June 2012 – St. Joseph's Indian School

Inspire others

Our younger students who remain on St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus take part in a mix of summer school and field trips. Yesterday I was running errands in the business office and saw a group of them taking a tour. When asked what was the best part, Louie replied, “the mail machines.”

The kids were fascinated to watch our staff load cards and bookmarks and dreamcatchers into envelopes bound for all parts of the country and beyond. Two were very tickled when they saw their very own picture on the outside of one of the envelopes. While it is a good education for our Lakota students to learn how things are done and made, it is also a boost to our development staff when they get to interact more directly with the students. They’re reminded of the reason they do the demanding work of raising funds for our mission.

This week has brought more organizational meetings. I reviewed goals with the Director of Child Services at his annual performance evaluation. It’s helpful to step back and see what gifts an employee brings, and talk about possible growth areas. I met with the architects, Akta Lakota Museum designers and facilities crew getting caught up on the many work projects going full speed on campus. If you visit St. Joseph’s Indian School you’ll find lots of disarray in the midst of construction, but in the end we are making some great improvements.

Today I’m off to the ordination of three priests for the Diocese in Sioux Falls. When I attend such celebrations I catch a bit of the enthusiasm and idealism I remember from when I was first ordained. When mixed with the experience and wisdom of 23 years of priestly ministry, hopefully I can inspire others to search for God’s will in their life, and act with charity and justice toward their neighbors.

I’ll be on the road for a few weeks, and yesterday I lined up some guest bloggers who will keep you posted on what’s going on around campus during that time. Next week is pure vacation, with no work; relaxing time with family and friends is the only item on the agenda.

I’ll check in periodically, but it is healthy to take some time off and turn the responsibility for ongoing work to others who care and are passionate about St. Joseph’s Indian School’s mission.

How many times a day do you pray?

Angela, one of the high school students ran into me as I was returning from chapel after mass.

“How many times a day do you pray?” she asked.

“Three or four”

“That’s a lot”

I need all of those times and more for strength and guidance so I stay on the right track. Most people don’t have the luxury of building long periods of prayer time into their day. I suggest they just find a short prayer phrase they can say to help them before they begin important work like Lord make my heart like your heart, or something simple like, “Lord give me patience and strength” when faced with a difficult challenge.

We wrapped up several programs this past week. Campus is much quieter this week now that our Rising Eagle Day Camp has successfully concluded. Besides our high school students who worked with the younger students, we were blessed with a group of students from Scranton Prep in Pennsylvania. They have been coming to our area for the past eight summers or so to help with various service projects.

I stopped in a few times during the week to see how they were faring and answer questions on topics ranging from St . Joseph’s admission policies to inquiries about Lakota culture. At the end of the week, 17 of us gathered around the two dining room tables in the Ambrose Home, and each person got a chance to share something they’d learned during this time. One young man said that seeing the striking poverty on the Indian reservation he visited opened his eyes to think about those who struggle in his own community. A young woman had a blast working with younger children. She said that she often won’t give her younger siblings much time at all, but realizes now how much impact the care of an older sister can and does make. She recommitted herself to being more present to them when she gets home.

In a mosaic of cultures, the SCJ Schools in Collaboration group was on campus for several days. Students and teachers from Texas, Mississippi and Wisconsin exchanged information about themselves, their school and unique cultures. Our kids got to meet some of their pen pals or folks they’ve gone head to head against in the Battle of the Books. Our students donned their dance regalia and explained the significance of powwows and detailed the differences in the kinds of Native American dances they are trained in. Fr. Anthony accompanied them to the Black Hills and Badlands where everyone came back with great memories and pictures.

We said goodbye to two young woman we grew to appreciate in such a short time. Lauren, who grew up in the Denver area was here exploring both her Lakota roots, and engaged in more discernment about a possible religious vocation. Lauren helped in summer camp and with other projects around campus. She interacted tremendously well with our students, and asked many questions of our Native American staff. Our talks took me back to the days when I was formation director for college seminarians, and was inspired by her talk of faith and love of God. Jessica, an college intern attending Notre Dame, also wrapped up her four weeks here. The anthropology major in her was nourished by our Aktas Lakota Museum and the visits to cultural sites. The people side of her did a great job interacting with our students in a variety of ways.

