Author: St. Joseph's Indian School

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Fr. Dominic is visiting us, helping out at the downtown parish for a week. I invited him to join me for supper at the Raphael Home (1^st – 3^rd grade boys). I saw aside of him unbeknownst to me, when Dominic saw a deck of cards and asked the students if they wanted to see a trick. Time after time he pulled the cards from the deck the children were looking for. They crowded around, quiet and mesmerized, begging him to show them “one more time.” The boys were convinced he was magical.

Besides seeing the boys at their excited best, he also got a glimpse of the difficulties of houseparenting. While we were at a table, two boys argued over who should have the parmesan cheese first; which led to name calling, hurt feelings and tears. The houseparents addressed the situation right away. We use the conflicts as teachable moments. Urging children not to fight,  learn respect and cooperation is an ongoing battle. We adults need to be reminded of those same lessons too!

Monday, October 25, 2010

Today when I visited the school many of the students were wearing pajamas. Others sported baseball caps with their favorite teams or woven stocking caps. I asked the 3^rd grade class why they were dressed up that way.

“Red Ribbon week” They all chimed in.

“Why are some of you wearing hats?”

“Put a cap on drugs!”

“So why are some of you wearing pajamas? Is there a theme for that?”

“Kids should sleep more!” volunteered one of the girls.

That’s probably true, but their theme for the day was, “Follow your dreams. Don’t do drugs.” That’s always our hope with these kinds of activities. We teach that early and often.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

After church, KP asked me what I had planned this afternoon. He mentioned he had a soccer match at 2:00.  When a student goes out of their way to tell me about a game, performance or event, I do my best to show up, since I know it’s important to them. Soccer is still a club sport in this part of South Dakota, but is catching on quickly. I was only able to stay for the first half, but cheered the team on and enjoyed being outdoors on a brisk fall day. It brought back memories from when I played in High School.

I also had brunch with the Cyr Home (4^th – 5^th grade boys). When I go into the homes with younger students, there’s always a race to see who gets to sit next to the “visitor.” Maybe it’s my personality, but maybe it’s that the visitor’s table gets to go up for food first!

Chris, one of their houseparents, got to travel to Chicago with some buddies to see a football game. He called his wife and told her he had seats in the end zone. The boys rushed through the meal and dishes so they could sprawl out on the floor in front of the TV and look for Chris; especially at extra points and touchdowns. When I’d left, they still hadn’t located him yet.

I stopped in the gym to check out some of the action at the boy’s inter city basketball league, which started this afternoon. Our students play with kids from town and it helps build bonds and friendships outside the immediate circle of St. Joseph’s.

Friday October 22, 2010

Claye and Elijah are two of our High School Students who are on the Cross Country team. They will run in the state finals tomorrow. I wanted to wish them well, so I rode to pick them after school with Patrick, one of their houseparents. I stayed for supper at Sheehy Home to catch up with the rest of the students there.

We ask all of the homes to have a table or corner in some part of the house as a prayer space. The Sheehy home decided to set aside an entire room. When they have to talk about business or conflicts within the house, they meet in another space. They want to keep that room for group prayer and for quiet and winding down time. Some students seek out that space on their own, a break from a barrage of words and constant noise.

Tonight was the kick off for Red Ribbon Week, emphasizing keeping kids from starting with drugs, alcohol and tobacco. We had an evening of recreation in the gym on inflatable games. I love seeing the children run and jump, bounce and giggle.  One inflatable had a slick slide, another an obstacle course. The newest and most popular game pitted two students playing basketball against one another – two baskets, two balls, but one bungee cord holding the students back to back. Lots of spills and thrills, energy and action.

A houseparent who staffed a table where the students could get their fingernails painted red, offered to paint my nails as well. I have lots of school spirit, but I took a pass on that one.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

The Sacred Heart Center’s mission is to eradicate violence in the community, especially within families. Today we heard that when it comes to violent crimes and sexual assault, Native American women have the highest rate of victimization from such crimes out of all the different groups in the entire country. The center runs some quality programs for prevention, education, and protection to fight against that scourge, and has been doing so for almost 30 years.

One of the staff told us about the Silent Witness program. The South Dakota coalition against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault has created silhouettes of women, children, and the occasional man who die in South Dakota as the result of domestic violence. On these wooden cutouts you can read their story, which certainly tugs at the heart. These “Silent Witnesses” speak loudly about the dangers in our community, and call forth in a loud voice for us to work together to stop violence and strengthen families.

