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.

Lakota Hand Games – a Victory at LNI

LaRayne imaciyapi ksto – hi, my name is LaRayne. I get to live out my passion of sharing Lakota culture in the classroom at St. Joseph’s

LaRayne is St. Joseph's Native American Studies teacher. — LaRayne, St. Joseph’s Native American Studies teacher

Indian School by teaching Native American Studies.

Recently, I was able to take 11 students from grades 2-8 to a gathering of our nations at the Lakota Nation Invitational Conference in Rapid City, South Dakota with my co-teacher, Allen, for a statewide Lakota hand games competition.

You might remember reading about LNI and St. Joseph’s Knowledge Bowl Team.

You are probably wondering what “hand games” are. I am told there are more than 50 different ways to play, but we played “Lakota” style for this tournament.

Two teams of up to 10 players sit directly across from each other. Each team has four wood pieces (called bones) to hide behind their back. One of the “bones” is marked with a line and is called the male. Each team also has eight sticks, which are used to keep score.

Lakota hand games teams have up to 10 players each. — Two teams of up to 10 players sit directly across from each other with four wood pieces (called bones) to hide behind their back.

Each team has a turn to have one of their players guess which hand the male bone is in. If they guess correctly, they take the bone from the other team. If they guess incorrectly, the guessing team gives up a stick.

The team hiding the bones uses movement, drumming and singing to distract the guesser on the opposing team and break his or her concentration. The first team to acquire ALL of the sticks is the winner. There are lots of detailed rules in addition to this, but I will keep it simple here.

There were 20 teams in the competition, and we played six games (the last three via the loser’s bracket) through the day to come out CHAMPIONS!

But wait, that isn’t the end!

We also were asked to be a part of the grand entry during the evening session of the basketball tournament that is held at the same time! We pinched ourselves to make sure we weren’t dreaming! After lunch, we stood on the gym floor in front of many of our oyate (nation) and listened to many honorings, speeches and names of student attendees.

Among the honored guests was Shoni Schimmel, the most popular WNBA player (according jersey purchases). The kids thought it was really neat to see her in person.

But wait!

While searching for some cotton candy, Aurelia and I stumbled upon the opportunity to have our picture taken with Shoni Schimmel! We gathered our team and set out to have our photo taken with the WNBA star!

And just because that wasn’t enough, the kids were presented with new coats designed for the winning team and 15 seconds of fame by being announced on television during the halftime awards ceremonies.

Needless to say, our students are more interested in hand games than ever!

Pilamaya – thank you,

LaRayne

St. Joseph’s hand games team took first place at LNI – congratulations everyone! — With their first place hand games victory, St. Joseph’s team got specially designed jackets, a plaque and were announced at half time.

Last week the Super Bowl, this week the Polar Plunge at St. Joseph’s Indian School

Dear Friends of St. Joseph’s Indian School,

Fr. Anthony, St. Joseph's Chaplain — Fr. Anthony, St. Joseph’s Chaplain

That dreaded word was back again over this past weekend — SNOW. It seems like Chamberlain was on the edge of the storm, but starting with Chamberlain and moving east the amount of snow fall just kept rising — Mitchell got about 3”, Sioux Falls received 6”, Chicago had a foot and a half and New England another foot or so. Our grounds crew did a great job of getting all the streets on campus open as quickly as possible.

Last week was Catholic Schools’ week, we ended the week focusing on academics. The day ended with the induction of members into our new chapters of the National Junior and Elementary Honors Society. There were eight Junior Honor Society members and seven Elementary Honor Society members. At the Friday ceremony we encouraged the rest of the student body to continue doing their best with their studies.

Prior to the ceremony, the Lakota students took part in some academic games, but as I was visiting the classroom it looked more like preparation for a trip to Las Vegas! One class was playing Go Fish and the cards were being passed around quickly as everyone tried to match up their cards to win. Another class was throwing marked chips to see how many you could get to come up with the mark showing. They would shake them in a cup prior to throwing; at first I thought they were playing Yahtzee.

This weekend several of our staff will be taking part in the annual Polar Plunge to raise money for the Special Olympics of South Dakota. They had bake sales to raise money and also are sponsoring a Penny War in which students and staff can select from four staff members, yours truly included, to see who gets a whipped cream pie in the face. Final results will be revealed on Friday, February 6. On February 7 our polar plunge team, TURTLE POWER, will join others in the local Chamberlain community to take a dip in the frigid Missouri River.