We have a Bookmobile that travels to many of the Indian reservation communities each summer, putting free books in the hands of kids who are hungry to read. Friday our staff stopped in Fort Thompson, and also had a picnic style meal for families at the Boys and Girls Club.

Ed, a donor from Illinois, stopped by campus to check it out for the first time.

“I wanted to make sure this was a real place and not just a post office box,” he said.

I gave him a tour and he was impressed by all that goes on here. He also got something of a cultural education when he went to Lower Brule, where they were holding a memorial for the parish housekeeper who died one year ago in a tragic car accident when the roadway collapsed due to flooding.

After a memorial mass, the family gathered in the community center, where a Wiping of Tears ceremony was held. A woman symbolically wiped their tears away with a cloth, gently guided an Eagle Feather around their head in a cleansing ritual. They were then given some tobacco to smoke, and water and chokecherry juice to drink. At the conclusion everyone present shook their hands or gave hugs in a show of support. We then sat down to a big meal and giveaway.

Rising Eagle Day Camp comes to an end

Native American boy getting on to school bus. — See you next year, camp friends!

It’s been a great month with kids from the Crow Creek Sioux Reservation and then kids from the Lower Brule Sioux Reservation. For our two weeks with Crow Creek, 428 students attended. Added to the 455 from Lower Brule, we were able to serve 883 Native American children through Rising Eagle Summer Day Camp! Wopila tanka – many thanks – for your generosity in making this program possible!

Monday was a very hot and beautiful day with 38 children for today’s camp.

We had outside fun with Mark and arts & crafts with the group from Scranton Prep today. We swam in the afternoon and had snacks before we headed back to Lower Brule. The staff is doing a super job!

Tuesday started out cool in Lower Brule but ended up very hot!

We had 34 children for camp today. The children had a nice nature walk with Mark this morning before it got too hot. This afternoon we enjoyed a nice swim and watched a movie in air conditioning.

We had our usually healthy snacks and a special ice cream cone treat. Thanks to the dining hall staff for the ice cream! Camp staffers even enjoyed an ice cream cone, as everyone was very hot.

Wednesday turned unbelievably cool for this time of year! 26 children joined us for camp today. Mark had them inside the gym today because of the cool weather. We played dodge ball and other games.

LaRayne and April had Lakota Studies for the kids in the afternoon, followed by swimming as usual.

Thursday was the first real full day of summer; it was beautiful outside!

We picked up 35 children today, which gives us a total of 414 children so far from Lower Brule. Sticking with our routine, we had outside fun with Mark followed by arts & crafts with the Scranton group. After lunch came swimming; the pool has definitely been used to its potential!

Friday was our last day of camp for 2012.

Guest Blogger: LaRayne

Kids working on a craft at day camp! — Can you guess what they are making?

Hello everyone, my name is LaRayne. I’d like to give you a recap of St. Joseph’s Indian School’s Rising Eagle Day Camp. (Check out pictures here!)

Summer camp is a different time around St. Joseph’s Indian School. It is a time for new faces, old faces and a time for building a lot of new relationships. I have the pleasure of sharing some Native American cultural lessons with a twist of arts and crafts added to them. Each day is precious.

Having a class of 30 students is something I am not used to, but I have the help of some great young adult counselors who chose to share part of their summer with our day camp kids. It is great to have the help when we tackle making medicine pouches in one day, or learning to hoop dance in one morning.

St. Joseph’s Indian School campus becomes the village that raises the child for the day. We have caregivers, teachers, counselors, lifeguards, food service workers, recreation specialists and good ‘ol supervisors who look after the camp-goers each day.

I especially enjoy seeing former students, meeting new students, and talking to some students who hope to come to our school in the future. This camp brings together many good things. It is somewhat like a powwow. We celebrate, dance, create, build relationships, eat, play, and focus on culture. Yes, each day is precious in the life of a child.

Hec’etu ksto – that’s the way it is….

Don’t forget to check out the pictures!

Life teaches me

Life teaches me new things each day.

Sometimes, I’m totally surprised to see things I thought I knew from a completely different perspective.

