Author: St. Joseph's Indian School

At St. Joseph's Indian School, our privately-funded programs for Lakota (Sioux) children in need have evolved over 90 years of family partnership, experience and education. Because of generous friends who share tax-deductible donations, Native American youth receive a safe, stable home life; individual counseling and guidance; carefully planned curriculum based on Lakota culture and individual student needs and tools to help build confidence, boost self-esteem and improve cultural awareness. All of this helps children to live a bright, productive, possibility-filled future.

Rec Center activities

Our last Enrichment night before spring break with the Afra and Dennis Homes (first through third-grade girls) was filled with the sound of the bat hitting the ball. We were inside playing whiffleball!

First, we had the girls throw and catch to warm up and improve those skills. Then, we played a game of whiffleball. The girls really were hustling and the score was close all the way to the end! Thanks to Sherry, Christine, Peter and Mike for all their help and cheering.

The boys from the Rooney and Speyer Homes (sixth through eighth-grade boys) tried their hand at a Hot Shot contest, which is a basketball shooting game. The first two rounds were one minute long and the top six shooters from each home played a third round of 30 seconds.

The Championship Round came down to Kyle and Jeremy, who each won a prize as the top shooters from their homes. After 1 minute and 30 seconds of shooting, Jeremy finished on top 30 – 18. Many thanks to Nate and Tony for keeping score, Mark for keeping the clock and Brian and Sue for cheering the boys to do their best!

Next week, when everyone is back from spring break, we will get back in the swing of Enrichment night. Hopefully, we will be outside playing t-ball and softball!

Mark and Andy

High school life

Hello again from the Carola Home. This is a busy time of year for our high school students wrapping up the last quarter of the school year while preparing for next year and beyond. The boys and girls must balance their classes, sports, donor luncheon trips, college trips, jobs and spending time with their families and home. This can overwhelm some of our students and they may begin to struggle with keeping up with their homework and grades.

One of our freshman boys was selected to attend the Cultural festival later this month. Four of our boys are attending the college trip to Southeast Tech. Three of our boys were selected to go on the upcoming donor luncheon trips to Oklahoma City and New England. Being selected for things like this encourages our students and proves to them that they can make it – that they can become a Junior, a Senior and a Graduate!!

A couple of St. Joseph's Indian School's kids on the honor roll. — These boys have worked hard at maintaining honor roll all year.

This year our Carola boys have done an amazing job. Most of our 8 sophomores and two freshmen have seen their grades only rise. Some have been on the honor roll all year, while others have come closer than ever before. One started the year with a GPA below 2.0 and he may make the honor roll this time. Yah!!!

This week the 1^st -8^th grade homes at St. Joseph’s are on their Spring Break, leaving our Chamberlain high school students seeing what real life is like. In the real world, life goes on even when you can’t be included because you must work or go to school.

The boys love going to the Dude Ranch. — Campfire, hot dogs, Missouri River and smores. The boys were in heaven!

While the younger homes are away, however, the older kids do play. We took our boys to the Dude Ranch (a local spot that offers public access to the Missouri River), where they built a campfire and cooked hotdogs. We also invited the other homes to come out and share SMORES…YUM!

The rest of the week is all about basketball. The high school homes are celebrating the Chamberlain Cubs going to the state basketball tournament in Sioux Falls. Thanks to donor support, the homes are able to go to the State championship games to support their team. GO CUBS!!!

Chamberlain Cubs boys basketball team. — Good luck Cubs!

The St. Joseph’s High School students are traveling to Sioux Falls for the State Basketball Tournament to support their Chamberlain Cubs basketball team.

#24 is the senior and #2 is the junior forward injured in the first game of the district tourney, both from St. Joseph’s Indian School and both mentioned here in Claire’s blog.

Your friend April,
St. Joseph’s Indian School houseparent

Building relationships

Hi everyone! LaRayne here, St. Joseph’s Native American Studies teacher.

I recently teamed up with Sherry, one of our counselors, to oversee St. Joseph’s eight week inter-city basketball program.

Sherry and I were blessed with being able to watch some relationships being built between our St. Joseph’s Indian School girls and the girls from the Chamberlain community. We had 31 total girls take part in the fun and 16 of those were St. Joseph’s girls. We had four teams which were named after four WNBA teams: Charlotte Sting, Los Angeles Sparks, Washington Mystics and the Minnesota Lynx. The Lynx have a connection to St. Joseph’s through a church in Minnesota.

