Fr. Steve’s updates – Page 17 – St. Joseph's Indian School

Expectations and sore muscles

Today was “Step Up Day” at school, which means students spend the last hour of the day in the classroom they will move up to next year. Teachers spoke to their soon-to-be students about expectations and answered questions to help students feel more comfortable with the move.

The first graders were excited about the desk configuration in second grade, where they will each have a free-standing desk instead of being grouped together on a table. The fourth graders learned they will get an assignment book – and have to take responsibility for writing down their homework instead of the primary teachers handing it to the houseparents. Fifth graders physically move up, going from the middle to the top floor. They also get their own locker in the hall. Eighth graders – instead of stepping up – stepped out and got to spend an extra hour on the playground. Life is full of transitions. In preparing for them we find talking through them helps reduce some of the anxiety.

Another day, another cook out! Tonight the Lakota Homes (6^th-8^th graders) got together for a pre-game picnic. This was something like a pot luck as each of the homes brought something different as they use up all that’s in their cupboards and freezers as we approach the end of the year. Even if the front of the line emptied a few of the offerings, there were still many scrumptious dishes to satisfy the taste buds.

Fortified with a good meal, we loaded up the school bus and headed up to the local high school softball field for the annual staff vs. 8^th grade showdown. The staff had to hit a bigger ball that didn’t travel as far, and the 8^th graders got 5 outs per inning to try to even up things a bit. It might have given a talented 8^th grade much of an advantage. The students jumped out to an early lead, and never trailed, prevailing 14-11.

I pitched; my earned run average may not be something to be proud of, but my main goal was to throw strikes and give the students – especially the less athletic ones – a good chance to hit the ball. Everyone had fun, though tomorrow I know that after trying to recapture the game of our youth, this veteran player and a few others will have some sore muscles.

Congratulations class of 2012

With just a week to go in the school year, all the homes are cleaning out their refrigerators. At this point in the year, homes even start trading groceries with one another in an effort to use up as much as they can. Wisdom Circle, in front of the Benedictine Homes (1^st-5^th grades) is a lovely grassy spot in center of St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus, shaded by majestic cottonwood trees.

With picnic tables out for the nicer weather, the setting was perfect for a couple of picnic meals. Friday evening houseparents Leonard and Aleece organized a meal for all the t-ball participants. That included all of the 1^st-3^rd graders on campus and the fare was your basic hot dogs and hamburgers, with fruits and vegetables. Today after church, the houseparents all pitched in different specialties for a brunch.

I kicked a soccer ball around for a while with a few students, then got involved in a football game. Kids love to play, but they also need to learn how to play fairly. I noticed that they were spending more time arguing about the rules or if they were actually touched with two hands than the time they spent actually playing. I became the quarterback (and referee) for both teams, and enhanced the speed of play considerably. I remember what it was like to be one of the last ones picked, so I made sure to throw the ball to everyone, and give each child a chance to participate. When one boy started yelling at a teammate for dropping a ball, I stopped the action and told him it was important to encourage teammates to try hard, but not belittle them. When another boy gave a shove after the play was finished, I got his attention by calling an “Unsportsmanlike Conduct” penalty.

“This isn’t real football” he objected.

“But you need to play by real rules, especially the rule of being a good sport,” I told him. Competition is okay, but cooperation is better.

Four students from St. Joseph's Indian School pause for a graduation picture. — Congratulations 2012 graduates!

Today was High School Graduation. Fifty young adults from Chamberlain and the surrounding area received their diplomas in the packed ceremony held at the Armory. Four of the 50 were St. Joseph’s students. Attached to their hats were eagle feathers their families had provided to honor their accomplishment. Watching each of the students walk forward brought back so many memories of the years that I’ve known them and saw them grow up before my eyes.

Blessings and best wishes in the future, and congratulations graduates!

Spooky night at St. Joseph’s Indian School

I was working in my lab, late one night. . .

Actually, dressed like a mad scientist, tonight I was worked at the end of the year honors banquet for our 4^th-8^th grade students. Twenty-five students have all A’s and B’s and 5^th grader Camron was the lone student to pull all A’s for the whole year. “Monsters” was the theme chosen, and staff and students dressed up in a variety of fun and/or scary costumes.

Look out kids, it’s the Purple People Eater!

For dinner, we had to choose from a mystery menu, not quite knowing what we were ordering. “Witches broomstick handles” turned out to be green beans and “vampire blood” was tomato juice. I thought I was in luck with my first course when I got a knife, fork and spoon with green beans while my neighbor had all food and no utensils!

To my dismay, the ghoulish waiter made me turn them in so when the next course came I had to eat spaghetti (a.k.a. Frankenstein’s Brains) with my fingers! We had lots of laughs. I teamed up with a group of teachers, houseparents and staff to sing a rendition of “Monster Mash.” When it came time to pass out the certificates, our students also received a T-shirt reading MONSTROUSLY AWESOME HONOR STUDENT.

