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.

A word from Fr. Anthony

Dear Benefactors,

I have the privilege to share with you what has been happening here at St. Joseph’s over this past weekend since Fr. Steve, several of our Native American students and some of our staff have been on a donor luncheon in the Napa Valley area of California.

The Native American students playing basketball. — Basketball is one of the favorite pastimes for our Lakota (Sioux) youth!

From the students’ point of view, the biggest thing on campus is the start of the boys’ basketball and the girls’ intercity basketball seasons. The boys kicked off the season against Lyman here at the rec center and St. Joseph’s came out victorious with the 7^th and 8^th grade teams, but our 6^th graders came up a few points short. The 7^th & 8^th grade teams also had the honor of being invited to attend a recent Chamberlain High School (CHS) basketball game, on which several St. Joseph students are playing, and sit behind the varsity bench and visit the locker room. This came about since the CHS team had been able to use our gym to do some practicing and the coach came up with this as a way of saying thanks. The girls’ intercity began this past Sunday with young ladies from the Chamberlain, South Dakota area joining with 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grade students here at St. Joseph’s Indian School. They are divided up into four teams. Their season will run through the start of March. You may recall that when the boys had their season they had a special five-minute quarter for those who were 6^th graders so they had the chance to play a bit; but the girls are trying out a different wrinkle in that each player has to play in each quarter. The coaches are trying to sub so that each plays about 3 minutes per quarter. The purpose of the intercity is to give the young ladies a chance to get to know each other so that when they meet up in high school they will already know something about the new classmates.

Another sports activity, geared to give our students something to do during the months that there should be snow outside, is our bowling program. Again this is offered to the students in the upper grades on Saturday afternoons with staff serving as team captains and coaches. The students enjoy it since there are quarters to be won for strikes and picking up the various splits that occur. The local alley also offers a choice of free drink or nachos if one of the participants gets a strike when a special pin is the head pin. To keep things on an even keel, each bowler has a handicap so that extra pins are given to make it as even as possible at the start.

Lynn and her present from Santa. — The Native American children had such a great Christmas at St. Joseph's Indian School!

The weather finally turned a bit winter-like. We received some snow and cold temperatures mid-week which allowed the students to hit the slopes and try out their sleds and ski boards received when they opened their ‘Christmas gifts.’ They enjoyed being out of the homes going up and down the hills. The joy they experienced reminds me to again say,

‘Pilamaya – thank you’ for your generosity towards our students.

It was amazing how generous you were and how excited the students were to be pulling apart paper and ribbons to see what else “Santa” brought them. Fr. Steve and I enjoyed having the chance to go to the various homes on campus to see the excitement.

However, the change in weather also brought some tragedy to the local Chamberlain community. Since we have had such a mild winter, the arrival of snow and ice did cause a few accidents. One especially, touched many here in Chamberlain as the pastor of the local United Church of Christ, Rev. Gregg King, was killed as he and his wife were taking their daughter to the airport in Sioux Falls. He lost control, crossed the meridian and hit an on-coming vehicle. Several of our staff are members of that local Faith community. We ask that you keep Reverend King in your prayers.

The new Bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota, the Most Rev. Robert Gruss, is scheduled to take place next week. He has just recently been installed as Bishop. The Diocese of Rapid City covers all the state of South Dakota west of the Missouri River. As many of our students come from West River areas, Bishop Gruss is their shepherd.

May the Great Spirit continue to bless and reward you for your generosity towards St. Joseph’s. I hope each of you have a great day and that your new year is offer to a wonderful start. Am happy to have had this chance to share with you some of what is happening here on campus. Looking forward to the next time I can share with you.

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

St. Joseph’s Indian School

Native American student Christmas celebration

All of our Lakota youngsters had a great time!

As our Native American students return from Christmas break, St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus begins to come alive again! It’s great to see the smiling faces and to visit with students about their holidays and break.