St. Joseph’s Polar Plunge Team is called Turtle Power. — This weekend several St. Joseph’s staff will be taking part in the annual Polar Plunge to raise money for the Special Olympics of South Dakota.

One of our high school homes — Sheehy — hosted the annual Super Bowl party for all St. Joseph’s high school students. The seventh and eighth graders were also invited to give them a little taste of what they have to look forward to. The house was divided into two viewing rooms based on who you favored — Seahawks or Patriots. Snacks and refreshments were served, decks of cards and board games added to the fun. There was a variety of prizes awarded for a score or a great play came across the screen. We also had the chance to pick what the score would be at the end of each quarter. I had the prize in my hands for 36 seconds until the Patriots allowed Seattle to move down the field and score. Since the game was exciting down to the last minute everyone got caught up in the game and crowded into their favorite viewing area to cheer on their team. It was an exciting evening filled with a lot of fun and good times.

I hope you all have a wonderful week as we begin a new month!

God bless,

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

National Honors Society at St. Joseph’s Indian School

Wow, this year is going by so fast! There have been a lot of great things happening around St. Joseph’s Indian School. First I want to tell you

that Fast ForWord is going great, thanks to all of your generosity and support.

Next I would like to tell you about a wonderful opportunity we have to start a new group here at St. Joseph’s. We are now sponsoring two National Honors Society programs!

We are pleased and honored to welcome seven outstanding students to the National Elementary Honor Society for grades 4 – 6. We are equally pleased and honored to welcome eight outstanding students in grades 7-8.

Congratulations everyone!

Our induction ceremony was held Friday, January 30. — President Mike presented National Honors Society inductees with their certificates.

In order for students to be recommended for nomination – which is a SUPER honor in itself – they must have a GPA of 3.0 or above. There were 29 students in grades 4 -8 who earned that distinction.

Next, the students had to fill out a packet of information describing how they serve their community, and provide leadership, their responsibilities around school and home, as well as sports and extracurricular activities they have participated in.

Those packets then went to yet another committee comprised of one teacher, one administrator, and one houseparent. They each rated the packets on a 1 – 4 scale. Those numbers were added together and divided by 3. Our ceiling was 3.5 for membership. They all were so very close!

We had our first induction ceremony on Friday. It was truly a memorable event for our students! Parents were encouraged to come and we had our whole student body there. We will start meetings soon to elect our officers. Please keep us in your prayers, that we may work together for the benefit of others.

We’re so proud of our newest National Honors Society members! — St. Joseph’s is honored to welcome 15 Lakota (Sioux) students into the National Honors Society.

Celebrations, academics at St. Joseph’s Indian School

Dear Friends of St. Joseph’s Indian School,

Catholic schools around the country are celebrating Catholic Schools’ Week! Some of the activities the Lakota students will be involved with include tours of St. Joseph’s Development Office and being “teachers for a day” on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday, students will wear their Catholic Schools’ Week t-shirt and we’ll have a campus-wide prayer service. Academic games will be held on Friday afternoon prior to St. Joseph’s very first induction ceremony into our chapter of the National Honor Society. Watch for a blog post on this!

Each semester, St. Joseph’s awards a traveling trophy to the class with the highest GPA in each age group. — Katie’s second grade class won among the first to third grades with a 3.59 GPA.

Last week, several of our students took part in an Acalympics competition in Pierre, South Dakota. Our students came in seventh out of 11 schools participating. Our principal, Kathleen, feels the students are becoming more comfortable with the procedure and also recognize those areas of study they need to focus on. The competitions are not just about book knowledge, but awareness of general topics. It seems some sports question tripped us up. There will be another

competition in March in White River, South Dakota, so our team will be working hard to prepare!

We also awarded attendance and academic honors last week. We had more students than ever earn a spot on the B honor roll! We also have a traveling trophy for the class that has the highest Grade Point Average. They also get a pizza party for their efforts in the classroom.

