Turtle Lake-Mercer

Mr. Vasbinder is offering Summer School again this summer in the month of June. Please reach out to Mr. Vasbinder at Jason.Vasbinder@k12.nd.us or 448-2365 if you are interested in enrolling your student.

4th grade is enjoyed some smoothies and slushies today from Badlands as a reward for winning the annual Staff Wars in music class. This is a competition that includes the whole class naming the treble clef notes. 4th, 5th, and 6th grade compete against each other and have several weeks to try and get the top score as a class. This involves each student to know their treble clef notes and working together to win.

Congratulations to Jovie Blotter! She is the newest member to enter the Million Word Club.
”Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” – Frederick Douglass

2nd grade visited their pen pals over in Underwood! It was a fun afternoon together! 🤗📝

Mrs. Lelm's fourth grade ND Roughrider Hall of Fame living museum.  Who did you choose to study?  Why is that person a famous North Dakotan?  

Fifth Grade had a great day in Bismarck today. We started out at Theo Art School (this has become such a favorite 🤩) and then onto KXMB Studios. We got a tour of the studio and then got to do a lot of behind the scenes production and we all got a chance to play news anchor (even Mrs. A got to do a sports broadcast). We were in studio for the live broadcast of the Noon Show and got to say hello at the end! We ended our day at Pizza Ranch and left with full bellies and big smiles 😊.  Ask your student what was the hardest part of the whale painting we did, what surprised you the most about KX and what goes into producing a news segments, and what was the best part of the day?? (Pizza Ranch is my guess but I feel like we enjoyed it all)!

Yesterday, the third graders had Camping Day at school! Students spent the day rotating through exciting camp-themed activities like multiplication fishing, a firewood parts of speech sort, and other activities. One of the favorite activities was making s’mores using a solar-powered oven. It was a great day full of learning, teamwork, and fun! What was your favorite part of Camping Day? How did the solar-powered oven make the s’mores?

Elementary is celebrating the last 10 days of school with fun activities. Today's activity was tattoo the principal! Today is full of laughs and smiles. Thank you Mr. Ziebarth for being a great leader and a good sport for our school.

The seniors decided classes would start outside this morning. They took a lot of time to move all these outside! Thank you to all the 7-12 students who helped put everything back in order to start the day. Another good laugh.

The 4th, 5th, and 6th graders had fun at their elementary track meet in Underwood today!

K, 1, and 2 took a field trip to the Garrison Dam Fish Hatchery and Audubon Wildlife Refuge! At the hatchery, they learned about raising fish and even got to touch some fish and turtles! At the refuge, they made bird feeders and took a nature walk!

The seniors enlisted the help of the principal's wife, Jamie, today and snuck into Mr. Ziebarth's basement to start the morning. Another good senior prank that gave a chuckle.

Day 1 of 10 days until summer started with Hat day today! K-5 were able to pick out patches to iron onto some hats; they will be able to wear their hats to school tomorrow!

The 2026 Elementary Track Meet for Grades 4, 5, and 6 is tomorrow, May 13th, at 12:30 PM at the Underwood High School Track. This event is open to the public so all those parents and grandparents can come cheer on the possible future Cougar Track Athletes. Schedule of events is attached.

The annual School Board Election is Tuesday, June 9, 2026.

In person voting is at the City Hall in Turtle Lake, McLean County, North Dakota for the purpose of electing three (3) members to the School Board for the Turtle Lake-Mercer School District No. 72. Poll hours are 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM.

Absentee ballots are available. For more information, visit our website at https://www.tlm.k12.nd.us/page/absentee-voting-procedures or contact the School Business Manager, Laura Fiedler.

A huge thank you goes out to Faith Hahn and Grant Singer. They have been helping to collect past Trojan and Cougar athletic accomplishments. Yearbooks and trophy cases have been examined and we have a list of team and individual championships that we've collected. Now we are calling on our area Trojan and Cougar Athletic Historians to help us out. The attached documents are the first draft of the championship information we were able to gather. If you or someone you know notices information that is incorrect or missing, please contact Mr. Ziebarth by calling the school at 448-2365 or through email at kurt.ziebarth@k12.nd.us.
Comments on Facebook will be disabled for this post to ensure that all information gets to Mr. Ziebarth. (He doesn't read comments very often.)

Congratulations to Braxton Volochenko! He is the newest member of the Million Word Club.
”I love the way that each book — any book — is its own journey. You open it, and off you go…” – Sharon Creech

Congratulations to Haylee Haas! She is the newest member of the Million Word Club.
”The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest minds of past centuries.” – Rene Descartes

State Championship shirts are ready to be picked up at the TL-M school office. The office is open from 7:45-3:50 Monday - Thursday.

Senior prank...well played!!😆