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.
I went over to the school and couldn’t find anybody!
I spent most of the day in my office, answering mail, fielding phone calls and had a meeting about fundraising and strategic planning. About 3:00, I realized I hadn’t spent any time with the students, so I walked over to the school. That begins their normal study hall time and is a good time to make the rounds. With no formal classroom instruction going on, it’s a little more laid back and I can wander around and find out what the students have been learning. Because the students have some specialist classes and move around to different classrooms, I didn’t think anything was amiss when I found the first two classrooms empty. But after three and four empty rooms, I wondered what was going on. The 7th and 8th graders were away on a field trip. The rest of the classes were over in the chapel, practicing their songs for Wednesday’s Christmas program. As we wind down the semester, the excitement and Christmas spirit is definitely building.
Our girls 7th and 8th grade basketball teams had some fun time together to finish up the season. The girls played basketball and followed that with a pizza party. I shot around with the girls for a while. It’s a great ice breaker and while often you don’t talk about a lot significant, it builds up trust and rapport.
During mass, we held the Rite of Acceptance for those students preparing for baptism next spring. Even though the prayers are simple, they mean a lot . I find that children are often far more committed to prayer than I am, and they inspire me to do better.
The Dancing Dolls and Dudes program filled the town Armory to capacity and was entertaining. Last year, we experimented by having our 4th and 5th graders participate, since it means juggling our schedule here and getting the students to town to practice each week. But it was so successful and appreciated that this year we opened it up to the primary grades as well.
A good number of families attended to cheer their children on and watch the cleverly choreographed routines. But some of our students don’t have family close by, or have family members unable to come. In the days leading up to today’s big show, at least seven or eight of our students looked at me with big eyes and asked if I could be there. How could I every say no to that kind of request from an eight year old?
The greatspirit of fun and good sportsmanship fill St. Joseph's Indian School's gym!
The boys inter-city championships filled the rec center all afternoon. Each team had two trophies to give out, one to a St. Joseph’s Indian School student and one to a player from town. Those trophies go to the kids who have the best attitude, play hard and fair and help their teammates. There was also a hard-fought tournament for bragging rights, but all in a spirit of fun and good sportsmanship.
Tonight, our high school academic advisor gathered up the half-dozen students who make up our Knowledge Bowl team. Competition at the Lakota Nations Invitational is this Thursday and Friday, and this was the last chance to practice and review. I dropped in for some moral support and will go with the crew to Rapid City, South Dakota to cheer them on. Read how the St. Joseph’s Indian School team did last year!
The youth at St. Joseph's Indian School had so much fun with Santa!
While we haven’t had much snow this December, it is definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Today was the day for our Christmas store. Our staff pulls aside many new or like new items that are donated and our Native American youth get a chance to “shop” for presents for their family. Each child has a book of tickets, some good for baby clothes, others for jewelry, toiletries, books and games etc.
Staff and other volunteers help wrap a few of the gifts and Santa makes his appearance to find out who has been naughty and who has been nice.
The High School Native American club held an Indian taco sale outside of our downtown Thrift Store. They are raising money for their annual powwow and other activities. I went downtown for lunch, and the food was all mouth-watering. But while our young entrepreneurs were great cooks, they forgot some of the other essentials, like paper plates to put the tacos on, or even utensils to dish out the food. Luckily our Thrift Store was able to come to the rescue until reinforcements arrived.
Our 7th and 8th grade basketball teams traveled to South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota. They attended a men’s and women’s college basketball double-header. Hopefully seeing life on a college campus gets a few of our students thinking along those lines.
Tomorrow is the Dancing Dolls and Dudes recital, so I had a special evening mass for the four younger girls homes so they could have extra time to get hair and makeup ready in the morning. The students seemed to enjoy the smaller, more intimate liturgy, and I had plenty of willing volunteers for the help I needed. Appropriately, our closing song was “Lord of the Dance.”
