Helping Native American youth – Page 2 – St. Joseph's Indian School

Guest Blogger: Joe

Last week in Religion class, the third graders watched a five minute video titled “A great day.” They are a great group of kids because they always come in with smiles on their faces and ready to learn. At this age, the Lakota boys and girls are full of many questions which can be a good thing and sometimes very challenging.

On this particular day, I told the class that we were going to watch the video two times. The first time we would watch it straight through and see what stuck in their minds. After this, we planned to watch the video again but we would stop it a couple of times to discuss what was happening.

I pushed play and the students’ eyes stared at the screen. I looked around and could see the wheels turning in their heads. These students were getting something out of this simple five minute video. Once the video concluded, I asked the students what they thought was going on in the film. One young boy raised his hand and simply said,

“Today is a gift!”

In my mind, this was the best answer that you could expect from watching the video.

As we watched the video a second time, I paused at the beginning to talk about “the gift.” (If you are not familiar with the video, the gift is that you get to live another day.) I told the students that God has a plan for us. God knows what we did five minutes ago and God knows what we are going to do five minutes from now.

“So God knows that I am going to pick my nose in a few minutes?” one boy asked.

After controlling my laughter I told him simply “yes.”

As the video went on, I paused it again to talk about things that the students could do to help make a difference in their lives and the lives of others. Things like using their eyes, their smile, a touch or their presence can be very powerful. I told the students that these four things, under their control, can change another person’s day.

After finishing the video, I asked the students what they thought of the video after watching it for the second time. A young girl then said,

“We are blessed!”

I asked her what that meant and she went on to tell the class that we are blessed to receive another day of life. I added that each student was blessed to have many things and that we should always be grateful.

In the last fifteen minutes of class I asked the students to write down what they are thankful for. They were asked to write down as many blessing as they could. As soon as I handed out the paper there wasn’t a single noise in the classroom. By the end of the class every student had filled out at least the whole front side of a piece of paper.

When the class period ended, I sat and thought about how everyone at St. Joseph’s is blessed and thankful for everything that happens here on campus.

So, I ask you to join us. Take out a page of paper and write down what you are thankful for. Remember to write down as many things as you can think of. Whenever you are having a bad day, look back at what you wrote down. Then you can be as thankful as our third graders here at St. Joseph’s Indian School.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Truly grateful

We just returned from donor luncheons in New York, one in lower Manhattan and one in Melville Long Island. We could see first hand some of the chaos caused by Superstorm Sandy. The area near Battery Park and The World Trade Center memorial site were crawling with utility trucks, demolition and clean up crews, mostly wearing haz-mat suits. When I asked a crew of hard hats staying at our hotel what they were working on, they told me their company specializes in saving and preserving paper. I hadn’t thought about all the valuable and historical books and papers and documents must be in danger from the storm surge. On the way to Long Island we noticed how many trees had been uprooted and fallen.

At the luncheons, all of our donors had stories about being without power, or having family and friends who had suffered terrible damage. Many people were home bound because they couldn’t get gasoline for their vehicles. One family bought a generator after last year’s Hurricane Irene, but after a few days they ran out of gasoline to power it and couldn’t get any more.

Amid the destruction and tragedy, there have been so many kind and generous people reaching out with offers of help. While crisis can bring out the bad in people, many times it shows the goodness we are all capable of.

For eighth grader Elliot and seventh grader Jay, this was their first airplane flight. New York is so huge compared to what they know, and they were riveted on all the sights as we hopped on a tour bus to learn about the history and culture packed into a few square miles. Their cameras clicked away constantly as they discovered places they’d heard about or seen on TV or the movies. The most notable landmark for them was the Flatiron building, which they recognized from Spiderman.

We did a fair amount of walking. We stopped at St. Patrick’s Cathedral to say a few prayers for folks back home. Art and statues and shrines also teach a lot about God and salvation history. With all the buildings, hustle and bustle, the large rocks in Central Park overlooking the pond provided a reflective view of the glory of nature.

