Episode 50: Our Culture is More than a Holiday
From people who mispronounce your child’s name to teachers who expect them to explain your family’s holiday traditions to the class, your child may be struggling with the pressure to represent an entire culture. Actress and author Sheetal Sheth joins our hosts to offer her advice. Listen now.

The Bell Seal for Workplace Mental Health is a distinction awarded by Mental Health America (MHA) to companies who meet the standards for a mentally healthy workplace. National PTA earned this status (just in time for Healthy Lifestyles Month!) for demonstrating an outstanding commitment to employee mental health and well-being. Learn more!

Plano ISD's Head Start program needs 146 coats for children, sizes 3T to 7, by this Friday, December 3rd.  They lost their sponsor, so Plano Council has asked for help from all Plano PTA members.  If you are able to donate a coat for a boy or girl, sizes 3T to 7, please contact president@smspta.org.  New coats, only, please!  

It's the time of year when all Plano PTAs work together to restock the PISD Core Store.  Launched in 2016, the CORE Store has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars in supplies and classroom materials to teachers throughout Plano ISD. The CORE Store allows teachers to shop for additional school supplies for their students at no cost.  Please consider making a donation online to Plano ISD Education Foundation, donating a gift card to purchase supplies, or donating an item(s) on the Most Requested Items list, found here: Foundation Initiatives / CORE Store (pisd.edu).  All donated items must be received by us by Wednesday, December 8th or dropped off by you at the Core Store on Friday, December 11th between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.  Please contact president@smspta.org if you are interested in donating items.

Did you know that you can download the Membership Toolkit App to easily access the directory, calendar, sales & volunteer forms and also view our weekly newsletters? If you have multiple children at different schools, you can also easily switch between the various PTAs/Booster Clubs. Download the app here:

The Take Care of Texas Video is a fun way to learn about protecting the environment and come up with creative ways to share this knowledge with others.  Prizes for middle school students who place 1st, 2nd, and 3rd will include a gift card for camera equipment.  

Contest runs from September through December 3rd.

For more information, click here!

Hope all our Schimelpfenig families have a relaxing week off next week and an enjoyable Thanksgiving Day filled with lots of turkey, pie, football, family, friends, and fun!

Every November at Schimelpfenig, we donate pies so that every staff member can bring home a pie for Thanksgiving.  This year, Pie Day is Thursday, November 18th.  Please help us to provide a pie for every one of the 85 Schimelpfenig staff members this year!  

SIGN UP HERE.

The 2021–2022 Reflections theme is I Will Change the World By…

Due Date: Nov 15th, 2021

Submit this online form anytime before November 15th, 11:59 PM to participate in the program. You can upload your submission via this form, a physical copy of your submission is not required at this time.  

Students can submit their completed works of art in one or all of the available arts categories: Dance Choreography, Film Production, Literature, Music Composition, Photography, Visual Arts. For more information, please visit the Reflections page on our website here!

More details HERE.

The window to fill out our School of Excellence Survey is closing!

Please help us on our path to earn the School of Excellence designation for Schimelpfenig MS by taking a few minutes to answer the questions on the Google Form found here:  

https://forms.gle/JsXACSYySfJa9R678

Join our Schimelpfenig counselor, Shealine Burks, on Monday, November 15th, at 7:00 p.m. for a virtual program, What Are Out Children Doing With Their Electronic Devices? 

1. Donate to the PTA online!

Your generous TAX-DEDUCTIBLE donation will fund programs, social events, and classroom materials for students as well as SMS staff wish list items.  

We thank you in advance for your contributions!

Please visit here to donate online!

2. You just keep shopping – let these stores do the donating for you!

Visit our Fundraising Page here for more information.

Link your Kroger or Tom Thumb rewards cards to Schimelpfenig to help our school raise money. The stores will donate a percentage back to the school help show their support for the local communities.

• Kroger Community Rewards Program
• Tom Thumb Good Neighbor Program  
• Office Depot
• Box Tops
• Amazon Smile – Same products and prices as Amazon.  Their foundation matches a percentage of your purchases to donate to nonprofits like our school!  So easy and you are helping by shopping.

3. The World Wear project is offering an extra $100 if we fill our bin with 2,500 pounds or more of clothes and other small items in the month of November.  Great time to go through your child(ren)'s clothes, gather those items that no longer fit, and bring them to the World Wear bin in the Schimelpfenig parking lot!  

Advocacy News

• During each congressional session, PTA chooses priorities to ensure that every child has access to a fair and equitable education. To learn more about National PTA’s Five Public Policy Priorities for the 117th Congress, read more here. 

• In late October, the White House released its updated recommendations for infrastructure funding within The Build Back Better Act. The recommendations dedicate federal funding to a variety of programs, including Universal Pre-K, teacher training, childcare, community violence prevention, and child nutrition, but unfortunately do not dedicate any federal funds towards school infrastructure. Negotiations are still ongoing, and National PTA will continue to monitor and encourage Congress to invest in school infrastructure. 

Expectation of Civility Statement

• National PTA recognizes that we can only achieve our mission through ongoing conversation, collaboration, and partnership with other interested parties within the education system. These partnerships are critical to ensuring that our association’s mission and priorities are meaningfully advanced at the local, state, and national level.  To encourage respectful collaboration, the Board of Directors recently passed an Expectations of Civility position statement. Also make sure to check out other position statements on the website.

In the latest Notes from the Backpack podcast, "Raising Children Who Change The World," the hosts chat with author and founder of 1000 Black Girl Books, Marley Dias, and her mom, Dr. Janice Johnson Dias, an educator and author.   Listen now.