This weekend is our Rite of Acceptance for the 20 students who are part of our RCIC (Rite of Christian Initiation of Children) program. One of the gestures is a seven fold blessing of the different senses – eyes, ears, lips, shoulders, heart, hands and feet. During practice, I asked the students what they thought each of those gestures meant.
I asked, “Why would we ever bless someone’s feet?”
One girl chimed in, “So we can walk toward Jesus.”
A second added, “And run away from evil!”
We definitely have a couple of good young theologians that I am constantly learning from.
The William Home (4th – 5th grade girls) has a tradition of a Christmas open house every December. Mike always makes his meatballs, and Jessica her peanut butter and chocolate Buckeyes. The rest of the menu is up to the talents of the girls in the home, and they came up with tasty finger foods and baked goods. From the moment you walk in the door, they offer to take you coat, get you some punch or hot apple cider and show lots of hospitality. I enjoyed looking over the photo album they’ve put together of their activities for the year up to this point. As I looked back on some older photo albums from the home, I got a real sense of the passage of time. After seven years here, the girls who were 5th graders when I first arrived, have now graduated and gone off to college.
Our student leadership committee did a great job hosting their food/clothing drive!
Our student leadership committee held a food and clothing drive these past few weeks, mindful of families in town and on the Indian reservations that really need that kind of help right now. Generosity is one of those cardinal virtues we try to instill in all our students.
It’s holiday time in the Carola Home. The boys have returned from eating turkey, dressing and other favorites with their families and now they are excitedly waiting to go home for the Christmas break. This weekend the homes are starting to decorate, putting up the trees, lights and ornaments. Although the homes have their Christmas dinner and party in January, we still discuss family traditions and holiday activities. One of our favorite things to do is look around town at the lights and decorations. Our homes tradition is to say, “Ooooh, aaaah” at the homes that are decorated.
What are some of your favorite traditions?
A picture one of my boys took.
This can be a hard time of the year for our American Indian youth to be apart from their families and focus on school. Our boys are doing amazingly well. Keeping their missing assignments low and their grades up. Preparing for the end of the semester, finishing up projects and studying for final exams. It is very good to keep them busy to help the time fly by.
Winter activities help with this. A few of the boys went to the elementary Christmas concert and one of them showed his talent by taking pictures. One of our boys is a referee for the girls inter-city basketball program. Six of our boys are on the CHS basketball team and eight boys are in the St. Joseph’s high school bowling league. Also, two of our boys were chosen to go to Rapid City, South Dakota for an alumni gathering. They will be able to see friends who have graduated and be encouraged of their stories of success.
Of course, with all these activities and keeping up with their school work they have very little down time. So on the weekends when there are no scheduled events, they make the most of their free time. Watching a favorite sports game on tv, playing videos game or going to the movies at the local theatre.
It is a very exciting time of the year and there is much more to look forward to after the holidays. With our Christmas party, trip home and more.
Fr. Anthony had a morning all school mass for students and staff. Fr. Guy is away for a few days, so I covered the evening mass in the parish. I expected a very small crowd, since it was at the same time as the Chamberlain school Christmas program. But with our St. Joseph’s high school homes all making the trek downtown, we did have a good group and good spirit.
Our Akta Lakota Museum had their pre-Christmas open house for staff today, with discounts on Christmas gifts. As a way of thanking our school for the business we do in Chamberlain, several businesses donated very nice door prizes. Our kitchen staff put together some tasty treats, both healthy and otherwise. This time of year, I have a particular weakness for the holiday shaped sugar cookies. While that was going on inside, outside the construction crews were pouring cement and preparing all the inside footings for the museum expansion. We’ve been blessed with some mild December temperatures so far, and the work has been able to proceed at a good pace.
Kermit, one of our child care workers from our sister organization, the Sacred Heart Center (Cheyenne River Indian Outreach) in Eagle Butte, was on campus today for continuing education for our staff. They covered Lakota (Sioux) star knowledge and world view.