Christine, one of our houseparents until she retired last year to be with her grandchildren, now lives on Long Island and brought her family to the luncheon there. She was able to share with the folks at her table the joys and challenges of raising a dozen 7 and 8 year olds in one household.

A joy for me at the luncheons is meeting folks who have been long time supporters of St. Joseph but haven’t had the opportunity to see the school, or meet any of our staff or students. With a group, the time always seems so short as my time is split between many people.

One evening Geri, our Director of Major Gift Services, arranged a meeting with a couple who has supported us for many years and couldn’t make the luncheons. Having a more in-depth conversation with a small group was even more satisfying. I was awed by the many other causes the couple supports around the world, with some tremendous networking to make a real difference in the lives of people in the Third World and in our own country. For all the negatives we can focus on in the world, Thanksgiving reminds us there are also so many people and things to be truly grateful for.

Prayerful and refreshing

The big event in the life of our high school students this weekend was the school play – A Year in the Life of Frog and Toad. The production was whimsical and fun, with catchy songs and colorful sets. Two of our seniors, Chris and Erika, had supporting roles on stage. I laughed as they sang and hammed it up. Another half-dozen of our St. Joseph’s students took part behind the scenes, working lights and props and helping as student directors. The play was especially kid friendly, and space was reserved on the floor in front of the stage for any youngsters who wanted to sit on the floor close to the action. For a small school, Chamberlain has some talented and dedicated staff to work with students and put together quality performances.

On campus, basketball reigned as king. Saturday morning fourth, fifth and sixth grade girls played against cross town rivals Chamberlain. St. Joseph’s swept three very close games, two of which were decided in the last 15 seconds. Many of our staff were on hand not only to cheer on our students in blue and yellow, but their own kids wearing Cubs red and white. One of our counselors who has a daughter on Chamberlain said it’s too hard to root for both teams, but you have to! Sunday afternoon the boys played intercity, where Chamberlain and St. Joseph’s students played alongside each other. Again, you had to root for all the teams and players!

Because of the drought in our area, an earlier burning ban prevented us from opening the sweat lodge for inipi ceremonies during the fall months. Now that we’ve had a little moisture and the weather has turned colder, it’s safe to build a fire. An elder from the Rosebud Indian Reservation, grandfather to three of our students, came to campus to offer the opportunity for our junior high and our high school boys. For a few of the younger students it was their first time, and they were prepared and guided through the ceremony, which they found prayerful and refreshing, with good bonding as a result.

Sharing Sunday brunch in the Stevens Home (6^th-8^th grade girls) Frank and Wanda mentioned that this is their 25^th year as houseparents at St. Joseph’s, and they are seeing a second generation of families they’ve had long ties with. They pulled out the yearbook from their first year here, and showed the moms of two families of girls they currently have with them. In residential care, such longevity is rare, but we have several long-timers who have built trust and relationships that are wonderful.

Guest Bloggers: Rec Center Staff

Our Native American kids love playing outside in the South Dakota fall weather! — The kids love playing outside in the South Dakota fall weather!

We had lots of fun at our Enrichment Activity on Wednesday!

On a nice early evening here at St. Joseph’s after the elections, Mark and I decided to take the kids outside for some fresh, cool air.

In the first session, we had the Perky and Cyr (fourth and fifth grade) boys involved in some flag games. Mark really had the boys moving and trying to avoid getting their flags (or as we called them, tails) pulled off. We played a game with lions and gazelles. The lions really did a number on the gazelles! Much thanks to Teresa, Odis, Lloyd and Joe for their help.

In the second session, the wind picked up and there was a little nip in the air, but it was perfect football weather! The boys from Fisher and Rooney (sixth, seventh and eighth grades) were out to show their football skills.

We had blue vs. yellow teams. It was close all the way to the end, and the clock ran in with a tie. That was only because Daryl kind of got into Trenton’s way toward a touchdown and they both hit the ground. Many thanks to Dick and Jan for braving the cool South Dakota breeze.

Next week, we have the Dennis and Afra Homes (first, second and third grade girls) at 6:00 pm and the Pinger and Stevens Homes (sixth, seventh and eighth grade girls) for the 7:15 pm time slot.

