• Veteran Milken Educators frequently go on to serve in leadership roles at state, national and international levels. 
• “We find you. You don’t find us!” Unlike most teacher recognition programs, the Milken Educator Awards initiative has no formal nomination or application process. Candidates are sourced through a confidential selection process and then reviewed by blue ribbon panels in each state. The most exceptional candidates are recommended for the award, with final selection made by the Milken Family Foundation. 
• The $25,000 cash award is unrestricted. Recipients have used the money in diverse ways. For instance, some have spent the funds on their children’s or their own continuing education, financing dream field trips, establishing scholarships, and even adopting children.  

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(picture above was taken March 2019)

Mark your 2022 calendars for P-H-M’s Young Authors’ Conference:

Saturday, March 5

8:30 – 11:00 a.m.

Schmucker Middle School

P-H-M Elementary students, grades K-5

Registration Fee: $5 per child

Online registration is at phm.revtrak.net. The deadline for registration is Friday, February 18, 2022.

The Young Authors’ Conference is for P-H-M students in grades K-5. The event, sponsored by Corporations for Education, a division of the P-H-M Education Foundation, provides an opportunity for students and their parents to meet and hear from a well-known children’s authors. Click here to view the photo gallery of the 2019 event.

This year students and their parents will meet and hear from well-known children’s author, teacher, and speaker, Gabrielle Balkan. Mrs. Balkan is best known for non-fiction books that delight readers ages 3-12 with curious and essential facts about the United States, animal record-breakers, and ground-breaking artists. Mrs. Balkan will share her experiences as a writer and illustrator during her engaging, grade-level  presentations.

Participants and parents will also enjoy an interactive, up-close animal experience from the Potawatomi Zoo staff.   As part of the morning activities, students will share their own writing piece in small, adult-led group sessions with students from other P-H-M elementary schools. While students are meeting with their peers, parents will join P-H-M Teacher and writing expert, Mary Nicolini, as she explores how writing can be a method for remembering and preserving events using real-life stories, drawings, and photographs.

Elementary student attendees will also work in small adult-led breakout sessions sharing their own writing pieces with other P-H-M students.

COST: The registration fee of $5.00 per child is used for conference expenses. There is no cost for the parent. One parent only must accompany students!  However, keep in mind that students and parents will separate for a portion of the day.  YOUNGER siblings may not accompany adults. This experience is for your young author and parent.

REGISTRATION: Online registration will be available at phm.revtrak.net. If you don’t have a P-H-M Revtrak account, you will need to create one. There is a fee for using this service. The deadline for registration will be Friday, February 18.

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

QUESTIONS: If you have any questions, please contact Lindsay Schirripa at lschirripa@phm.k12.in.us.

The Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation considers the health and safety of our school community as a top priority. The FDA has issued an extension of the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), allowing the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to prevent COVID-19 in individuals 5 years of age and older. As such, in conjunction with the St. Joseph Regional Medical Center, we are offering a free COVID-19 Vaccination clinic for all students, staff, and parents/guardians.

This voluntary event is being held after school hours as a convenience for those families wishing to participate. P-H-M recognizes and respects family decisions in regards to non-IDOH immunization requirements.

Who can get the vaccine?

• The vaccine is now available for children 5 – 11 and everyone age 12 and older. For the scheduled dates, we are providing an opportunity for any P-H-M student, parent/guardian, and staff member eligible to be vaccinated with their first dose, second dose, or booster shots to those already vaccinated.
• Only the Pfizer vaccine is approved for the ages 5-11 age group at this time. Two doses of the Pfizer vaccine are needed to provide full immunization. The first one primes the immune system, helping it to recognize the virus, and the second one strengthens the immune response. If the vaccine you received requires two doses, you should receive both doses, the second dose for this age group being 3 weeks after the first dose. An individual is considered fully protected 2-weeks after the second/last dose.

When will the vaccinations be offered?

• Tuesday, January 18th, 5-7:30 p.m.

Where will the vaccinations be offered?

• The walk-up clinic will take place at Schmucker Middle School
• Please enter through Door C (see map). Please note that this is the same door as the previous clinics. 
• Address: 
  Schmucker Middle School
  56045 Bittersweet Rd. Mishawaka 46545.

Keynotes about the vaccine for ages 5 -11?

• All children in the eligible group of ages 5-11 will have to be accompanied by a parent/guardian.
• Children ages 5 through 11 years receive one-third of the adult dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine.  Smaller needles, designed specifically for children, are used for children ages 5 through 11 years.
• COVID-19 vaccine dosage does not vary by patient weight but by age on the day of vaccination.
• Your child will need a second shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine three weeks after their first shot.
• The experience of getting a COVID-19 vaccine will be very similar to the experience of getting routine vaccines. Use the tips to support your child before, during, and after routine vaccinations when getting a COVID-19 vaccine.

