Month: March 2013

Eighth graders visit State Capital

The Lakota students found the Senate chambers very interesting.
Cassidy, Melvina and Vilencia look down to the Senate floor.

Last Friday, St. Joseph’s eighth graders went on their cultural trip to Pierre, South Dakota. We left school about 8:10 A.M. and traveled west on the interstate to Vivian and proceeded north to Pierre.

Upon arrival in Pierre, we toured the State Capital Building. The students were impressed with the beauty and grandeur of the building, and all the old features. The aspect of the tour that held their attention the most was looking for the blue and heart shaped tiles. The Capital building has a tile floor; when it was installed, the workers were given a limited number of blue and heart-shaped tiles to place throughout the building as a mark of their own.

St. Joseph’s eighth-grade students had a great time visiting Pierre!
St. Joseph’s eighth-grade students take a group picture on the steps of the Capital Building.

From there, we went to Pizza Ranch and enjoyed lunch. After lunch, the day brought us to the Cultural Museum. The museum exhibits items from the different eras of South Dakota’s people. The students seemed to enjoy looking at how people lived in the past.

On the way home, we took the road that follows the east side of the Missouri River. They were all looking forward to going down the stretch of road with the bumps!   It was a fun, educational experience for the Lakota eighth graders to get to see some country, take in some government and experience the history of South Dakota’s various cultures.

Students participate in Healing Camp

St. Joseph’s counseling staff set up our annual Healing Camp for 16 Lakota students who have lost a loved one through death this past year. Four of the children were grieving the death of a parent, and several more the death of brothers and sisters.

Craft projects help make the day enjoyable and relaxing for the Lakota children.
Healing Camp included fun icebreaker activities, craft projects, prayer and sharing.

One of the sad tragedies of life on Indian Reservations is how often, due to accidents or illness, people die so young.

I was scheduled to lead a few of the prayers, but when a couple of staff who planned to help couldn’t show up, I was paired up with a third grader for the day. Babies that Jhett would have known as a sister and niece died at birth within a couple of months of each other.

Some of the day’s activities were fun icebreakers. Other rituals were designed to let the child say what they wanted about death, and ask questions. The two hands-on ceremonies that drew the most emotion were writing a letter to their deceased loved ones and burning it, offering prayers up to heaven, and making a red prayer tie with their name on it and tying it to a tree in remembrance.

We also had a couple of art and craft projects. I’m not so creative at those, but I let the student take the lead. Asking questions about what he was drawing was a way to open up the conversation about his experience of loss. We had some time in the gym after lunch to shoot baskets and play volleyball to burn off some energy. Our Native American drum group joined us at the end of the day for a prayer song and handshakes of support all around.

Red prayer ties were put in a tree on campus to symbolize remembrance of the loved ones the Lakota children have lost.
The Lakota students created prayer ties to remember their loved ones.

St. Joseph’s Graduates – giving back

St. Joseph’s graduates can apply for scholarships to help them further their education.
Shay graduated from St. Joseph’s High School Program in 2011.

We have been looking toward the future of the high school program, both short and long term, and thinking about what our Lakota students need to succeed. Of course, we have a lot of thoughts, ideas, and opinions on that, but we decided to go to the source: our graduates.

We were fortunate enough to round up three former students; Roz graduated in 2008, Stefen in 2009 and Shay in 2011. We met over dinner to catch up, and they had a lot to share with us!

Much praise was given to Pam, our Transition Specialist. She works with St. Joseph’s high school students on independent living skills and life after high school. All the kids agreed that, thanks to their work with Pam, they knew what to wear to an interview and how to fill out a job application, among many other things. They also suggested that we spend more time doing mock interviews with the kids to give them more experience in that area.

St. Joseph’s High School Program helps 50 Native American students each year.
Stefen graduated from St. Joseph’s High School Program in 2009.

Each of the graduates also agreed they were very glad that skills like how to answer the phone and “no technology” meal times were enforced. Roz said that in every job she’s had, her supervisors have complimented her phone skills. Stefen concurred.

After noting another table in the restaurant where several teenagers had their phones out and weren’t participating in their table conversation, Stefen said he liked that his houseparents didn’t allow any phones at the dinner table, “because that was our time together as a family.”

The graduates also talked about how some things just have to be learned the hard way.

They’ve all had their challenges since graduating St. Joseph’s, but each of them have plans for their future and are moving forward. They also agreed they are glad they attended St. Joseph’s Indian School.

St. Joseph’s graduates often return to share their experiences with the Lakota children.
Roz graduated from St. Joseph’s High School Program in 2008.

Roz said, “If I could tell the current students just one thing it would be this, in capital letters: BE GRATEFUL.”

She went on to say that life is hard. Sometimes when you’re surrounded by so many opportunities, and all of your basic needs – food, shelter, and clothing – are taken care of, it can be easy to start to expect those things. However, once you leave St. Joseph’s, you’re quickly reminded that those good things in life are not a given.