Mark and Andy

Helping children achieve their full potential

This morning after mass I saw a group of people wandering around Wisdom Circle looking lost. A group of education students from Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell started two days of observation in our classrooms. I escorted them to the principal’s office, and answered a few questions about our Native American students and programs along the way.

Later, when I checked how they were doing, they were impressed by what they saw in the classrooms. It helps to see the theory you’ve been learning about in college put into practice in a real and practical way.

The Honor Roll and Perfect Attendance awards for the first quarter were announced at the end of the school day. Students sat on the floor of the school gym and those so honored proudly came forward as their name was called to receive a certificate. They also got to choose from some attractive Native American-themed notebooks and bookmarks.

We try not to be guilty of grade inflation, but did have FIVE students who earned all A’s! Those who continue with good grades, and those who can bring up their semester grades to all B’s and A’s will get to attend a fun and special banquet in January. Even without special rewards, our teachers are encouraging each student to work hard at achieving their potential.

Last night I stopped by Pinger Home (6^th– 8^th grade girls) for a visit and stayed for supper. The home won a Monopoly game from the Halloween decorating contest and Calista asked if anyone wanted to play. I’m a capitalist baron from way back, and soon was collecting big money from my railroads. There were lots of rules that students didn’t understand, especially having to do with mortgaging property or the 10% tax on the space just past GO, so we turned it into a fun math lesson. The game ended in a four-way tie as we ran out of time and the girls had to go to their Wednesday night enrichment class. Ironically, the theme the 6^th-8^th grade community is covering this month is money management!!!

Winter months make for a quieter season in our Akta Lakota Museum, so we chose this time to start the demolition of the old bathrooms and about a third of the display space to make room for some new presentations. After checking out the work, I stopped to see how our receptionist was doing in her new space. She was on the phone with a donor so I decided to check out how the new archive and collection storage facility looked now that we’ve moved everything into that area.

As soon as I opened the door the alarms went off with a loud siren! It took Vicki and I a while to figure out how to disarm the system and, by then, we’d attracted plenty of attention. At least we know the security system works!

About two weeks ago we sent out our Christmas appeal, which is the biggest mailing of the year. People have begun generously responding and we had many trays of mail arrive at the post office today. Our departments take turns helping sort mail when we’re busy, and it was Tipi Press staff’s day to sort. When I saw the email appeal for help sorting, I left my desk and joined them.

I enjoyed the chance to chat and catch up with what everyone is doing. While such a job can tedious, when many people pitch in it goes quickly. And I never complain about lots of mail, but give thanks that people care and want to help us make a difference!

Fourth and fifth grade students from Crow Creek grade school, our neighbors to the north, came to our gym for girls’ basketball games. The referees give players that age lots of leeway as they try to learn the basics of the game. They usually let double dribbles slide until it obviously becomes triple dribble. Our St. Joseph’s fourth graders played with enthusiasm, but could only get a couple of balls to drop through the hoop and were never in contention. Our fifth graders were more competitive and led the whole game until the fourth quarter, when the Chieftans rallied to win by 4.

Guest Blogger: Dianne

Hi, my name is Dianne—I am Administrative Assistant in the school— and I just thought I would catch you up on what is going on at St. Joseph’s Indian School!

We are in the fourth week of the second quarter of school—just a couple of weeks until Thanksgiving Break, and midterm is a week away. This year has gone by so fast, but time flies when you’re having fun!

And fun we have had … Halloween was so much fun for all the students and staff. A good portion of the school was dressed up in their costumes for the day and after school everyone went trick or treating here on campus. I, myself, came as a rock star! Many of the offices and all of the homes have had Halloween treats to share. At the end of trick or treating, the Rec Center has a grand march and costume judging contest. There are so many innovative costumes to see! It really is fun to watch!

We are very busy here at school with our regular schedule of classes and many extracurricular activities also. Today, we have two girls basketball games—one here at St. Joseph’s and one away.

Service Plan Meetings are being held, which are much like Teacher/Parent Conferences and are held twice per year. These include the teacher, the parent/guardian, the family service counselor, the houseparent and the student themselves.