We have our own printing press on St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus, Tipi Press, and I was giving a visitor a tour and stopped by to see how things were going. Mark showed us the large 4-color press going at full throttle. He had a powerful magnifying glass to show us how different colors are made not by mixing ink, as I supposed, but by printing a blend of small dots (1200 per inch) in four colors that, as you look from a distance, trick the eye into seeing one color. Many things in life, you have to look at carefully to discover how they really are.

I had lots of meetings today, working on revamping our pastoral care programs, going over finances, working on a narrative for the history of Indian boarding schools for our Akta Lakota Museum, reflection time with a summer intern and visiting with donors who stopped by to see our campus and programs their donations make possible.

Scranton Preparatory School from Pennsylvania has been coming to St. Joseph’s each summer for a few years. They are involved in service projects and helping with our Rising Eagle Day Camp.

After a full day of activity with the children who came to camp from Lower Brule Indian reservation, I caught the group in the Ambrose Home around the supper table. None of the students had ever been to South Dakota before, and it was fun to hear their initial impressions of the wide open prairie, the Badlands and Black Hills. I answered lots of questions about the school, students and families we serve, and began to find out a little about each of them.

I noticed a nice spirit and sense of fun and camaraderie among the group. As they raised money to pay for their mission trip, they ran into several friends and family members from their community who have been long time donors to our school. They were generous in helping these young people in their travels, and delighted to facilitate an even more personal impact and concrete difference.

Fr. Steve is back

I’m back on campus after two weeks on the road!

I started with a visit to my oncologist at the Mayo Clinic. All the test results looked good, and they told me to keep doing whatever I’ve been doing for the next six months. I was in Rochester on my birthday, and that news was the best birthday present I could have hoped for.

Next I traveled to Oklahoma City for our donor appreciation luncheons. Laura wrote a great summary of that trip in an earlier blog post. I would add that the “celebrity” I was most excited to meet was Savanna, who is a St. Joseph’s alumnae. Savanna just finished up her degree in nursing at Murray State in Oklahoma and joined us at the luncheon. When our students can meet someone who was once in their shoes, and see them succeeding in school, that provides far more inspiration and hope than my words of encouragement can.

I spent a week at home where I had the joy of presiding at my niece’s wedding. Congratulations Allison and Steve and many happy years together! My family is spread far and wide throughout the U.S., and we enjoyed the chance to catch up. I was especially delighted in meeting the three new great nieces that were born since I was home last.

Back on St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus I spent the first day walking around and checking out all that is happening. People often assume the campus is much quieter over the summer, but in June it is actually busier, if that is possible. The dining hall serves more lunches now than in the school year, since we have the Rising Eagle Summer Day Camp going on, the PAWS program from town joining us at meal times, and all our students who are working or taking part in summer school.

Maintenance is crazy busy! The projects I saw in full swing include:

Repaving the Akta Lakota Museum parking lot
Brickwork on Akta Lakota Museum addition
Roofing the boiler-room
Recarpeting the school (after 20 years of heavy wear and tear)
Demolition of William and Summerlee Home interiors in preparation for remodeling
Building shelving to house museum artifacts
Painting Central offices

Several of our high school students are helping on some of the projects. I also saw students working in the kitchen, serving lunch, at the Akta Lakota Museum, running the gift shop cash register, beautifying the grounds and in the print shop boxing up notepads we’ll send our donors. The biggest number are camp counselors, helping younger children in recreational and arts and crafts activities.

Wade graduated here in the class of 1979 and hadn’t been back in over 30 years. I took him on a tour of campus, and he helped me get a better picture of what life was like at St. Joseph’s back in the dorm days, before we added our family home living units. Andy in the Rec Center, and Mary Jane our Alumni Director were staff he remembered well, and visiting them was the definite highlight of his time on campus.

Interaction and pride of community

The weekend began with the Feast of the Sacred Heart – a day of celebration for my religious order, the Priests of the Sacred Heart. St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus was somewhat quieter because it is a holiday for most of our employees. But since the work of child care goes on, we still saw plenty of activity on campus.

Our recent eighth-grade graduates wrapped up their three-week transition program preparing them for their fall entrance into Chamberlain High School. I joined the group in the school assembly room where their parents or guardians gathered for a meal, and to learn more about the High School Program. With the help of students as readers Shana (HS Director) reviewed the expectations and privileges which are different for our older students. Freshman year is a crucial year in working toward student retention and success. Students who struggle and get behind in 9^th grade dramatically increase their odds of dropping out of school. Shana and her staff have developed a Three Way Covenant with our parent partners. We lay out the promises and support of our staff, and ask for students and their families to each do their part to keep these young people on track.