Our 8^th graders presented their social studies research projects today on historical figures of interest. Some chose presidents like JFK and Teddy Roosevelt. Others chose Lakota leaders like Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. One girl chose Aristotle, which Dave the teacher noted was a first.

With the help of our computer teacher Gina, the students put together power point presentations that were quite good and made the information come alive. Some of the kids struggled mightily in front of a crowd of peers. Others were big hams and relished the spotlight. While it’s not easy, it’s necessary to overcome fears and grow in self-confidence to let their voices be heard.

Tonight the t-ball league (1^st – 3^rd graders) handed out their end of the year awards. Diamond (great name for a ball player!) and Keshaume got Golden Glove Awards. Samantha and Nevaeh were acknowledged for having the Best Attitude, and Gavin and Jarret received the Sportsmanship Trophy. Because of an unusual three-way tie, no team won first place, but all the kids got ribbon medals and wore them as proudly as though they’d just won the Olympics.

Children’s laughter

Today was the last day of school for Chamberlain High School. Our four high school homes emptied out quickly once the school day was over. Many of the students will be back in a couple of weeks for driver’s ed, transitional living classes or summer work experiences. Kudos to all the staff who work with these students and saw them through to another successful year!

The ten 1^st-3^rd graders who have made honor roll all year were treated to a movie and supper in Mitchell. I joined Jennie (Student Coordinator) and Celia (Residential Coordinator) to chaperone the students and had a delightful time. The Pirates: Band of Misfits was not exactly a classic that I’ll never forget, but what I will always remember and treasure were the kids’ giggles and laughs at the silly humor. We ate supper at Culver’s, where everyone got to chose from one of 5 children’s meals, and end the outing with a scoop of frozen custard.

Children’s laughter has a magical quality that heals and strengthens the heart.

We have a small bus that was just the right size for our group. The trip takes about a hour each way. Videos entertained for a while, but mostly we started playing guessing games, talking and telling stories. I sat next to first grader, Nevaeh. Spending a couple of hours talking to a seven-year-old grounded me more solidly in the world view of a child. They have more questions than I have answers, but that’s why young minds can soak up so many things so quickly. Hopefully these Native American students will work hard throughout their many years of study, and learn how to enjoy learning.

An incentive to strive harder

Our staff reading group discussed the book “Growing Up in the Care of Strangers.” About a dozen helping professionals, who were once in foster care or group homes, looked back to share their stories in the book, many of which were filled with great tragedy and pain. They provided many insights not only into what children go through, but what can be done to help improve the system. Multiple placements, splitting up of siblings, high turnover in staff – all these make the life of a child in placement stressful and difficult. One common theme that came across over and over was to find ways to give children a voice in addressing their needs.

Through our last strategic plan, and our work with Child Trends to identify ways to measure student growth, we are increasingly working with focus groups of students to hear their concerns, ideas and hopes.

Reading some of the heart wrenching biographies gave us all an added incentive to strive even harder to accomplish that.

Good camaraderie and collaboration

Houseparents are beginning the end of the year clean up in the homes. The Summerlee and William Home (both 4^th-5^th grade girls) are packing as much as they can into storage pods so that extensive remodeling can begin as soon as school is out.

Frank, our Residential Coordinator for the junior high homes gathered all his staff together and, as a way of saying thanks, cooked them all breakfast in the Speyer Home. There’s good camaraderie and collaboration between the homes for each particular age group.

This evening after supper in the Perky Home (4^th-5^th grade boys) one of the students got very upset and started into something of a temper tantrum that demanded the houseparents full attention. Since it was homework time I stayed and worked with the other boys in math, reading and spelling. Helping Anthony memorize a few new Lakota words for his Native American Studies class helped refresh some of my limited vocabulary.

Busy weekend for Fr. Steve

One of Chamberlain’s most beloved landmarks is the bridge that spans the Missouri River from Chamberlain to Oacoma. Yesterday afternoon, a group of local bridge builders came home to a hero’s welcome. After one full year of deployment in Afghanistan, the 200^th Engineer Company of the National Guard based here in Chamberlain returned. Many of our students lined the streets to offer their appreciation as fire trucks with sirens blaring, motorcycles and police cars escorted the troops on a parade through town. Afterwards prayers and words of appreciation were offered at a program in the armory. Several of our staff had joyful reunions with family members we have prayed for since they’ve been gone. The unit built five bridges in their time overseas. Sadly, one member, SPC Jared Roe, lost his life in a construction accident, and he was remembered again with a time of silence.

Today at mass we honored many groups of people. Our Distinguished Alumni Award was presented to two men, Casmir LeBeau and Orville Webb, who were two of the original group of 47 students who started St. Joseph’s in 1927!

