Month: August 2012

Building a culture of success

All St. Joseph’s staff returned to campus today to begin a week of orientation. Homes and classroom are being prepared in anticipation of our students arrival on August 12. Some folks we’ve not seen since graduation in May, while many others have worked day in and day out over the summer. There were lots of hugs and catching up.

Energy filled the Our Lady of the Sioux Chapel as people streamed in for the opening prayer service. Our theme this year is Creating a Culture of Success: Mind, Body, Heart and Spirit. After a spirit-filled time of prayer, one of the houseparents said to me,

“This was great, now while we’re all rested and excited to be back – but could we do this again in the middle of February when we’re frazzled and weary?!”

We gathered in the dining hall for a review of the strategic plan, and the required Human Resources announcements and reminders. “Play nice” is our standard speech about avoiding any hints of workplace harassment and cooperating with others. When we entered the dining hall, HR had loud, peppy music blaring, and before we started they led us in a few exercise/dance moves that woke people up and got their blood pumping. It helped create more of a fun, engaging atmosphere, which people appreciated. It also made us more attentive to the information that followed. Taking short breaks for fun and exercise are not a waste of time at all, but contribute to building a culture of success.

Our two SCJ novices-to-be, James and Juan,  arrived on campus last night. They will be making their retreat here this week. While the staff is lively, and lots of work and activity is going on around campus, there are still plenty of quiet spaces to be reflective. I had individual meetings with each young man, and in the evening they gathered with Fr. Anthony, Fr. Bernie and I. We shared our vocation stories, about how we came to understand God’s call to religious life, and what has brought us here to this place and time. Even though I’ve known Fr. Bernie and Fr. Anthony since I was in the minor seminary at the age of 14, I still learned many new insights from what they shared. I also appreciated what our newest members had to share from their faith experience.

New staff, new school year at St. Joseph’s Indian School

New staff are continuing their orientation, with everything from how to calm an out of control child to working our email system. One day they had a scavenger hunt to get acquainted with campus and start to find useful and needed things. I  hope our new co-workers will feel welcome and an important part of the St. Joseph’s mission. Today  the SCJs hosted them for lunch at our house.

As folks finished eating, I asked each person to introduce themselves with a short “job description” of their role. Present among us were houseparents and teachers, custodians, food service worker, an electrician and a bookkeeper. I asked folks who came from a distance how they heard about St. Joseph’s Indian School. Several were from families who supported us with donations, and through the mail have known about the school since they were little. Others saw an ad in their area newspaper, or found job information online. The people who grew up in the area were asked to share a favorite memory of St. Joseph’s Indian School. Two people whose parents worked here fondly remembered the family picnics we have for staff. One woman recalled her own elementary school days when she played basketball and volleyball against our kids. I trust the good spirit of camaraderie and sharing, the hope and enthusiasm they bring will enrich us all.

Fifteen of our staff sat in on a teleconference with a group of researchers. Child Trends conducted interviews with our students and their families and presented their findings. Overall the report was affirming. Like any organization, we look for ways to improve, and there were areas to look at in that light as well.

One area we need to review is our vast array of rules. Students grudgingly admit that the rules are overall a good thing that point them along the right path. Still, few of us really like so many rules. Just because we’ve always done something that way, it’s still worth a fresh look. Celia, one of our residential coordinators pointed out that we have a rule limiting student outgoing long distance calls to the weekend. That was put in place years ago partially because that was when calls were cheapest. Our phone services now costs the same per minute all the time. As we look at improving communication with families, that’s an example of a rule that probably needs to be revamped. While students also complain about homework and house chore rules, those are the kinds of things that we’ll undoubtedly keep in place.