Not only did the girls get to build relationships as a team on the basketball court, but also in other areas. During the second week of the program, Sherry and I created a fun night of team building skills, games and activities along with a fun meal and a swim in the pool on our campus. The girls continued to build relationships while playing a game they really love – basketball. The community and campus come together for a great cause. Our referees and coaches were all from the community as well as St. Joseph’s employees and family members.

The last week of inter-city encompassed two all star games (one for the younger and one for the older girls) and another hour in the pool to finish the program.

Sherry and I look forward to building this program in the years ahead so that when our students from St. Joseph’s attend the public high school, they will see familiar faces at high school and will have built some relationships that will last for years to come.

Heartwarming conversations

Hi! My name is Tina and I am the receptionist in the Development Office at St. Joseph’s Indian School. I have the pleasure of visiting with many of you each day when you call St. Joseph’s. The heartwarming conversations and generosity of so many make my job rewarding.

I’m always happy to answer your questions or, when necessary, direct you to the appropriate staff member. Many requests I hear and can assist with are:

accepting donations
taking address changes
sending additional address labels
limiting the number of mailings you receive
excluding gifts from mailings
seeing that we correspond with you through email only
sending additional Christmas cards or other gifts
removing someone from the mailing list

In addition to my receptionist duties, I enjoy spending time with a sixth grade St. Joseph’s student as a mentor. Even though her houseparents are very loving and supportive, living in a home with 12 other girls does not allow for much one on one attention. I’ve been a mentor for 3 years and have learned about many challenges the children face on the reservation.

Thank you for the many blessings you share with the Lakota boys and girls!

Back in the swing of things

I’m getting back in the swing of things after a 10 day stay in the hospital for an obstructed intestine, apparently caused by scar tissue in my abdomen from the previous cancer surgery. Lent is often a time of fasting, and I had to go the first 7 days with no solid foods at all to help the system relax and clear itself out.

When I finally got to eat some chicken broth, it tasted finer and richer than Thanksgiving dinner! I had good care in our local hospital and thank all the nurses and doctors who looked after me.

Being close by also had the advantage of a steady stream of visitors. Staff dropped by to inquire, pray and support. One of our 2^nd graders, Kyla, had to come up to the clinic for tests, and she stopped by the room with a homemade card and hug that brightened my day considerably. LaToya, one of our high school juniors who works an after school job at the hospital brought me my tray of food and greetings from the Crane Home. As I roamed the hallways, pushing IV pole ahead of me to get some exercise, I ran into a whole variety of folks from the community with health concerns of their own, and tried to be a caring listener to them.

Hospital stays trigger so many different moods and emotions. At times during the week I felt anxious. Once they determined I wouldn’t need to have surgery, but just wait it out, boredom became a struggle. A few times the hospitalization had a retreat-like quality, as I had plenty of time for prayer and spiritual reading. With no meals to break up the day, the Divine Office, with its various prayers at each time of the day, took on greater significance to mark and celebrate the passage of time. I tried to listen carefully to what God might be saying in the midst of sickness and struggle.

Being active, it’s hard to slow down and my mind raced with the many things I could be doing. Now that I’m home and have both the freedom and opportunity, I don’t have the energy I’d like. It’s important to pace yourself and not overdo it.

Region Champions

Ahhh! Basketball playoffs! They are the best! Tuesday we got to watch the Chamberlain Cubs pull off an exciting upset win over the Eagle Butte Braves to take home the Regional Championship. St. Joseph’s took a fan bus to Pierre, South Dakota to support the Cubs, and several staff and homes caravanned along as well.

Everyone seems to like something different about going to a basketball game. Some of our kids just like to hang out and socialize with friends. They don’t even seem to know that a game is going on. As long as they get their giant dill pickle and blue Powerade from the concession stand, they are set.

Some of our kids (and staff/parents) watch the game but still don’t know what is going on. They like to make helpful suggestions like, “Put in [insert kid’s name]!!” Or, if the kid is already in the game, “Go! Score! Win!”

It doesn’t really matter that he is playing defense, after all.

In every crowd there are people who actually know what is going on. They know the difference between a block and a charge. They know a steal from a foul and whether that pivot foot travelled. They keep stats and holler out useful suggestions,

“Watch your follow through! Keep your head up!”

Of course, sometimes there is a debate as to whether the people “in the know” are the ones in the stands, or the men in the stripes out on the floor. This is a good time to go to the concession stand.

I personally like to join the cheerleaders. I have three in my home. Most days I see them wandering the halls, swinging their arms and muttering cryptic phrases like “Eat ‘em up Cubs.” Or beat ‘em up? Team ‘em up?

You would think I would have figured out the cheers by now … but no. The Cub Mascot is also a St. Joseph’s student, and his houseparent shares my confusion. For now, we have decided that the words to the fight song are simply “Na na na na nanana,” at high volume.