This week we will have our Honor Roll Assemblies for first quarter. Our prizes have arrived and they will be given out to those on the A and B Honor Roll and those with Perfect/Outstanding Attendance for first quarter. I think the students will love what we ordered for them—notebooks and bookmarks with Native American designs. They are quite beautiful! I also have made their certificates on award paper with Native American designs.

We have a lot to accomplish before Thanksgiving Break, which seems to be just around the corner. It will be a good time for staff and students alike to take a little break from all the daily schoolwork and teaching to regroup and be ready to begin refreshed when we return.

Thanks for all your support to aid us in what we do for our Native American students!

Hope and support

Four of our houseparents and I traveled two hours to Parmelee on the Rosebud Indian Reservation for the funeral of the mom of four of our students. All night wakes are still a tradition, and the boys spent most of Saturday and Sunday in the church hall keeping vigil with their mom, who was only 37 years old.

The pastor who led the services knew the family well, and was able to personalize his remarks. He was honest about the tough life and issues the family faced, yet offered hope and support. An elder in the community offered prayers in Lakota, and sang a traditional song. I offered my condolences and spoke about the Lakota concept Mitakuye Oyasin – We are all related and how in facing the loss of a mother how important the other relationships in life become.

We drove 10 miles out into the country, mostly on gravel roads, to reach the cemetery. Pall bearers used leather straps to lower the coffin into a rough wooden box at the bottom of the hand-dug opening.

The hammering of the nails echoed across the prairie as the box was closed and then the pallbearers began filling in the grave with shovelfuls of dirt. When I noticed the men tiring I tapped one of them on the shoulder and helped for a while until I was relieved. When the grave was filled in, the family lovingly placed all the flowers on top of the dirt, and we headed back to the hall for a meal.

The soup pots were about 3 feet high and about as round as a circle with my arms. They were filled with delicious homemade soup on a chilly November day. The star quilts that decorated the walls around the room were taken down and gifted to people who had helped the family through these sad days. One of the boys lives in Speyer Home (6^th– 8^th grade) and since the whole home came in a show of support on Sunday the family wanted to make sure we took home a quilt for them. I was also honored with the gift of a quilt.

Talking over supper, the pastor told of a retired teacher in the community. He and his wife always have a big pot of soup on the stove, and if youngsters in the community don’t have anything to eat, or just need a safe or quiet place to be for a while, that was a place of refuge. Those are the kind of folks that so inspire me. Hopefully our work at St. Joseph’s can provide a respite and shelter for Lakota students when their lives at home get tough.

The aunts who are the boys’ guardians had been working nonstop three days to get everything ready for the wakes and funeral. They asked if we had room to take the boys back with us and we were glad to be able to help. On the trip back there were more tears, and alternating times of quiet. After we stopped half way for gas and a break, the boys seemed to put the grief on hold for a while and talk about sports and other things. Our staff will try to be especially attentive and supportive of their needs in the difficult days and times to come.

Halloween festivities

This morning our high school staff hosted a farewell breakfast in the Hogebach Home for Shana, who has directed the High School Program for the past five years. Her husband got a promotion that moved the family to a different part of the state. In her time as director here, she and her staff found ways to increase our student GPA and retention rates, and see more go on to college. We plan to build on those successes and continue developing the programs and ideas she implemented. All the best to you in your new endeavors Shana!

Halloween is one of the most exciting days to be a kid, especially when you get to dress up in costume all day. I toured the school and previewed the attire our Lakota students picked out for this whimsical holiday. Several of the teachers and staff also got into the spirit of the day and wore colorful and creative outfits, including Kathleen our principal, whose face was painted to make her look like a cat. After the initial giggles died down, everyone got down to work, and the quizzes, experiments and reading went on as normal.