We enjoyed lunch with all the staff. Some of the folks I’ve known for a long time – like Tina remembering her wedding 25 years ago. Other staff are new to the program, like Tammy, who comes from a social service background and will be working with the adolescents. I was heartened in hearing of all their efforts.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

In reservation communities, housing is in short supply and it is not uncommon to find an extended family up to 15 people sharing a two bedroom home.  The parents of one of our students finally got an apartment to move into and called to see if we could help them with any basic household supplies like bedding and plates. Because people know we will get those kinds of items to people in need, we do get enough drop offs to help from time to time. I am glad when we are able to be the bridge between those who have extra and those who are in need. 

As we started the 2nd quarter, a few students transferred to other schools. One of the main reasons was homesickness. Sometimes it is too hard for a child to be away from family, and sometimes it’s the family who misses the child too much. We have openings throughout the year, and our admissions committee is at work going over the waiting list and prioritizing which students have a greater need to be here. Our overall average length of stay for students is about 5 years, but we try to serve them well whether they’re here for a semester or all 12 years.

Tonight was our last volleyball game of the season. Like many of our other staff and students, I was in the stands to cheer the teams on. Due to distances or family circumstances, we don’t normally have a large number of parents in the stands, so it’s all the more important that we as staff applaud their efforts.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Our nights are crisp and cold, yet the days are sunny and warm. As I walked to the office, I ran into Quentin, our electrician, and asked him what projects he’s working on. He’s switching all our systems over to heat now. With the number of homes and buildings we have on campus that’s no small task. It is a sign that winter isn’t too far off.

I spent the morning at the business office going over the weekly financial information. One of our newest employees is a young woman recently out of college. She celebrated a birthday on Sunday, so I stopped by her desk to say a special hello. When I asked how her weekend was, she was so enthusiastic that her celebration included a family gathering on the home farm for a pheasant hunt. They had a lovely day together and were able to get enough birds for many meals. I’m not a hunter, and stereotypically think of most hunters as older men. In this part of the world it’s more of a family tradition. In the Lakota tradition, many of our students learn to hunt at a young age, maybe not with bow and arrow as their ancestors once did, but still with a spirit of respect and gratitude for the animals and birds that give up their lives that the people may live.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

I presided and preached at mass this morning. I do appreciate the weeks Fr. Anthony preaches, for it means a break from preparing a weekend homily. But,  I feel more connected to the congregation when I reflect on our lives here at St. Joseph’s in light of the scriptures.

Afterwards, I had brunch with the Dennis Home (1^st – 3^rd grade) girls. In between mass and the meal, the children got out their toys and played “restaurant” with the pretend foods from the toy box. I sat down for tea with a cup the size of a thimble, and rubbed my tummy in appreciation of the plastic burgers, potatoes and scrambled eggs they took turns bringing me.

Someone gave the home a beautiful book of children’s mealtime prayers. It was Nateela’s turn to lead the prayer, and she searched the book for a good one to use. She’s only a first grader, and some of the words stretched her phonics abilities, but we kept reading and practicing  until she had it down well in time for grace. Motivation and practical applications like that sure gives a child greater desire to learn.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Today was a day to work on the weekend homily and take care of letters and paperwork. I did stop in at the Speyer home (6^th – 8^th grade boys). They had been hiking in the chalk hills on the North end of campus. Chance came across some deer antlers he wanted to show me. Chance plans to file down part of the antlers and use them on his regalia, since he is a traditional dancer. The students are proud when they can add to or help create their own regalia.

I walked by the William Home (4^th – 5^th grade girls) , and saw them sitting on the living room floor trimming soup labels and bagging them into bundles of 500. Each of the homes and classrooms are saving up labels to earn equipment, and every student pitches in to help make that possible. They also put the box tops for education that are sent in to good use. While they students get plenty of athletic activity over the weekend, sometimes it’s nice to have some quieter times for those kinds of activities.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Today, I attended the funeral of a 34-year-old, Brian who was killed in a car accident. I knew his folks well from my days in Lower Brule where they helped out so generously with everything in the parish. When words can’t heal the heart of a parent who has to bury their child, sometimes all we can do is be there, offering a handshake or a hug.

Brian’s dad’s cousin is a priest, so Fr. Mike led the services. I know from experience that it’s hard emotionally to do a family funeral, but it means so much. Fr. Mike’s words expressed what his relatives were feeling from a very personal level. He could also tell a few family stories that helped people laugh and remember, which stirred more sharing and stories at the meal afterwards.

In the evening I stopped by the Rec Center to work on some of the exercises prescribed by my physical therapist. The Ambrose (1^st – 3^rd grade boys) and Afra (1st  – 3^rd grade girls) homes had a free evening in the gym, and I stopped to join them. We shot a few baskets and tossed a football back and forth. I made the kids laugh at my feeble attempts at keeping a hula hoop going. My sisters were pretty good at that, but I could never master it.