Fr. Gary is a retired SCJ who lives here in Chamberlain, South Dakota. We invited him over for lunch and to celebrate his birthday.
Tonight was our final girls basketball game of the season. After Christmas, the girls will switch to inter-city and the boys will begin playing other schools.
During break time, Carla in the Development Office organized a fun social – sharing popcorn and a good book we’ve recently enjoyed. We were invited to bring along the book to pass along to others after we’d wet their appetite with a preview. I haven’t done a book report nearly as recently as most of our Native American youth, but I do enjoy reading. While we only had a few reports this first time around, it was a worthy effort and enlightening to hear about the different worlds of imagination and fact that others enjoy.
An expectant mother called asking if we had any more “baby bundles”. I wasn’t sure exactly what that was, so I checked with Mary Jane. Since she works with our alumni, she is also a good resource to help out people with such needs. One church from out-of-state has been sending us some nice handmade afghans, and this woman’s cousin received one of those, with some Pampers and baby food wrapped inside. We actually do have a few more to give out, so maybe we’ve started a trend.
I visited Pinger Home (6th-8th grade girls) for supper. I asked the girls at my table if they had any Christmas plans. One 6th grader told me she was excited because her mom was coming home.
“Where has she been?”
I wondered if she was away for work or school. The answer that came back was sobering.
“In prison.”
That is a sad reality for a good number of our students. I can only hope what led her to that point won’t be repeated and she can once again be supportive of her children.
On my way across campus, I noticed a larger number of cars at the Rec Center than normal, and I checked in on the activity. The high school girls had a basketball game at the Armory in town, and the high school boys needed a place to practice. We have about 8 of our students on the teams, and the coach brought the crew over here to use our gym. I watched the coach at work for a while. He took his time and while teaching the offensive set, helped the players to think and learn, which is what good coaches do. Someone who rants and raves is more likely to make players afraid of making mistakes instead of constantly getting better by thinking through what they’ve done, and learning from mistakes.
December 6 is the Feast of St. Nicholas. When Fr. Guy came to the chapel for morning prayer, he brought us little red stockings filled with a few holiday treats. St. Nicholas is a nice reminder of being generous to others, and doing so in a fun and festive way. The St. Nicholas story I remember from childhood, was how he secretly put gold coins on a man’s doorstep so his three daughters, who couldn’t afford the dowry, could get married.
When I stopped by the Native American Studies Class, the Lakota (Sioux) youth were drawing their tribal flags. There are nine Sioux tribes in the state of South Dakota and this particular class had students from Rosebud, Cheyenne River, Crow Creek and Lower Brule Sioux tribes. I learned something about the symbolism and colors in each flag as the students meticulously worked on their personal renditions.
Mary Jane, our Alumni Director , was getting a care package ready to send out to Lolita, an alumni in the Navy stationed in Japan. I was glad to drop off a letter of encouragement and wish her well.
The Braves had a great basketball season!
Some of our students have emotional struggles that may lead to acting out in self harmful ways. I stopped by one of the counselor’s offices and saw a student just back from a week long in patient treatment placement. Lots of times, I see our students coping so well, but I’m reminded that at times we have to go the extra mile to meet their needs. They did well with the program and are glad to be back on St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus again.
Our 5th grade girls basketball team was back in action for their last home game of the year. After Christmas break, it will be the boys turn to play other schools and our girls will shift to the inter-city league, which is more like intramurals. Their weeks of practice paid of nicely and they played well as a team to hold on for a four point victory. After the game, the kids and coaches enjoyed a pizza party in the game room to celebrate the end of their season.
Today we arrived home after a few days in Pittsburgh for donor appreciation luncheons. We met kind and wonderful people who are part of our St. Joseph’s tiyospaye – extended family. I lived in the Pittsburgh area for about a year when I was four, and visited friends there several times during my growing up years, but had never been to the city as an adult. We enjoyed walking around and exploring what the city had to offer. We walked through the campus of Duquesne University, and saw what classrooms and dorms look like at a University. It’s never too early to try to get our Native American youth thinking about college. As we walked through the cultural and entertainment district, I realized that I have never seen so much black and gold as the community really takes pride in their Pittsburgh Steelers, especially on a home football weekend.