Chamberlain Cubs team pictures. — Who doesn't love basketball? Congratulations!

The best part of this game? Several of our St. Joseph’s students are from Eagle Butte, so visiting with friends and family was wonderful. Somebody got to play with an adorable baby niece with big pink cheeks. Sigh.

Oh, and watching our 6 foot senior go up and get his Regional medal.

And our junior forward, injured in a game last week, getting carried out on his teammate’s shoulders so he could cut down the game net. Priceless.

Did I mention that we won? And that we’re going to state?

What’s your favorite part about high school basketball?

Prayers for Fr. Steve

Dear Benefactors,

I have been asked to give you a brief up-date on Fr. Steve Huffstetter, SCJ and his health situation.

A week ago, on February 26^th, he went to Mitchell with one of the High School Boys’ Home for a movie and dinner. When he got back later that night his stomach began to act up and he had flu-like symptoms.

On Monday morning he was still feeling the effects and visited with the nurses here on staff at St. Joseph’s. They looked him over and suggested that he needed to go to the local hospital to be checked out. I drove him up mid-morning.

He called about noon and said they were admitting him. It seems there was blockage in one of his intestines, caused by a piece of scar tissue from his operation last year. He was hooked up to an IV and later in the week had a tube to help drain his stomach.

The Doctor kept close watch. Towards the end of last week things began to take a positive turn. The medication produced good results and surgery will not be needed. He is still on the IV, but is now taking some liquids and soft food. The Doctor kept him in the hospital so he could observe how Fr. Steve’s body reacted to the intake of food. Fr. Steve’s spirits are up and he will be coming home this afternoon – he is especially looking forward to having some good things to eat.

This notice is not sent to worry you, but to bring you up-to-date on how things are going with Fr. Steve.

Sincerely,

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ
Chaplain
St. Joseph’s Indian School
Chamberlain, SD

Youth group raises money for their community

Some of the boys here at St. Joseph’s are part of a group called the Explorers.

Over the past few years, this group has raised over $60,000 towards charitable giving in the local communities!

This year’s group has donated money to those battling cancer in and around the community of Chamberlain.

A large amount of the money comes from doing chores like raking leaves for community members who have a hard time getting around … or simply would rather have someone else do it.

The latest thing the Explorers did was go to Pierre, South Dakota and spent the day doing various educational activities in our State Capital.

The day started with a tour of the Capital building. We then went to the State Crime Lab, which the boys really enjoyed because of the shooting range. Obviously, the boys couldn’t do any shooting, but they enjoyed watching the officers shoot.

After the Crime Lab, we went back to the Capital and meet with Governor Dennis Daugaard. The day ended with the Explorers being introduced on both the House and Senate floors of the Capital, where they received standing ovations for their work in the community!

While the day was educational for all the students, I think the highlight of the day for the kids was the buffet at the Pizza Ranch. Below is a picture of the boys enjoying themselves the restaurant.

Houseparent Nate

Native American boys eating at Pizza Ranch. — The boys really enjoying themselves the restaurant after a full day!

Get your powwow brochure today!

The votes have been counted,

the results are in!

Look for Dakota’s picture on the cover of the 2012 powwow brochure and poster!

Get your powwow brochure featuring the winning image as well as other information about attending St. Joseph’s Indian School’s annual powwow by visiting St. Joseph’s Indian School’s powwow website.

Pilamaya – thank you – all so much for your likes, shares and comments!

Designed to help bring families closer together

American Indian kids playing games around the table. — Family time is so important for today's youth.

Hello friends of St. Joseph’s Indian School!

Last weekend saw the start of our Families and Schools Together (FAST) program. We have been running FAST for several years and have graduated over 100 families. It is a great, fun program!

FAST is held two times per year – once in the fall and once in the spring. This round of FAST runs on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings, for a total of eight sessions (four weekends). The program is designed to help bring families closer together, while giving families a chance to meet staff.

During each session, families participate in several activities, including:

Time for parents to meet as a group

Time for an identified child to receive 15 minutes of uninterrupted time with a parent

Games, like Feelings Charades

A meal

A lot of fun is had by all! There is singing, laughter, play and time for families to spend together. Our first weekend went wonderfully, and we look forward to our next weekend of FAST!

The students are also gearing up for Spring Break, which starts at the end of next week. Other than a few days at Easter, Spring Break is our last big break and signifies that school is moving toward the end of the year. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we will get all of our Native American students and families home safely for the break!

Warm wishes to all of you,

Julie

Family Service Counselor