There was no study hall as teachers went easy on tonight’s homework, so classes could dismiss a half hour early. Students put the finishing touches on their costumes and grabbed a bag for trick or treating. My office was one of several stops around campus. Those of us who work in central offices coordinate treats with our dining hall so we have some variety, and so the treats are fun but have some nutritional value. I passed out fruit roll ups. I wore a Fred Flintstone outfit, and with reruns of the classics, about half the kids knew who I was. The other half were fascinated by the big feet that came along with the costume.

We have two medical students from the University of South Dakota spending a few days on St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus for a cross cultural experience. We put them to work right away lining up children for the costume contest. We gathered in the Rec Center where the students were split into categories of funniest, scariest and most creative according to each age group of homes. I wasn’t one of the judges this year, but one of my favorites was Bryante, a first grader dressed like Tinkerbelle. The judges agreed too, and she won first place. My favorite staff ensemble was a Little Mermaid trio, with two of our staff as Ursula and King Triton, and their daughter as Ariel.

Several families took part in the festivities, then checked their child out to take them trick or treating in town. A few of the homes, especially with younger kids, also made some rounds in town, since that’s part of the fun and allure of Halloween. At the end of the day, houseparents collect all the candy and treats so our students will snack a little at a time over the next couple of weeks.

Guest Blogger: Julie H.

Hello friends! I hope today finds you all doing well! My name is Julie H. and I am a Family Service Counselor at St. Joseph’s Indian School. Things here are St. Joseph’s are going well!

This week we celebrated Red Ribbon Week and the kids were able to take part in lots of fun activities! There were activities such as inflatables, ice cream sundaes, relays and theme days. The kids always enjoy celebrating Red Ribbon Week!

The next celebration we are looking forward to is Halloween. The kids are all gearing up for the fun and planning their costumes. The students are able to trick-or-treat on St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus and then we have a Halloween costume contest. The students always enjoy this time of year!

Our 6-8 grade boys just finished up their football season and the 6-8 grade girls just finished up volleyball. Now, the girls are gearing up for basketball and have started their practices. Their first game is November 5 and they are very excited. The 4^th and 5^th grade girls have also started basketball practice. Basketball season is a favorite time of the year for both our boys and girls. They enjoy the sport immensely, work hard, and show great sportsmanship. It will be fun to watch them play!

As the weather grows cooler, we are also starting to get ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas. What a wonderful time of year for our Lakota students! It is always a joy to be able to celebrate these holidays with the students! The students get a nice break for both holidays so they can return home and spend time with their families.

Another great thing happening today is FAST (Families and Schools Together) graduation. This program brings families to campus to spend quality time with their children. The program consists of a meal, family oriented activities, a time for parents to meet together and talk, and time for parents to just have fun with their children. We have graduated over 100 families from this program. Tonight we graduate seven more families! This is a great time for the families to come and spend time with their kids and for the staff who work with the students to get a chance to know families a little better as well.

As always, I thank you all for your generous donations of prayer and financial assistance! Without your help, we could not do the great work we do! May God’s blessings be poured out on each and every one of you!

Julie H.

Memorable laughs and occasional tears

Days on St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus have memorable laughs and occasional tears. Today was a day for grieving, as we got word that the mother of four of our students died much too young. We are all lifting them up in our thoughts and prayers.

The boys’ aunt notified our family service counselors ahead of time, so Scott and Karen gathered the boys after school for a family meeting. An older brother, who lives out of state, was on the phone to take part in the conversation as well. After they had time to let the sad news sink in, I was called to join in for some prayers.

Dave, one of our Native American Studies Specialists, brought in a hand drum, and sang a Lakota prayer song to comfort and strengthen the family. There aren’t a lot of words at times like this, only a caring presence. Karen rounded up some gift cards to the local McDonald’s so the auntie and boys could go out for supper and some time together before parting. I’m sure the days to come will be tough on the boys. Our circle of support will try to walk with them along the difficult journey.

On a more joyful note, I stopped by the school gym later to watch our 1^st – 3^rd grade boys learning about wrestling. Two of the houseparents were helping Mark, our recreation specialist teach not only about rules and techniques, but about sportsmanship. The houseparents also appreciated the fact the boys could burn off energy in a constructive way, hoping they’d be calmer when they arrived home to settle in for the evening.