Katie’s second grade class won among the first to third grades with a 3.59 GPA.
Ron’s fifth grade class took honors among the fourth to sixth grades with a 3.23 GPA.
Dave’s seventh grade class captured the plaque for the seventh and eighth grade classes with a 3.34 GPA.

Over the weekend, Chamberlain high school presented the one act play, Shel-ling It Out by Shel Silverstein, the author of Where the Sidewalk Ends and The Giving Tree. He uses his poems to tell a story of a young girl facing a variety of ‘what if’ questions. Several St. Joseph’s students were in the cast or working behind the scenes helping with props, costumes or music. Tomorrow, they will

perform in Pierre for the state-wide competition. Break a leg!

The two students, Robert and Jatonne, recently attended the donor luncheon held in San Francisco, California. They were very excited to meet so many friends of St. Joseph’s and share what St. Joseph’s means to them. They also enjoyed seeing the sites in the city by the bay. A big pilamaya – thank you – to those who made Robert and Jatonne feel so welcome out West.

If you would like to attend a luncheon, please call 1-800-584-9200 or visit us online at www.stjo.org/luncheon. The final two events for this

school year will be in Panama City, Florida, April 25 and 26 and New York City on June 7 and 8.

Have a great week; may God’s blessings be with you and yours!

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

It’s the little successes that make all the difference

Groannnnnn.

Claire, Teacher's Aide & Houseparent — Claire, Teacher’s Aide & Houseparent

The sound permeates the classroom, alerting a tiny Bat Signal in my brain.

Groooannnn.

Someone needs help!!

Sometimes Groans are not too serious. Sometimes they mean that someone just doesn’t feel like working, in which case a quick redirection to the task at hand will do the trick. Other times, a Groan is accompanied by the complaint, “This is harrrrrd!” The problem may indeed be hard, but luckily our kids are pretty resourceful. What is needed is a boost of confidence, “I know you can do it! I know you can do hard things.”

I can hear that this Groan is serious though. I scan the room, and see that it is Joe who is struggling. He’s got his head on his desk and he’s pulled the strings on his hoodie so tight that all I can see is the tip of his nose peeking out.

I squat down by Joe’s desk to see what is going on. From the start, it doesn’t sound good. I know that he is already behind in his Math. He came to St. Joseph’s Indian School this Fall slightly behind his peers, and has been struggling with his basic arithmetic skills this entire quarter. This week he spent several days in the Health Center, too sick to even do homework. And now he is trying to catch up with the class.

On fractions.

His frustration is apparent.

Groannnn!

Not only does he not feel like doing it, he doesn’t think he can do it. He is falling into hopelessness. “There’s no point! Even if I do it, I won’t get to goooooo.” By “get to go” he means he won’t earn the extra hour of free time at the Rec Center on Friday. All students who don’t have D’s or F’s can earn this privilege, but Joe has a D.

This isn’t going to be a quick fix.

Joe will need to be coaxed out of his hoodie. Then he will have to be coaxed out of his anxiety and frustration about a subject that is difficult for him. His regular teacher, Sandi, is much better at this than I am. Still, it is a worth a try.

I say a little prayer and begin, “Let’s give it our best shot, shall we?”

At first it is like pulling teeth, with much groaning and flopping on the desk. “I cannnn’t.”

Yes, you can. We will do it together. Stay with me. We can do this.

This goes on for about 10 minutes—him flopping, and me putting the paper back in front of him and urging him on. And then the miracle happens. He figures out a part of the problem on his own. Something clicks. “Oh, hey, I know what this is.” Pencil goes to paper. His shoulders straighten a bit. “I think I get it.” More scribbling. “Is this it?” I breathe a grateful sigh. Yes, yes it is.

By the end of the hour he has finished the day’s assignment. His face is brighter and more relaxed. I don’t know if this will bring his grade above a D. I know it barely makes a dent in his pile of missing work, but for the moment, he is basking in his newfound success. Fist bump!

At the end of the day it is the little successes that end up making all the difference. I haven’t saved the world. I haven’t even taught him how to change fractions to percents. I’ve just sat with a student while he muddled his way through it on his own and kept him from giving up. Sometimes a little support and encouragement is all we need.