Registration Form (needed for 1st dose Only):

• Pre Registration will NOT be required. Individuals will be served in the order in which they arrive.
  If possible, please print off and complete the registration before arrival.
  LINK: Registration (English)
• Although there is NO COST to the participants, St. Joseph Health Systems asks that you please bring your insurance cards & state-issued IDs to help the registration process. If you do not have insurance, you will not be turned away. 

If the dates or times won’t work for my family, how can I sign up to get vaccinated elsewhere?

• Vaccine Information and Sign-up Links

U.S. News & World Report “Best Schools” Designations has recently expanded to include elementary and middle schools. With Penn High School earning a “Best High School” designation for several years, P-H-M now has several elementary and middle schools who also have earned this distinction, including our very own Walt Disney. We’ve earned the distinction of being among Indiana’s Top 30% of Public Elementary Schools (data is based on the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 school years).

A total of 10 of P-H-M elementary schools earned the high ranking as a U.S. News “Best Public Elementary School.” See the full ranking list below:

1. Northpoint Elementary​
3. Prairie Vista Elementary
8. Mary Frank Elementary
11. Horizon Elementary
93. Bittersweet Elementary
136. Meadow’s Edge Elementary
157. Elm Road Elementary
177. Moran Elementary
256. Walt Disney Elementary
299. Elsie Rogers Elementary 

Two of our middle schools, Discovery and Schmucker, are also named “Best Public Middle Schools.” Discovery is ranked #4 in Indiana and Schmucker is ranked #96.

Here’s how U.S. News calculated the rankings:

For each state, schools were assessed on their pupils’ proficiencies in mathematics and reading, as measured by state assessment tests. Half of the ranking formula was the results themselves; the other half was the results in the context of socioeconomic demographics. In other words, the top-ranked schools are high achieving ones that succeeded in educating all of their students. All data for the rankings are from third-party sources, including the U.S. Department of Education.

U.S. News has published state rankings for more than 47,000 public elementary schools and more than 23,000 public middle schools. Most schools with an elementary school ranking offer grades K-5 or K-6, while most with a middle school ranking offer grades 6-8 or 7-8. Some schools with wider grade spans were ranked in both categories.

U.S. News has published an in-depth methodology article that provides more information about the rankings and how they were calculated.

Our annual Culture Day looked a bit different this year. 

In years past Culture Day took place after school hours, this year we held it during the day and the major upside is that every child got to participate!

The halls were lines with craft projects and facts about different cultures and countries around the world.

The overarching theme of the event is that we are all individual pieces part of one big cultural puzzle. In the front hallway by the main office there are individual puzzle pieces that students made that reflect their own heritage.

After the hanging puzzle pieces we have is a giant map of the world. We are proud of our diverse backgrounds here at Walt Disney and utilized this map to teach people about different counties that our Dolphins have ties too.

Once our students got beyond the entrance hallway there were numerous interactive activities. In one section students had passports, as they learned about different countries they would get stickers on their passports.

Another wall provided a virtual tour of every state. Each state had its own unique QR Code that, when scanned, launched a video with facts about the state.

To add a little fun to the day, some of our kids learned how to play Mancala, a board game with ancient origins believed to have originated in Eastern Africa. 

Even though it was an in-person activity, we wanted to make sure our virtual learners got to experience Culture Day too. Our awesome virtual teachers roamed the hallways with phones and laptops so their at home learners could explore and learn just like their in-person peers.

We want to thank all of the teachers, staff and students that made this happen. Understanding one another’s cultural viewpoint is so important to building bridges of understanding. 

As part of the studies earlier in the week Mrs. Joshi, at Walt Disney, explained the background history of Henna tattoos and even gave some of the students Henna designs!  

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With the announcement that Tuesday, March 30, 2021 will be an eLearning day, the meal plan for March 30th is as follows:

Elementary:

• Every elementary student in school on Monday, March 29th will receive a meal for Tuesday, March 30th as they leave. 
• Breakfast AND lunch will be included for students who attend Bittersweet, Elm Road, Elsie Rogers, Horizon, Mary Frank, Meadow’s Edge, Walt Disney, Moran & Madison.
• Lunch only will be provided for students who attend Northpoint & Prairie Vista
• Elementary School Menu

Middle:

• When students leave school on Friday, March 26th, they will receive 2 days worth of meals. Those meals will cover Monday, March 29th and Tuesday March 30th.
• Students at Grissom and Schmucker will receive pre-packaged breakfast and lunch.
• Students at Discovery will receive pre-packaged lunches.
• Middle School Menu

High School

• When students leave school on Friday, March 26th, they will receive 2 days worth of meals. Those meals will cover Monday, March 29th and Tuesday March 30th.
• High School Menu

Meals for 100% Virtual Learners:

• Pick up meals at Door K at Penn High School
• Day & Time: Monday, March 29, 1-3 p.m.
• Students will receive a refrigerated box and a frozen bag with four (4) breakfasts and four (4) lunches since Friday, April 2nd is a recess day.

