Missouri River – Page 2 – St. Joseph's Indian School

Today’s guest blogger: Robyn

Good Morning! My name is Robyn and I am a Family Service Counselor at St. Joseph’s Indian School. I work with 6^th-12^th grade girls and have been a counselor here for the past 7 years. The past few weeks have been quite busy. I was able to visit some of the students that I work with down in Marty, South Dakota. Marty is a little Native American Indian Reservation community about two hours south of Chamberlain, not too far from the Missouri River. It was so good to see the students’ smiling faces. I really enjoy having the opportunity to visit with families. Next week I will be traveling to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and Rosebud Indian Reservation, both located in South Dakota. I have also been working on admission files for the upcoming school year. We have been busy requesting school and medical records and conducting interviews with families.

We continue to get rain and the Missouri River continues to rise. The flooding remains in the local area and people have been pulling together to help and support each other. St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus is on the river, but has not flooded. More than likely, the water will not reach any of our buildings or roadways. It is quite a sight to see the waters continue to spread.

We appreciate your continued support and are very blessed to have such wonderful people invested in St. Joseph’s Indian School. I am so fortunate to be part of an organization that is making a difference in the lives of American Indian children and families that we serve. It is truly a gift to be able to follow your passion and calling from God. Thank you for continuing to provide me with that opportunity.

Today’s guest blogger: Foster

Hi, I’m Foster, today’s guest blogger and groundskeeper here at St. Joseph’s Indian School.

Besides myself, I have 6 more people helping me with the grounds maintenance (5 are seasonal help). We have had a cool wet spring; bad for me, but great for anything green and growing.

We just finished up planting flowers, trees and re-seeded bare spots in the turf. We are busy keeping up with mowing, trimming, weeding and watering. On rainy days, we are helping with the remodel of the Stevens and Mathias home, tearing out walls and pulling up carpet. I guess you could say we are helping with the destruction, not the construction!

A view from above - St. Joseph's Indian School

I look forward to this time of year since our peonies are just coming into bloom and our linden trees will soon follow. I get lots of inquiries from visitors on our linden trees, their sweet fragrance is noticed all over campus!

The irrigation system for our turf is taking some time in getting it up and running. We didn’t turn it on at all last year, as we had so much rain. We pump water from the river to irrigate our turf. It is quite a feat to place the pump in the river each spring. Due to the high water level of the Missouri River, and the possibility of it going even higher, our pump house could be flooded. What a contradiction, we might not be able to irrigate due to flooding!

In addition to those duties, we are also responsible for street and parking lot maintenance. Crack filling and seal coating of our asphalt areas will be a big job later this summer. I hope those of you reading this will get a chance to stop by our campus and checking us out. Take care and have a great summer!