This holiday season, Simle Middle School's Student Council will be participating in our very own food drive to gather food for families in need. Our goal is to collect 1185 food items, which is the same number of students and staff at Simle. At least one in ten North Dakota students struggle with hunger on a daily basis. The drive will run from December 7th thru December 18th, and there will be a competition between homebases to see who can bring in the most non-perishable items by weight during that time. 

Non-perishable meal items (We have plenty of snacks):

- noodles
- spaghetti or alfredo sauce
- soups and stews
- canned vegetables
- canned fruit
- mac and cheese
- ravioli
- oatmeal
- dry cereal
- peanut butter/jelly
- canned tuna/chicken
- rice 

Anything else Non-perishable and for a meal - thanks in advance!

Middle school sports practices will resume on Monday, November 30th. Athletes should report to practice at their usual time. 6th-8th grade wrestling (3:45), 7th-8th Girls Basketball (3:45 or 4:00), Dance (6:30), 6th grade cheer (5:30-6:30), 6th grade basketball (All teams 5:30-6:30)

Simle Drama Department Simle Drama Department will be holding auditions for 2 separate One Acts following Holiday Break! There will be a One Act for A-K day students and a One Act for L-Z students. The One Acts are called 3 Fractured Pigs and The Big Bad Wolf Boys. Students grade 6-8 are able to audition. If you are in other activities you are still eligible to audition. Rehearsals will begin the second week of January after school from 3:30-4:30. If you are interested in auditioning please contact Mrs. Weichel (Choir teacher).

Hello Students! Are you into acting? Do you love theater? Consider join speech club! Speech club is just like acting without moving your feet AND you don’t have to write your own speeches. Visit with Miss Salveson December 9th or 10th after school (Room E260). The informational meeting will finish at 3:45. Since speech is a varsity event it is only open to 7th and 8th graders.

7th and 8th grade boys basketball signups will be held Wednesday, December 9th and Thursday, December 10th at 8:10 am in the cafeteria. See Mr. Woeste if you have any questions.

6th Grade Girls' Volleyball Sign Ups will be held on Wednesday, December 16th and Thursday, December 17th at 8:10 am in the cafeteria. See Mr. Woeste if you have any questions or want more information.

Student Council will be holding a food drive Dec. 7-18 for families in our community in need. Please bring in nonperishable meal items to your homebase. Grade level homebases will be competing against each other for a prize!

The BECEP Pre-K programs are doing a Pajama Drive now through December 11. Sizes 3T to youth small are needed. Donations can be dropped off at BECEP, 720 N 14th St. or at Ocean’s Paradise, 1412 E Broadway Ave. BECEP thanks you kindly for your consideration!

Dec. 1: Bob Wenger, Tioga, $40
Dec. 2: Iris Stenerson, Bismarck, $40

We are asking for donations of diapers, wipes, tampons, and feminine pads. These donations will help serve children 0-18 that receive support from the BPS Students in Transition program, BECEP, South Central High School, all BPS social workers working with families in need, Healthy Families of Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota, and the Adopt-A-Block program.

We have seen an evident need to help people in our community with basic items such as diapers, wipes, and feminine hygiene products. This underlying need in our community is now exacerbated due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting rising unemployment. WIC and SNAP benefits help with food, but do not help with these items or other personal hygiene items for children and families in our community. A group of organizations along with faith leaders are working with families and have come together with the goal of meeting the current above-mentioned needs and building relationships between churches and organizations to continue and increase the scope of support into the future.

Our first goal is to collect and build resources so the above organizations can distribute to families in need. Donations can be dropped off at:

Century Baptist Church (205 Colt Dr.) Monday & Thursday 11:00 am-1:00 pm.

Evangel Church (3225 N 14th St.) Wednesday 12:00-1:00 pm.

J&R Vacuum (223 E Main Ave) Monday-Friday 9:00 am-6:00 pm. Drop off at loading dock and call 258-5619 at time of delivery.

To have donations picked up, call Becky Matthews at 701-220-5271. To learn more about the Needs Nook, contact her at rebecca239@bis.midco.net or 701-220-5271.

Donate to Student Cold-Weather Efforts
BPS social workers have identified the need for snow boots, snow pants and water-repellent gloves for students in need.  If you would like to make a monetary donation to help purchase these items, please go to https://www.bpsfoundation.com/donations/kidskicks/.

Donate to Family Assistance Fund
The Bismarck Public Schools Foundation (BPSF) has established a COVID-19 BPS Family Assistance Fund.  Those that wish to donate may do so through the foundation website or by mail. To donate online, go to https://www.bpsfoundation.com/donations/cv19bps-faf/. To donate by mail, send checks to the BPS Foundation at 806 N. Washington St., Bismarck, ND 58501 and write “COVID-19” in the memo line. Families seeking assistance are encouraged to reach out to their counselor or social worker who will connect them to established community resources as well as submit requests for funding needs that cannot be met within existing resources. The BPSF thanks those who have already reached out to volunteer and/or provide monetary donations to help those within our community who are struggling.

Donate to Student Feeding Efforts
BPS has had many kind offers to help with student feeding. If you want to make a monetary donation to help feed students in need, go to www.bpsfoundation.com/meals. 

Bismarck Parks and Recreation District (BPRD) is offering an Open Gym program for youth and adults to use neighborhood gymnasiums on Saturdays and Sundays in a supervised, free play environment. The Open Gym program starts the weekend of Nov. 7-8 at selected schools. It is a free program which runs through March 6-7, 2021. Some school locations have changed from previous years. A complete list of school locations and times can be found on the BPRD website at www.bisparks.org.

The following safety protocols are in place at Open Gym. Participants are asked to bring their own equipment (basketballs, volleyballs, etc.) Participants should recreate with their own group. Masks are required when entering and exiting Bismarck Public School facilities.

The Open Gym program also includes teams wanting to use the World War Memorial Building, 215 N 6^th St. Court reservations will be taken for adult teams interested in practicing at the World War Memorial Building or Simle Middle School.  Reservations can be made for the weekend by calling 222-6454 between 8:30 am and 5 pm on the Friday preceding weekend play.  Each team will have a court for one hour.

The Open Gym program is provided by BPRD in cooperation with Bismarck Public Schools.

The Bismarck School Board will meet at 5:15 pm at the City-County Building at 221 N. 5th Street. The public is invited to attend the meeting or watch it LIVE on cable channel 2.

There is no school Wednesday, Dec. 23 for Parent-Teacher Conference Day off.