Additional Information

• Students do not need to be present for the parent or guardian to pick up meals.
• Student ID’s WILL NOT be required.

*Meals will not be provided on Recess Days.

Menus for all schools and virtual learners can be found here.

Almost a year to the date Indiana schools shut down (P-H-M schools shut down on March 12, 2020), P-H-M teachers and staff got a literal shot in the arm and marked a major step forward in our fight against COVID-19.

On Monday, March 8, 202, Meijer Pharmacy set up a vaccination clinic inside the Main Arena at Penn High School and administered 1,170 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine. 

Every P-H-M teacher and staff member who wanted to get the vaccine was able to do so. 

The vaccines were made available under the federal allotment of vaccines through the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program. The White House announced that the federal allotment would be open to educational staff at schools so teachers and staff could receive the vaccine, especially in states where educational staff had not been included in the first responder group. P-H-M Human Resources reached out to Meijer as word spread that they were working with Indiana schools to set up on-site vaccination clinics.

We are so thankful to the team at Meijer and to EVERYBODY at P-H-M who worked so hard to make this event happen on very short notice. 

Jenni McCarthy, a kindergarten teacher at Bittersweet Elementary said “I honestly have to say that it was fantastic when I found out that we could get them right here at school. I didn’t have to go anywhere. I didn’t have to sign up on any list, I didn’t have to do anything. It just goes to show that Penn-Harris-Madison is a great place to work because they always think of their employees first and are trying to make sure that we are safe to be back in the classroom.”

In addition to the over 700 P-H-M staff members who received a vaccine, we also reached out to area schools to make doses available to others as well. P-H-M felt it was important to share any extra vaccines with educators and staff from other school districts and private schools within P-H-M’s boundaries so that no vaccines would be wasted. 

Dr. Jerry Thacker, P-H-M’s superintendent of schools said “…this just has a tremendous positive impact on the feeling the teachers, all school employees and the students have with regards to receiving a vaccine. They know they’re going to be safer, so this is the first step in that. It also gives us a barometer of what we need to be doing in the future with regard to reaching out and making sure that we can get our students back [in person].”

Watch the video to get a fuller sense of what the day was like. Meijer will return to Penn Monday, March 29th to administer the second dose. 

To download high-resolution jpg files from the photo gallery below, just simply click the “DOWNLOAD” button on the bottom right-hand corner of the photo while viewing it in the Photo Gallery function. We are happy to provide this service to you, free of charge!

The Bobcat family came together for one of its own at the close of this school year.

Fifth grader Alex Deranek was diagnosed with Stage 4 Chronic Kidney Disease, Cystic Dysplasia, Grade 3 Hydronephrosis, Hyperphosphatemia, Metabolic Acidosis, Polyuria & Secondary Hyperparathyroidism in March of 2018. With his small kidneys barely functioning at around 20%, Alex is scheduled to undergo a kidney transplant over the summer at Riley Children’s Hospital (Indianapolis). Alex’s father is expected to donate one of his kidneys for the transplant. The surgery will have the Deranek family (Mom, Dad, Alex and younger brother) effectively living in Indianapolis for the summer. Click to see the full photo gallery below.

To help the family offset their expenses; Alex’s fifth grade teacher Mrs. Michelle Leniski organized a school fundraiser selling T-shirts in Alex’s honor. The “Bittersweet Strong” shirts were designed by a group of teachers. Elephants are Alex’s favorite animal, AD are Alex’s initials, and the Bobcat paw—of course represents the Bittersweet Family—is in the location of where an elephant kidney would be.

Today (Wed., June 5) on the last day of school, the Deranek family came in for a schoolwide assembly so that the Bittersweet community could send them off with well wishes, love and support (many students, teachers and staff were wearing their “Bittersweet Strong” T-shirts). P-H-M Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker even stopped by to lend his support to Alex and his family.
Mrs. Leniski also gave Alex a “Sunshine Box” full of “Get Well Soon” gifts that staff donated. The box was filled with things that the Deranek family could do and use while recovering at Riley.

Today was a shining example of how we as a school community can pull together to support one another!

On Friday, May 31, we had our annual Field Day! We bounced in inflatables, drove some pedal-karts and of course we even got a little wet! Special thanks to all of our outstanding staff and all the volunteers that helped make this a success.

To see all the pictures, please click here and visit our photo album on P-H-M’s Facebook page. From there, you can download images.