In the evening, the other SCJs working on the Indian reservations in Lower Brule and Fort Thompson stopped by the house for a time of socializing, then we went out for dinner together to continue the fellowship. Fr. Guntoro, an Indonesian SCJ preparing for missionary work in China, is visiting for a couple of weeks. He has also worked in the Philippines and India.

Town was literally buzzing Saturday with the sound of hydroplane boats racing on the Missouri River. From the banks in front of St. Joseph’s we could see the racing boats traveling at speeds in excess of 100 mph. They kicked a spray of water high into the air, and the roar of the engines could be heard miles away. The river, also known as Lake Francis Case at Chamberlain, was filled with boaters enjoying the weather and the unique action, which has visited our city annually for the past three years.

I took Lauren, one of our summer interns for a tour of Crow Creek and Lower Brule Indian reservations, and was joined by two girls from our High School Program. Erica is a local from Fort Thompson, and was an excellent tour guide, pointing out many local things that even I didn’t know. She stood on the powwow grounds and described the pageantry, interaction and pride of community that takes place at powwows. Being a teenager, she was also honest in saying that it was a good place to check out the cute boys!

We drove out to the Crow Creek community, which is several miles off the already lonely highway. Lauren noticed that although there were houses, no stores and not even a gas station existed in the community. Some of the rural communities don’t have good access to the basics, and some families even lack reliable transportation.

She got an immediate idea of how problematic that can be.

In Lower Brule, we stood in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark near a place called The Narrows, and looked out onto the majestic Missouri River. The tribe has reconstructed a Mandan earth lodge which gives visitors a sense of how some of the plains tribes who settled more permanently along the river lived.

Sunday was a sad day as we bid the final farewell to Al and Sue, two former St. Joseph’s houseparents who died together of carbon monoxide poisoning. They were on vacation on their houseboat and asleep when the boat engine apparently malfunctioned. The turnout for the memorial service was quite large and a good support to their children and grandchildren. Their kids took some consolation in that Al and Sue died peacefully, in their sleep, together and doing something that they love. At the same time it is intensely difficult to face the death of one parent, let alone both at the same time.

Several former students came back to town to say their farewells. Many alumni who live close by were there. Kami, Kayla and Gina made about a four-hour trip from the northern part of the state to be in attendance, which said a lot about the difference Al an Sue made for them. Houseparents at St. Joseph’s are very involved in the lives of the young people here, and alumni often call and keep in contact, asking for guidance and advice. The whole community grieves their loss.

Guest Blogger: Shana

Cante wasteya nape ciyuzapelo – I take your hand in friendship.

This is a common Lakota greeting; the literal meaning is “With a good heart I take your hand.” My name is Shana and I’m the High School Residential Director.

This summer is going by fast as we’ve had four of our five high school homes open and fully operational with 41 high school students on campus! High school students choose to remain on our St. Joseph’s campus so they can either work a summer job, take driver’s education class or participate in our Freshman Transition Summer Program.

Thankfully it’s not all work – students get to relax, take shopping trips, go to the movies or swim at Chamberlain’s city pool or public beach area. Students remain connected with family and sometimes get checked out by their parent or guardian so they can attend family functions or visit a family member in the hospital.

There’s never a dull moment on our campus!

We have 19 upcoming freshmen in our Freshman Transition Summer Program. These students were able to meet their future high school teachers, take a trip to visit Mitchell Vo-Tech, Oglala Lakota Community College and tour the Badlands on their way to visit the Red Cloud Indian School Art Show. This three-week camp is full of both education and transition activities in order to get them prepared for the challenges of their first year in high school – and beyond.

The transition program ends Friday with a Parent Luncheon. Here, we will review the changes the students will face in high school and the differences in our high school residential program from our elementary residential program. Everyone enjoys pizza, and then the students are able to give their parent or guardian a tour of their new St. Joseph’s high school home.

All the students will then return in August, either a week before school starts so they can begin sports practices with their Chamberlain athletic team, or return two days prior to the first day of school for our Student Orientation.