The students returned on Monday anticipating the Student Christmas Celebration, which was held on Sunday. As houseparents wrapped the gifts and placed them under the tree, students began to guess what might be inside. The weekend was full of fun activities, such as Friday night movies, rec center gatherings and walks to downtown Chamberlain. Yes, South Dakota’s unseasonably warm temps allowed homes to take walks, play at parks, and shoot hoops outside!

Students scurried to prepare for Sunday’s Mass, especially the fifth graders as they had a special role acting out the Christmas Epiphany. They came dressed as angels, shepherds, wise men and the blessed holy family – so full of excitement and energy! The Lady of our Sioux Chapel was full that Sunday as many additional staff was in attendance to celebrate with the students. Fr. Steve and Fr. Anthony said a beautiful mass as the students gazed. Students were a little quicker to process out, looking forward to lunch at their home, games and the opening of gifts!

As I floated in and out of different homes, it was obvious that the ‘Christmas Spirit’ was present … I thought about how blessed we are to be part of the St. Joseph’s Indian School mission and the many gifts that are present in our daily lives because of this. While the gifts were wrapped and under the tree that day, we must not take for granted the many gifts that are present throughout the year because of your support… Pilamaya – thank you!

PS – Watch a short video of the St. Joseph’s Indian School’s youngsters opening presents and saying, “pilamaya – thank you” here!

Talking through joys and stresses

We’re continuing to meet with different departments to discuss the new Strategic Plan. While the first couple of groups were large, 20 – 30 people, today’s meeting with the Rec Center staff meant that three of us were listening to the ideas and feedback of a group of four. I quite preferred that because we had some interesting ideas and back and forth dialogue and the staff came away with a much better understanding of the difference they can make in the plan, and some opportunities the plan can open up for them. We have lots of good ideas for wellness and new activities for staff and Native American students alike. Like life in general, we’ll have to choose a few and let some go. There’s neither time nor staff nor facilities to do everything we’d like.

Shelly, who is a relatively new staff member, appreciated being asked her opinion. “You really want to know what we employees think!” she remarked to me. We sure do. It’s from our staff that we get most of our best ideas.

I ate supper with the Sheehy Home (boys high school). Half the guys were still at basketball practice when I arrived, and the other half were playing NBA basketball video games. I wonder what the favorite spot around here is?! After supper the high school students who are applying for our June exchange program with our sister school in Handrup Germany gathered. One of the duties of those chosen will to give a series of presentations to the classrooms overseas. Maija, who trains houseparents, gave the American Indian students some pointers on how to prepare. In a couple of weeks, their power point presentations of “Life at St. Joseph’s” will be used to help select which students will represent our school.

The high schoolers ended the evening with their Sons and Daughters of Tradition session, which included a talking circle to help process joys and stresses that occurred in their lives over the holidays.

Quality time with the Lakota (Siioux) youth

Basketball season is a favorite pasttime at St. Joseph's Indian School!

After cheering on our girls teams last semester, our 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grade boys’ teams tipped off their basketball season against the first school west on I-90 rival: Lyman County. They took the 6^th grade game and our 7^th and 8^th grade team claimed bragging rights. In the nightcap, the score never got farther than four points apart the entire game and we prevailed 52-49. A couple of my former altar servers from Kennebec were on the Lyman County team, and it was fun to visit with their families and check up on happenings in their community. At halftime and in between games, I helped with the concession stand, where you get to run into so many students, staff, parents and visitors.

D’Kera, one of our high school seniors, started a part-time job working at the development office. After school, she calls donors to say thanks, which they appreciate. Or she might wish a happy birthday for the folks we know are celebrating a special day. She relayed to me how many people sent me their personal regards. I wish I could thank everyone more personally, but have many others helping me so that I can not only do other work, but spend quality time at ballgames and events which are special for our Lakota students.

Getting back into the routine of St. Joseph’s

Hello and happy new year to all!

My name is Julie and I am a Family Service Counselor here at St. Joseph’s Indian School. I have worked at St. Joseph’s Indian School for over 10 years and I love it as much today, as I did my first day! The students have returned from break full of stories about what they did over Christmas. They are happy to be back and working on settling back into the routine of St. Joseph’s.