Roz has accepted our invitation to come and talk with our current high school students. We are thankful that she is willing to share her wisdom with the kids and believe it will make a positive impact on them.

Do you remember leaving “home” and discovering that things were different than you thought they would be?

Music & Sweet Snacks

Have you ever seen those colorful commercials begging you to order a Kids Bop CD? You know, the ones with a bunch of kids singing, jumping, and dancing? Well, that pretty much sums up what the Lakota girls in the Afra Home consider an ideal day. They love music!  They love singing, dancing, playing instruments, and making their own choreography; they could literally do it for hours.

Imagine having 10 little girls (grades 1-3) who all want to take a turn at “playing” one keyboard. Sure, I have a massive headache by the time it’s all over, but it makes me happy to see them happy, so that’s what we do.

All the kids at St. Joseph’s have to tidy up their rooms every morning as well as take care of their chores and responsibilities. As an incentive, the order in which the girls finish determines the order in which we pick songs to dance to later in the day.

Here is a homemade music video of one of their recent and awesome picks:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI6DUPR9Iu4]

The differences between what motivates our girls versus what motivates our boys are really interesting. Among other things, the boys LOVE food. I really enjoy cooking for them. Here at St. Joseph’s we never withhold food as a punishment or give them food as a reward. Obviously, food should be something all children should have no matter what. However, sometimes I will cook things that take extra work in the kitchen if the boys have had a good day.

On Sundays after church, if the boys were good, I won’t make a “boring” lunch. I make brunch, which includes homemade chocolate chip pancakes and a special peanut butter sauce to go with them rather than syrup. I love seeing Jachin and the boys sitting at the table waiting in anticipation. They get so smiley and excited. I can’t explain it but my heart does a little dance when they exclaim “Thank you for cooking Luleisa!!!”

We are also doing a health challenge, which entails eating lots of fresh fruits and veggies with every meal. The word “challenge” is an understatement. Sometimes the boys just don’t want to eat vegetables. However, if they don’t eat their fruits and veggies at supper, then they don’t get “sweet snack” in the evening.

Fridays are a very important day for the Ambrose Home boys. Everyone has only one goal in mind: I. MUST. MAKE. SWEET. SNACK.

Dinner is their mission. They take it very seriously because on Fridays we give them a can of pop and a full sized candy bar. Of course, if you don’t eat your supper, you’ll chomp on fruit as you watch everyone else guzzle down their pop.

Ladies and gentlemen, if this video doesn’t inspire you to eat your veggies, there is no hope for you! Here’s Paite vs. Food: Friday Green Bean Challenge

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEwHX0jPZns]

Learning about poetry with Linea

The older Lakota students enjoy reading to younger children on Dr. Seuss’ birthday.
My sixth grade reading students reading to a fourth grader.

Another quarter is coming to an end at St. Joseph’s Indian School; the year is going by fast!  In my reading classes, we have wrapped up the units on nonfiction and have ventured in to the world of poetry.

It is a nice change for the Lakota students because they are introduced to not only serious poetry, but also poetry that lets them enter fantasy land.  They learn about the different elements of poetry including imagery, metaphors, similes, rhyme, rhythm, repetition, and alliteration.

The forms of poetry they are introduced to are narrative poems, free verse poems, and concrete poems.  We are hoping that they will be able to relate the themes expressed in these poems to their own lives and to the world around them.

On Friday, March 1, we celebrated Dr. Seuss’s birthday.  This is always a fun day for the students, especially the younger ones.  The students are allowed to wear PJ’s to school and we set aside a time in the afternoon for the older students to get together with the younger students and read Dr. Seuss books to them.   My reading class looks forward to this especially if they have a younger sibling.

Linea – 6-8 Grade Reading Teacher

Do you have a favorite Dr. Seuss book?

Friday, St. Joseph’s Indian School celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday by a special reading time at the end of the school day. If they wanted to, the Lakota students got to wear pajamas to school. Older students paired up with younger ones, brothers and sisters together where possible, sat on the hallway floor, and read from the vast library of Theodore Geisel’s well-known children’s books.

Fr. Steve joined the Lakota (Sioux) boys and girls to read Dr. Seuss books.
Fr. Steve’s wild pajamas got a few laughs from the Lakota children!

I drew a few laughs with the wild PJ outfit I pulled out of the closet. We talk about being a ‘fool for Christ’ and sometimes you just have to get silly and have fun with the kids. I was reading with Caden for a while, who is a sharp student, but he just wasn’t getting into the books. I tried to get him to read with more animation and fun, so each of us took turns with a page, trying to be more excited and dramatic. He has a bit of ham in him, and he finally got going with the rhyming and tongue in cheek humor that makes those books so memorable. My favorite is Green Eggs and Ham.

Do you have a favorite Dr. Seuss book?