We all had a great time in Pittsburgh!
Through the generosity of the Steelers and the Rooney family, our students got to go to the football game against the Cincinnati Bengals. It was my first NFL game as well, and for December, we were blessed with mild temperatures and a beautiful day for a game. We sat mid way up in the end zone, and all five of the Steelers’ touchdowns happened in our end of the field.
What I will remember even more than the game, was our visit to the practice facility. I’m fascinated by what goes on behind the scenes in most any business or organization. What impressed our students the most was the room home to the six Super Bowl trophies. What impressed me more, was all the “classrooms” in the facility. To succeed at such a high level takes not only conditioning and physical skill, but being able to learn and out think your opponent. It was a good lesson for our students, who both like sports, but also realize how important using their brain is.
At Friday’s luncheon, I reconnected with Joe, who was in the seminary with me during our high school years. He lives in the area and was a wonderful host as he took us up the cable car of the Duquesne Incline for a marvelous view of the city. A tour guide there took great pride in pointing out the history and achievements of the area, and we learned more about the French and Indian wars and General George Washington’s place in history.
On Saturday, we had another special guest. St. Pat used to be our principal and later oversaw Pastoral Care at St. Joseph’s Indian School. She is now back in her hometown of Pittsburgh was able to grace us with her company. Saturday night, 8th grader Merrill got a visit from his aunt, who drove five hours from her home base in New Jersey just to spend a few hours with him.
Hello! My name is Claire, and I work in both high school girls’ homes. One question people often ask me is, “How can you do it?” As a houseparent for 21 teenage girls, I used to ask myself that question a lot. Literally.
My first year here my houseparent key was marked YB1, so every time I went to open the door to work, I was confronted with the question, “Why be one?” Apparently after three and a half years, I have answered that question sufficiently well. My key now reads YA1. I figure if I can say, “Yay I’m one!” every day, I must be doing something right.
So how do I/we do it? In some ways, we do what most parents do— we’re there when the kids get up in the morning and again when they go to bed at night. We have to tell them they are beautiful enough, so please get out of the bathroom before they miss the bus. We’re super fans, chauffeurs, cooks and coaches. We share their prayers, troubles and triumphs. Of course, most parents don’t have 10 teenage girls. Then again, most parents don’t co-parent with 4-6 other people who get regularly breaks and who meet every week to talk about what we are doing and why.
The first step to houseparenting is to care. Usually, that’s easy because we have such wonderful kids to work with. Sometimes caring is hard—we have to care enough to let a kid be really angry in our presence, especially when it is not our fault and even when it is. We have to care enough to swallow our pride and admit when we make mistakes. We have to care enough to be curious when we don’t know what is going on with a kid. We’ve have to care enough to let kids make mistakes and pay the price sometimes.
As houseparents, we have to get creative. Whether that’s figuring out what to make for supper—knowing that this one hates onions and that one hates cheese—or finding a way to cook dinner, cheer on the basketball team, get homework done and have everyone into bed at a decent hour. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of knowing that this kid doesn’t want hugs but will accept a mug of tea (only one sugar, thank you).
What really makes houseparenting possible is our ability to really focus on our kids. By this I mean, we don’t have to worry about medical bills, leaky faucets or running out of groceries. As houseparents, we are supported by thousands of donors and an incredible staff that makes sure these needs are met every day. We are careful stewards of course, and we track our budgets to make sure we are making wise use of our resources. OK, so when we are WAY OVER budget for allowance because our kids are getting fantastic grades, we are all secretly gleeful. And I don’t think donors will mind one bit.
So, thank you to all the people who make it possible for me to do the job I love.