Thanks to all who made Joe’s success possible—from his teachers and houseparents who give him lots of structure and encouragement, to his family who entrusted him to our care. Joe also benefits from the small class sizes and individual, coordinated attention he can get at a residential school like St. Joseph’s Indian School. For this, we have to thank the many benefactors whose generosity makes it possible to help a great kid like Joe. Wopila Tanka – many thanks!

Claire Teacher’s Aide/ houseparent

Lakota Mass, academics & sports at St. Joseph’s Indian School

Good day from St. Joseph’s Indian School,

The weather has taken a bit of a turn for the better lately! We’ve had some sunny skies and warmer temperatures. Of course, for January in South Dakota, we are grateful for anything above zero!

The flu bug, however, continues to keep several of our students under the weather and our nurses busy. Please pray for their speedy recovery!

This morning, several of our students headed to Pierre to take part in the Acalympics with other schools in the central part of South Dakota. It is a sort of quiz bowl competition that covers a variety of subjects. Good luck everyone!

Sunday, we had a Lakota Mass, which was again a great experience! Just like last time, our drum group performed and several of our dancers led in the opening procession.

The boys’ basketball season has gotten off to a great start. We had a very exciting game against PILC (Pierre Indian Learning Center) which went into overtime and had everyone on the edge of their seats. We play the fourth, fifth and sixth grade teams of our cross-town rival, Chamberlain, last night. We had a packed house with fans supporting both teams. St. Joseph’s fourth and fifth grade Braves won, but the sixth grade Cubs proved to be too much for a clean sweep.

Adrian, a St. Joseph’s junior, works hard on the Chamberlain high school basketball team. — Adrian, a St. Joseph’s junior, is a great example of sportsmanship on the basketball court!

Also on the sports front, I’m happy to report that Shawn, one of our St. Joseph’s Chamberlain high school students, was invited by Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, South Dakota to take part in their Blue Chip football days. Prospective players for the 2015 football season are introduced to the DWU campus and participate in workouts.

Another high school student, Adrian, was singled out by a coach from an opposing team for his sportsmanship during a recent basketball game. The coach was impressed by the way Adrian was playing the game while also being concerned about what was going on around him. It is rare that an opposing coach would go out of his way to contact a rival school to pass on a compliment. Kudos to Adrian!

This Saturday, the Chamberlain High School drama club will be performing their one act play, “Shelling It Out,” as they prepare to enter the state-wide competition. They have been very successful in recent years. Three St. Joseph’s students, Erica, Melvina and Jatonne, are part of the cast and crew. We wish all the cast and crew the traditional ‘break a leg!’

Hope you have a wonderful week. May God’s blessings continue to be with you.

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

Half of our school year is already over?

Half of our school year is already over at St. Joseph’s! It seems like it has really

Linea teaches reading at St. Joseph’s Indian School — Linea, St. Joseph’s reading teacher for seventh and eighth grades.

gone by fast. In the last quarter leading up to Christmas break, the Lakota students were working with a program entitled “Blueprint for Intervention: Comprehension” by 95% Group. We focused on Determining Importance and Synthesizing in Nonfiction and Fiction Text. Now we are ready to apply our new comprehension skills as we move on to Unit 3 in our text.

In this unit, we will study the different types of nonfiction including autobiographies, biographies and different types of essays. We will also be doing some activities that will help the students in answering essay questions.

In just a few weeks, we’ll have the next round of our spelling bee. The students worked really hard and the contest proved to be very competitive! We have our winners and they will be moving on to the regional contest held in Mitchell, South Dakota, in February.

St. Joseph’s Indian School participates in a spelling bee each year. — The Lakota students worked hard to prepare for the spelling bee.

Before that, however, the seventh and eighth grade classes will have their class trip to Pierre – South Dakota’s capital. We will tour the capital building and the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center.

Thank you for your support!

Linea – 7^th & 8^th Grade Reading Teacher

Getting up one more time than you fall down

Hello! My name is Patrick and I’m the Academic Advisor at the High School Learning Center at St. Joseph’s Indian School. Recently I had the privilege of coaching four super students – Angela, Lily, R.J. and Trevor – while they competed in the Lakota Nation Invitational (LNI) Knowledge Bowl with 14 other high school teams from around the state of South Dakota.

Our team was awesome and can be really proud of themselves and their commitment to preparing for the competition. Simply participating was a tremendous learning experience for all.

