Dr. Simpson received his Ph.D. in Creative Writing, and his M.A. in Curriculum
and Instruction from the University of Nebraska. His dissertation, Compelled to
Ascend, is a collection of poems and short stories that documents his experiences growing up on the
Great Plains. Before coming to BHSU, Dr. Simpson taught high school English and
drama, directed theatre and taught English at a private college in Nebraska, directed summer youth
camps, played a cow named "Moo" on a children's television show, and ran the fry machine
at Chik-Fil-A. Dr. Simpson currently teaches Methods of Teaching Language
Arts, Grammar and Composition for the English Teacher, Written Composition I and II
and supervises secondary Language Arts student teachers. He cosponsors the English Club, and presents various
workshops on writing and songwriting in the Black Hills region. His ongoing projects
include poetry and song writing as well as articles and a text for teaching the art and craft
of writing poetry. He lives with his wife, Sheryl, two daughters, Maegan (10) and Laurel (6) and
their dogs in a house they built together somewhere out in the woods where no one, not even
the dogs, calls him "Dr. Simpson."
Nancy teaches junior-senior English, newspaper, and yearbook at
Bennett County High School in Martin. In addition, she is the National Honor Society adviser, in which
capacity she assists NHS members in sponsoring three community blood drives.
Having graduated from USD in 1968, Nancy earned her MA degree in English from SDSU in 1970.
Since that time, Nancy has taught a total of 17 years on all levels of education
in South Dakota from college to elementary. She and her husband Greg have
four daughters, Leanne, pursuing her masters degree in music education at the
University of Minnesota; Janice and Carole, students at Northern State University, and the youngest, Amy, a
sophomore in high school.
In summer, 1998, Nancy was a fellow of the Dakota
Writing Project in Vermillion. DWP was, in her words, a "Iife-changing experience" which
provided the impetus to change the focus of her teaching style. Nancy continues to
teach, encourage and support lifelong learning in her English classroom via the reading-writing workshop
approach pioneered by Linda Rief, Nancie Atwell and others.
Nancy brings to SDCTE a West River
perspective, having been born and raised at Lemmon. She and her husband and family have
lived in the Martin area since 1977, when they moved to Longvalley to take over the family
farming-ranching operation.