What a great group of students I get to work with!

I work with girls grades 6-12 and provide services such as individual counseling, group counseling, guidance and enrichment activities. Some of the groups that I help facilitate include Daughters of Tradition, Stress Management and Grief Group. I also work with students on issues such as transitioning into high school and plans for post-high school. This year, I started a scrapbooking project with several of my students. What a great way to help them remember their years here at St. Joseph’s. While we are just getting started on this, the girls like the idea of having a way to remember friends and staff from St. Joseph’s. I also do memory scrapbooking with our Native American students who have lost loved ones. I also teach a guidance class. This year in guidance, we are working on friendships, anger management, stress management, racism, substance abuse prevention and goals for the future. We have class one time per week and I love working with the 6^th grade class.

Thank you to all who support our work here at St. Joseph’s through praying and giving. We could not provide the wonderful environment we do without all of you! We hope to have you come and visit us sometime!

Julie

Improvement and heavy questions

I made the rounds at St. Joseph’s Indian School this afternoon during reading intervention time. All the teachers had small groups of students working on language art skills, particularly needed by each group. I watched the six American Indian students in the upstairs computer lab who have been identified as needing to improve their comprehension and reading speed. A teacher supervised and reviewed comprehension with them while the computer timed their word speed. Their immediate goal was to improve to 100 words per minute.

I visited the Religious Education classroom. Richard had class with the 15 2^nd– 4^th graders who are preparing for sacraments this year. He had medals of Mary to give to each of the students and we prayed a prayer of blessing before giving them out as a reminder of Mary’s love.

Tonight at the Fisher Home (6^th– 8^th grade boys) the initial talk was of sports, the upcoming basketball season and tonight’s NCAA football championship. But later, Thomas and Andrew started asking many big religious questions.

What happens to your soul when you die?

What are Heaven and Hell like?

Do you think the world is going to end soon?

Can God forgive any sin if you are sorry?

I welcome those kinds of questions and wish they came up more often, but never feel I do them the justice they deserve when they do arise. But I encouraged them to keep thinking and searching to the answers for those types of questions.

Smiles and happy memories from our Lakota youth

One routine the junior high youth look forward to as the weekend begins is Friday Night Canteen. Our students earn a few dollars of allowance, depending on how they’ve done helping with their assigned home charges, or chores, during the week. Friday is payday, and a chance to buy a pop or sports drink, some popcorn or treat at the Rec Center concession stand. The 6^th-8^th graders have the gym to themselves from 8:00 until 9:00, and I stopped by to see what they were up to. A high percentage were playing basketball, which is the favorite sport here at St. Joseph’s Indian School. Some were in the game room, playing pool and table tennis. A few sat in the bleachers, talking with friends. All relaxing and having a good time.

Saturday was a day to “supercharge” the homes, with a deep cleaning and straightening up of bedrooms and common rooms. In the afternoon our bowling league began. Staff supervise teams of four students and teach them the basics, then give them a chance to roll a few games at the Chamberlain Bowling Alley. Bowling is one of those equal opportunity sports that doesn’t depend just on size or speed, but accuracy and consistency. Lots of our students take part and enjoy the activity.

I usually make the post office run on Saturdays, and while sorting the mail came across a letter to one of our brand new students. Figuring she might be just a little homesick and appreciate it sooner rather than later, I delivered it to Matthias Home (6^th– 8^th grade girls) and got invited to stay for supper. It was simple weekend fare, chili dogs and fruit. Sometimes houseparents apologize when I stop by and the meal isn’t fancy. But I’m reminded of Dorothy Day’s line,

Life is a banquet, even with crumbs, where there is a community of love.

We sat and talked a while until it was time for them to walk downtown to go to the movies.

