Penn High School now has access to a new 80,000-square-foot, multi-use fieldhouse, officially opened Wednesday in Mishawaka. The Dr. Jerry and Donna Thacker Fieldhouse is designed for athletics, academics, and extracurricular programs, including marching band, robotics competitions, and large-scale testing such as the SAT and AP exams.
PHM School Board President Chris Riley said careful financial planning made the facility possible.
“We managed our finances to make sure we could build this enormously wonderful field house without having an additional tax obligation for our tax payers,” Riley said.
The fieldhouse will allow multiple student teams and programs to use the space at the same time.
Penn High School junior Anna McCullough, who plays on the school’s volleyball and basketball teams, said it will change how teams practice day to day.
“Practicing here will be so great, you know. And we can fit all three teams on this court, and practice together; freshman, JV, and varsity,” McCullough said.
The facility honors former superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker and his wife Donna for decades of leadership and philanthropic support. Dr. Thacker said the naming is meaningful for more than just him and his wife.
“To have something like this named in our honor... It’s not just a validation. It’s a celebration of the collective excellence that we’ve had in PHM,” he said.
For Donna Thacker, the honor is still sinking in. “I can hardly believe it’s real. We have to drive here all the time, so I see my name. It’s like something that… You can’t even dream about that kind of thing,” she said.
The fieldhouse will serve students from across Penn-Harris-Madison schools and is expected to be a central hub for the district’s academic and extracurricular activities for decades.