First, let me explain the format: Two teams face side by side with the moderator on the right and judges table on the left. The moderator asks a toss-up question from general educational topics such as science, language arts, mathematics, social studies, Native American history and current events. The toss-up questions appear on the large screen in front of the room while the moderator reads them. The competitors have just 5 seconds to buzz in with the answer. If the answer is correct, that team earns two points with a chance to earn one more point by answering a bonus question. If the team misses the toss-up question then the other team has an opportunity to answer. There are two halves, consisting of ten minutes each.

St. Joseph’s team took 5th place out of 14 teams at the LNI Knowledge Bowl. — Trevor, RJ, Lily and Angela with Patrick, coach and Anita, chaperone.

The winning team goes to the next round until an eventual champ is crowned. Easy right….Nope….Ever watch Jeopardy? It is pretty easy watching from the safety of your home. No one can see you worry, sweat and doubt yourself trying to remember what you know, hoping not to let down your team all in those excruciating 5 seconds! Nerve wracking…and that is from the coach’s perspective!

With the adrenaline pumping in anticipation of the first match with Cheyenne River, the game began. Within the first 2 minutes we were down 5-0. Ouch! Once the shock and intensity of kickoff was over we got down to business. We were tied 8-8 at half time briefly surged head to 13-10. We had a chance with a few current event and Native American questions, but couldn’t buzz in quick enough and lost 13-17.

Now off to the loser bracket, which means you get to compete as long you win. Our next opponent was Crow Creek — this was a team our students really wanted to win against, since three of our team members are from that area. Now with the first game jitters out of the way, we rolled to a commanding 17-5 victory over Crow Creek.

Phew – we are still in the hunt! The next match would be in two hours against a formidable team.

And what a match that one was! Everyone contributed to the victory. We missed a number of questions to begin with, but answer by answer we roared back from an 8-3 deficit. With everyone answering crucial questions, we won 16-11.

The students were now believing in themselves and beginning to wonder who we would have to beat in order to win the Knowledge Bowl.

Our mantra became “One match at a time.”

The competition was getting more intense. The winner of our last match of the day would advance to the championship rounds. We fell behind early, but by halftime took a two point lead. Each team member contributed in the comeback for a 17-16 victory!

Resiliency! It was great to see their confidence growing.

Day two really tested our mettle. We lost… but we won.

We lost on a technicality. They won on a technicality… we lost. Bummer. Angela, one of our two seniors, gave the answer “inverse,” but the answer they were looking for was “inverse property.” She felt the answer was adequate since “property” was stated in the question. No worries, still 39 seconds remaining. The opposing team tied! Then they answered the bonus question…bell rang…match over… we lost 13-14. Yuck!

Angela was dumbstruck. “Can’t you do anything? You are the coach.” Sadly, I said to her, the captain is the only one who can challenge a question.

“I didn’t know that!”

“Bummer, yeah… but let’s go talk to the judges,” I said. We went over and she pleaded her case with courage and respect. They all agreed with her argument, including the moderator.

“But you didn’t challenge. We’re sorry.”

One of the judges patted her on her back and said “You were right…I am proud of you!”

We were in shock and denial. Then we began commiserating, going over where the areas that made a difference in the final outcome. To watch the students process the experience was remarkable—they had the disappointment, they recovered, they planned for next time.

They learned a valuable life lesson about getting up one more time than you fall down.

We ended on a high note with R.J. placing first on the government exam over all students competing! Our team finished 6^th out of 14 for individual exams.

They earned 5^th place out of 14 teams, and that’s a lot to be proud of. This will be a sweet memory and gave us a taste of victory. There is something magical about overcoming all odds and doing well. Winning is a potent elixir. We were so close!

We say good bye to our two seniors, Angela and R.J., and are excited to have two strong core members of the team returning for next season’s 39^th LNI.

Congratulations everyone and good luck next year!