Today we celebrated mass of the Epiphany. Students from Peggy’s 4^th grade class dressed as shepherds, kings, angels and the holy family and acted out the holy night and season. I chuckled when the three wise men were pointing to the east and I saw fingers pointing in three different directions. Somehow they managed to find their way to Bethlehem! In my homily I urged them not to be afraid to let their light shine, and develop their God-given talents and abilities. While the Christmas season may be ending, it’s important for us to have that spirit of generosity and good will throughout the year and for a lifetime.

Kass and the gift she received this year for Christmas.

If Advent is a season of waiting with patient expectation, today was the day of fulfilled expectations for our students. Today the students opened up Christmas presents in each of the homes. After church, I joined the Dennis Home (1^st-3^rd grade girls) for brunch and helped pass out the brightly wrapped packages. The big hit our donors sent for the girls were Pillow Pets – nighttime pillows shaped like an elephant, frog, butterfly or giraffe. Those were a nice complement to the soft fleece blankets that houseparent, Alice sewed for each of the girls. You can watch a video and read about this fun day on St. Joseph’s Indian School’s website.

I stopped in at each of our 18 homes for a few minutes, which added up to the entire afternoon. In the Raphael (1^st-3^rd grade boys) home, houseparent Peter had a screwdriver in hand, surrounded by four boys vying for his help with “some assembly required.” The Summerlee (4^th-5^th grade girls) Home was fascinated by the furry battery operated ZuZu Pets buzzing around a track. The Perky boys (4^th-5^thgrade) had radio controlled trucks zipping around furniture and underneath the kitchen table.

Lots of excitement and smiles and happy memories.

A daily routine with our high school girls

At some point during break, I found myself sitting on my couch thinking,

“It’s quiet around here. [Eyes shift about suspiciously]. Too quiet. [Pause.] What are the kids up to?”

I’ve come to appreciate the rhythms of the daily routines with the kids, so although I enjoy my time off, I still look forward to starting up again after break. It feels good to be back in the happy chaos of the high school homes as we all get settled back in.

We had so much fun singing, baking and laughing!

We left off last year baking cookies and making ornaments with girls from the younger homes. This involved Christmas carols, flour and frosting on the floor, and twiddly bits of glitter and goo gobs in the rug. These are hallmarks of a really good day: singing and a medium-sized mess.

This was a departure from our usual after school routine, which is a jumble of snacks, charges, appointments and updates on the new topics at Chamberlain High School.

“I got all my assignments in!” (Yeah! Good job!)

“What’s for dinner? Can I go to McDonald’s?” (Chili, and no you may not.)

“Can I go to Central [Receiving]? I need some black pants for work!” (Yes, and sign yourself out.)

“I need to go to early school tomorrow to do my speech.” (Please e-mail Miles for a ride at 7:30.)

“I need $2 for class dues and 3 dozen cupcakes for tomorrow.” (What huh?)

All of this is accompanied by the pop/hip hop soundtrack of someone’s laptop playing full blast and the constant clicking of cell phone keys texting.

Morning routines are not quite so lively. They are more like a cheesy suspense novel. Everything starts off predictably slow, with sleepy-eyed prayers and bits of toast. Then comes the rising action—the clock is ticking and our heroine is in a race against time to complete her mission before the bus arrives. Will she get her charge done? Will that bathroom sink pass inspection or will she have to go for a do-over? The bus is out front with the lights flashing, as we bite our nails (and tongues, because nagging is just NOT going to save the day). Will she find that Math book? WILL HER HAIR LOOK OK?? Tune in and find out.

The best part of the day is still the short window of time between curfew and bedtime. Theoretically, we are winding down for the day. We’ll have snacks and Sleepy Tea. Prayers are one part of the day when we can usually have all the girls together for a few quiet cell-phone free minutes. The girls usually have friends and family members that they want to pray for. Sometimes they pray for better grades or snow days. We have lists of intentions from benefactors that get added in as well. It may sound a bit corny, but I really enjoy prayer time. It’s a privilege to be able to talk about spirituality openly with the kids, and it makes for a positive end to our day. Well, sort of. Once bedtime actually arrives, we are back into chaos with everyone remembering “one last thing” that has to be done right now. The next five minutes will be like herding frogs.