Orville’s son Bud came in his place, but 95 year old Casmir stood up to receive his award and talked about the old days with our students, eliciting both laughter and wonder. He has been one of our St. Joseph’s historians, gathering and preserving many memories from those early days. After serving in the Coast Guard in WWII, Casmir worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs until his retirement. What amazed me was the small staff the school began with – two priests, three dorm supervisors, two teachers and a maintenance man.

Fittingly on Mother’s Day we honored all the mothers, and women who work as houseparents with a flower and a prayer of blessing.

We honored our eighth graders who will graduate in two weeks. Their just-completed class banner for 2012 advises “We are strong as individuals, but as a class we are invincible.” There is great power in community and working together, and I hope they keep that attitude throughout life.

And we honored our four high school graduates, all of whom have been at St. Joseph’s for many years. We’ve seen D’Kera (12 years) Danisha and Nick (11 years) and Erin (8 years) grow into fine young adults with lots of gifts to offer the world that needs so much. They will walk up the aisle next Sunday at the Chamberlain High School to receive their diplomas. All plan to attend college next year.

After a tasty dinner prepared in our dining hall, we viewed a slide show and video message from each student that helped us remember their years here. Family and staff members who wanted to share a reflection or memory were invited to do so, and there were a lot of emotional moments as our students prepare to move on. But that is our goal, to get young people ready to leave us, and move on to what the future can hold for them.

St. Joseph’s Minute to Win it

Tonight the Rec Center hosted a “Minute to Win it” fundraising event to benefit our local Relay for Life Chapter. As a cancer survivor myself (2 years now!) I am grateful for the generous efforts of people in our community in solidarity with those battling the disease. Many of our campus homes baked treats to sell in the concession stand and folks made a free will offering as they came in the door. We had plenty of laughs as students, staff and people from the community competed in fun and silly games.

I arrived in the middle of the competition, and was immediately dragged into a game where I had to bounce a pencil on the eraser end and land it in a plastic drinking glass ahead of me. I astounded myself and the cheering crowd by landing all eight pencils into the containers in under a minute. (Now people know what I truly do in my office all day!) I didn’t fare so well later in trying to slide a cookie from my forehead into my mouth. But, everyone had lots of laughs for a great cause.

Pilgrimage to Rome

In Our Lady of the Sioux Chapel, we have a prominent stained glass window of Kateri Tekakwitha from the Mohawk and Algonquin tribes who lived near Auriesville, New York. On October 21, Blessed Kateri will become the first member of a North American tribe to be canonized and made an official saint in the Catholic Church. Bishop Paul Swain of Sioux Falls gave this exciting news to two Native American Deacons with St. Joseph’s connections. Deacon Bud Jetty (Spirit Lake tribe) is a member of our Board of Directors. Deacon Steve McLaughlin (Standing Rock Sioux) works with the SCJs on the Crow Creek and Lower Brule Indian Reservations ministering to the pastoral needs of the people there. Bishop Swain told the two excited men the diocese would sponsor them on a pilgrimage to Rome being organized by the Rapid City Diocese and the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions so they can participate in this landmark ceremony.

I also heard that Fr. Tom Westhoven, SCJ, plans to be there as well. For many years, Fr. Tom was St. Joseph’s Director of Development. Now retired, but still very active, he has been asked to chaperone a pilgrimage for the same exciting event being organized on the East Coast. His group will leave October 19. For anyone who might be interested, information on that trip is available by emailing bettybuteratravel@yahoo.com.

Circle of Courage: belonging, independence, mastery and generosity

A group of 14 college students and faculty members from Penn State New Kensington visited our area. With a grant from Rotary International, they gifted and installed new computers for the Cheyenne River Indian Outreach (also known as the Sacred Heart Center) in Eagle Butte. They spent the day on St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus here learning about our programs and interacting with students. This evening all our high school students gathered in the dining hall, with our visitors interspersed throughout the tables to talk about college life and encourage our kids to consider pursuing higher education. One young woman spoke about what it was like to be the first in her family to attend college, which many here could identify with.

Our 1^st – 4^th graders engaged in a Battle of the Books via telephone conference with our two sister schools in Mississippi. Each class read five books and the students were quizzed on the contents. All the battles were close, with about 85% correct answers. Even those who were not perfect still came out ahead by the very fact they read the books, processed, remembered and advanced their critical thinking abilities.

We are working with a group called Child Trends to gauge our student achievements during their time with us at St. Joseph. Two researchers were on campus to hold focus groups with different age groups. Several families have also been interviewed. We aim at instilling the values from the Circle of Courage – belonging, independence, mastery and generosity. We want to help students mature in life skills as well, which goes beyond the standardized testing we can measure in the classroom. Child Trends is helping us find ways to measure if we are able to actually help students grow in those areas of values. I’m very interested in reviewing their findings.