Patrick, Academic Advisor

A Christmas Celebration for the Lakota Children

Dear Friends of St. Joseph’s,

What a week last week was! The Lakota students were scheduled to come back from Christmas break a week ago, but many were not able to return right away due to the weather – cold temperatures, wind, snow and ice. The entire week stayed cold and windy with wind chill factors below zero. Most of the students and staff remained inside, but a few brave souls took advantage of the snow and got in some good sledding.
We had many students come down with the flu after they returned from break. They spent most of the week in our nurses’ care in the health center on campus. Nurse Nancy and Nurse Ronda showed tender concern and helped get the students back on their feet. The prospect of missing out on opening Christmas gifts on Sunday helped everyone to cooperate and listen to the nurses’ instructions for a speedy recovery!
On the sports front, the boys’ basketball season is underway and they will play their first game tomorrow. The older girls signed up for the Inter-city girls’ league, which is played on Sunday

Our Christmas celebration began with mass and the Christmas story. — The students reenacted the Christmas story during mass.

afternoons with girls from the Chamberlain community.
St. Joseph’s bowling league got started Saturday. We have eight teams made up of students in grades 7-12. Everyone was a little rusty to start and we saw quite a few gutter balls. In the second game, however, students began to hit their spots.
Finally, Sunday – the day of our Christmas party – arrived! We always wait until the students return from break to celebrate Christmas in their St. Joseph’s homes. As part of Mass, some of our fourth grade students acted out the Christmas story. As soon as Mass was over, the students headed back to their homes to open Christmas gifts. As you can see from the pictures, there was a lot of excitement. Check out more photos in our Flickr album!
A great big pilamaya – thank you – to all those who played Santa behind the scenes. Your

Students opened gifts in their St. Joseph’s homes after mass. — Pilamaya – thank you – for the headphones!

generosity enabled our houseparents to go out and shop for some of the items our students had asked Santa to bring. It was a great feeling to see the joy and happiness expressed by the Lakota children. We’re so grateful for your generosity!
May God’s blessings continue to be with you as your generosity enables His blessings to be present to the Native American children at St. Joseph’s Indian School.
Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ
Chaplain

Looking out for their every need at St. Joseph’s Indian School

Neoma, St. Joseph's Director of Integrated Marketing — Neoma, St. Joseph’s Director of Integrated Marketing

Working in St. Joseph’s Development office, in Marketing, I don’t often get chances to spend time with the Lakota students in our care. So, when Staci (one of our Residential Coordinators) called to ask if I would join another woman to teach the girls about make-up application, I was thrilled … then I was scared.

Who was I to teach sixth graders about this? I’m just in Marketing. Sure I wear make-up, but I don’t run a salon or sell cosmetics. Heck, I have never even raised a girl to teach her these important things. The closest I get is applying Clearasil on the “special” spots on my 13-year-old son’s face.

But when I got to the Pinger home, all the fears subsided. Eleven wide-eyed girls were gathered around two tables eager to hear what I had to say.

As you might expect, the favorite question for the next hour was “when can we start wearing make-up?” I giggled every time because Staci, Residential Coordinator, and Sherry, Family Service Counselor, started us off saying “we haven’t yet decided when you can start wearing make-up, but listening to Neoma and Laura is the first step.”

My cohort, Laura, was a champ as she was the model for the demonstration. Just for the fun of it, the girls and I decided to only do the left half of her face. She later went home like that wondering if any of the three boys in her family would notice.

We had a nice give and take, talking about washing your face, applying make-up sparingly and that it is okay not to wear make-up. We emphasized that each girl is beautiful just the way they are.

It warmed my heart to spend this special time with them.

It again made me thankful that the staff at St. Joseph’s look out for every need of our students, from keeping them fed to keeping them distinguished and prepared to face the world. It also made me very thankful for the donors who make all of this possible.

When I started at St. Joseph’s 17 years ago, I worked in the office that opens mail and processes donor gifts. Once we received a strange amount on a check (something like $3.21), so I called the donor to make sure it was right. My heart melted as the older woman told me this was all that was left in her checking account when she wrote her check. I could imagine my mother or grandmother doing the same thing. I think of this conversation often and it always reminds me to never take a gift, in any amount, for granted. For a gift that is given from the heart, no matter the amount, can change a life … I’ve seen it happen here at St. Joseph’s Indian School.

May your days be filled with warm hearts, good health and a clear mind in 2015.

If you have never visited our campus, make 2015 the year you do! And when you are on campus and see some young girls with just the right amount of make-up on … or maybe none at all … let them know how beautiful they are.

Blessings to you and yours,

Neoma