I find myself smiling when I remember these things. I can’t wait to get caught up on all the news with the girls. Best of all, today is present-wrapping day for the high school program. This involves Christmas carols, pizza, tons of wrapping paper and tape. In other words: singing and a medium size mess. We’re off to a great start!

Until next time,

Claire

Enjoying beautiful weather in South Dakota

We began the new semester with Tuesday morning gathering in Our Lady of the Sioux Chapel for a prayer service. There we also announced the students who received the Leo John Dehon Service Awards for the past quarter. The students were nominated by teachers and houseparents for their attitude, help and cooperation in the school and homes. In addition to academics, we want to encourage our kids to be good and kind people as well.

While last week was calm and quiet with long blocks of time to work away on projects, the first few days of the new semester felt frantic. As all the Child Services people got back to their computers after a couple of weeks off, the electronic communications that I thought I’d cleared up, started coming in at a pace faster than I could answer.

I’ve also been participating in a series of meetings with many different departments to listen to their questions and feedback as we prepare to launch our 2015 Strategic Plan. We hope to finalize it by the end of the month, but even by raising the questions and setting goals we have already begun laying the groundwork in the many areas we want to improve.

The bar joists for the Akta Lakota Museum expansion have arrived, within the next week we’ll start to see the roof go up and the completion of the exterior frame. January in South Dakota is usually bundle up weather, but today we set a record high for this date with a balmy 66 degrees. A year ago we were in the midst of a long cold winter where such work wouldn’t have even been attempted.

Most of our Native American students have returned, but a few are still out. A few had transportation problems. One family is still out because of a funeral. One child has the flu and wouldn’t have been able to go to class even if he made it here. The high school program opened up all four of its homes and campus is starting to get back to its normal rhythms.

The kids loved unusually nice January weather!

With the spring like weather, the students were out in full-force after school playing tetherball, football, tag, basketball and jumping rope. First grader Treshawn repeatedly bemoaned the fact that we put the bicycles into storage for the winter since it was perfect riding weather. I joined in at the basketball hoop in front of the Benedict Homes and played with the 1^st-4^th graders. They’re used a lot of one-on-one moves, but I taught a few of them the basics of the give and go. A few of them got the hang of cutting to the basket and receiving a pass – wide open for the layup. Next we’ll have to teach the rest the concept of defending!

When supper time came I joined the Ambrose (1^st – 3^rd grade boys) Home for a hearty stew.

The conversation got around to Christmas break, and while many of the boys shared about their favorite toys they received, one of our second graders told me that he didn’t get anything for Christmas.

Those are the children that I know our upcoming Christmas celebration with presents will mean the most to. I know his family must have really appreciated the gifts he was able to bring home to share from our Christmas store.

Lakota home remodeling project

The kids are so excited to see the finished homes!

The Lakota (Sioux) homes are eight homes in four buildings, two homes in each building. The homes are the Cyr/Perky, Fisher/Pinger, Speyer/Rooneyand the Stevens/Mathias. These homes were originally built in 1982. Our remodeling started in 2008 with the Cyr/Perky Home and we are finishing the project this year with the Stevens/Mathias Home.

During the renovations the kids that are assigned to those homes, are temporarily house in another home on campus. The renovations usually begin when school is dismissed for the summer and finishes up the following summer. Therefore, the home is under construction for one school year.

Part of the homes have had the walls opened up to make the family living and study areas more open. Handicapped bathrooms were also added.

To make the homes more energy-efficient:

new windows were added
the heating and cooling systems were upgraded
more insulation was installed

St. Joseph’s remodeling projects are going great.

With the completion of the last of the home remodeling this year, the children will be living in homes that are cooler in the summer and much warmer on the coldest winter days, with all the conveniences of home.

PS – read more about St. Joseph’s Indian School remodeling projects here!

Your friends,

The Facilities Team