Banks Middle School

Dear Families,

Thank you to the many families who came to conferences or picked up the phone during our calls! We saw 156 families in person and reached out to an additional 70 families via phone! Go team! It was great to have a chance to connect with so many of our families to celebrate and support our wonderful students! If you did not attend in person, your packet should have arrived in the mail this week, please reach out if you have any questions about that information.

Fun time alert! Our PTO is hosting our first ever Line Dancing Fundraiser TONIGHT from 6:30 to 9:30 pm in the community gym (AKA "the Barn"). Bring your dancing shoes and enjoy the food and beverage truck that will be parked outside! Admission is just $10 and goes to support our students! See the flyer below.

Interested in wrestling? Girls wrestling is already underway, but our Boys wrestling team will be starting up soon on 12/1 at 3:15 in the wrestling room. You can sign up your wrestler here. Coach Henning is happy to take any questions and you can reach him at henningbr30@gmail.com. Go Braves!

Next week, we will have a 5 day week of school followed by a week off for Fall break. If your student is behind on work, it would be a great idea to have them connect with their teachers next week to get organized with a list of missing assignments so they can use fall break to catch up. Thank you parents for your support!

Best wishes,

Caitlin Everett

Banks Middle School Principal

Nov. 12 - Nov. 21: Banks Giving Canned Food Drive

Nov. 17: BMS PTO meeting in the BMS Library @ 5 pm

Nov. 24- Nov. 28: No School, fall break

Dec. 12-14: Banks Drama Program presents "Clue" - see below for details!

Dec. 17: Band and Choir Concert @ 6 pm in the BHS Gym

Dec. 19: Spirit Assembly

Dec. 22 - Jan. 2: Winter Break

The Banks Middle School PTO is hosting a fun-filled community line dancing event on Thursday, November 14th!
Don’t know how to line dance? No problem- there will be lessons throughout the night!
You may have seen a few invites floating around Facebook — we’re spreading the word far and wide because we want YOU to join the fun!
Proceeds will help support our amazing students and staff at Banks Middle School! $10 cash at the door. Bring your friends, dust off those boots, and get ready for a great night of dancing, laughter, and community spirit!

We had four veterans visit our Homeroom classes this week to speak about their experiences in the Armed Forces. A huge thank you to Pat Badders, Adriana Cantu, Jens Hammer, and Eric Dressler for taking time out of your day to share about your lives, experiences, and service to our country. Our students had so many great questions and it was powerful to hear your stories!

Additionally, 65 BMS students between Yearbook, Leadership and FACS made over 80 items out of paracord! These items will be shipped to active duty military members. Paracord, also known as 550, provides strong, versatile cordage for quick gear fixes, shelter rigging, and emergency field tasks.

Washington County Youth Services have set up an event for parents featuring Dr. Christine Crawford, author of "You Are Not Alone - For Parents & Caregivers" for a book signing and reception November 15th at the Shute Park Library. This is a ticketed event open to public with the first 25 registered attendees receiving a free autographed copy of Dr. Crawford's book.

Save the date! Our 6th graders will be going to Outdoor School April 14-17 this year at Camp Cedar Ridge in Vernonia. This is the same site we went to last year and requested again because of the awesome experience and programming they provided to our students. There is much more information to come, and we will hold a family night in the winter to share details and answer parent questions. For now, if you want to learn more you can check out this FAQ for parents.

Yearbooks are on sale now! They are $25 and you can order here.

Yearbook Photo Share: Families can submit any photo to be in the yearbook. We rely on photos from the community because our staff cant be everywhere. Weekend sports, band/choir concerts, students with pets.... we would love to use your photos! https://photos.jostens.com/TMZT36

BMS Student Leadership is continuing their BottleDrop fundraiser this year as a BottleDrop Give organization and participating using “blue bags”.

Once you fill the bag, you can:

1) Have your student pick up a blue bag with QR code sticker from Ms. King

2) Return it to Mrs. King full of cans/bottles and she will take it to a BottleDrop

3) You can also return it to a BottleDrop location and make sure they scan the BMS Leadership QR code.

If you shop at Fred Meyer you are now able to support our PTO by enrolling in the Community Rewards program with Fred Meyer. Once enrolled, they will contribute $ to the PTO for all eligible purchases.

Signing up is easy. Visit https://www.fredmeyer.com. Once logged into your Fred Meyer account, you can search for Banks Middle School PTO either by name or "VI069" and then click "Enroll". New users will need to create an account, which requires some basic information, a valid email address and a rewards card.