Our high school summer programs don’t end in July; we have three students participating on our Summer Transitional Living Program starting on June 22 through the end of July.

Two of these students are currently in Germany with two St. Joseph’s chaperones and two other St. Joseph’s students as part of our Germany Exchange Program with our sister school in Handrup, Germany. They will spend two and a half weeks learning about the German culture, giving presentations to Handrup students about their Lakota and American culture and, of course, doing some sightseeing. The Handrup students will then take a trip to the USA and come visit us here at St. Joseph’s Indian School in October so they can learn more about American and Lakota culture. It’s been a great learning experience for both staff and students.

These are not the only St. Joseph’s students who are able to travel during their summer vacation. One of our graduating seniors was awarded the Davis-Bahcall scholarship. Erin will spend one week digging deep into the science and engineering that exists at the Sanford Underground Laboratory in Lead, South Dakota. She will spend three weeks studying modern physics at Princeton University in New Jersey under world-renowned scholars and researchers. She will also travel to research laboratories in Europe to experience the world of modern scientific research.

We are very proud of Erin’s accomplishments and know she’ll succeed next year as she begins her college career.

One of our upcoming seniors was accepted into College Horizons, this is a six-day “crash course” in preparing for college. Aaron will learn about a broad variety of colleges and universities, and establish personal relationships with admission representatives and college counselors. At each site, 100 students from across the nation work with over 70 expert college counselors and college admission officers to help students learn how to fill out college applications, including essays and prepare for college. We hope Aaron has a great experience – congratulations!

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer as much as we are!

Pilamaya – thank you,

Shana

This week at camp …

Native American kids running together! — Look at the excitement on the kids’ face!

This week marked the start of day camp with children from the Lower Brule Sioux Indian Reservation.

Monday – The day began with meeting kids and parents at our pick-up spot, St. Mary’s Church in Lower Brule. Fifty students attended camp today.

After breakfast, we visited about camp expectations with all our campers. Everyone was very well-behaved and ready for a great day!

With two weeks of camp already under their belts, camp staff was ready for anything.

Tuesday was a beautiful sunny day with 58 children attending camp, 27 of which were new.

Janeen had Arts & Crafts going strong today, and Mark had a great game of kickball underway. All in all, camp is going well.

Wednesday turned sunny day after a nice rainfall in the very early morning.

We had 60 children in today’s camp for the water safety course presented by South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks and the Army Corps of Engineers, complete with the small boats for the kids to ride around in. Back on campus, we had Arts & Crafts and brick coloring.

The afternoon brought swimming and snacks.

It was another exciting week at the Rising Eagle Summer Day Camp!!!

Guest Blogger: Pamela

Hello to everyone out there!

I am Pamela. My position here at St. Joseph’s Indian School is Transition Specialist. So what do I do? I help our eighth grade students transition from St Joseph’s elementary school to Chamberlain High School.

We have a summer program here for our new freshmen, which allows them to take classes in the morning up at the high school with some of the high school teachers. This gives them the opportunity to get to know some teachers and the school before they attend in the fall.

Native American student shopping in a college bookstore. — Danisha shopping for her new school colors!

Another part of my job is to help our high school students transition from high school to the real world of being an adult. I have one senior girl attending the American Indian University at Crazy Horse. This gives her the opportunity to take college classes from the University of South Dakota and work at the Crazy Horse monument. Danisha has the opportunity to earn 12 college credits before starting her college years at Dakota State University.

Erin is another graduate who is making great use of her summer. She is working now and will be attending the Davis-Bahcall summer program. She will study physics for two weeks here in South Dakota at the Homestake mine and then go on to Chicago and finish the experience in Italy. Another one of our graduates is attending INMED at the University of North Dakota. INMED is a program for Native American students interested in a career in the medical field.

Four Lakota graduates. — St. Joseph’s Indian School high school graduates.

I also work with our high school students in the world of employment. We have students working on campus learning about careers. We have day camp counselors, janitors, maintenance workers, museum workers and students working in the dining hall. This gives our students a chance to earn some money over the summer and learn about the responsibility of having a job.

Summers can be as busy as the school year around here! It is nice to see our American Indian students doing things that will help them prepare for their future.

Wishing you all a great summer!