Fr. Steve’s updates – Page 25 – St. Joseph's Indian School

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.

Welcome back everyone

After a two-week vacation, our Native American students returned to St. Joseph’s campus shortly after noon when our homes opened.

Today, was still the legal holiday for our year round staff, so morning was very quiet in the office. I’m going to miss the uninterrupted times to work on projects. But, I missed the students and child services staff being away even more, and was delighted to welcome them back.

I made rounds of most of the homes. Early in the afternoon, when only a handful of students were back, proved to be a good time to check in with houseparents about their holiday break. Closer to supper time, more of the children were around. Some were unpacking or doing laundry. Since our students come from across the state, they may not get to see each other when they are home. Many were checking in with the friends they hadn’t seen in a while.

All of the kids were so happy to be back at St. Joseph's Indian School.

Twenty-six degrees seems cold, but when I came by the football field, the Ambrose boys (1^st-3^rd grade) were out under the lights and were having a great time tossing a ball around and dreaming of one day playing in a Bowl game. I’m glad that our students are more likely to play games outside than watch them on TV. I am concerned that when like most kids, they have a tendency to overdo the video games.

The health center was a hub of activity. After each student dropped their belongings at their homes, they came to see our nurses for a brief examination, a screening for head lice and a check on medications, cuts, bruises or injuries needing attention. We try to keep a close check on health issues, fully buying into the maxim that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Semester breaks are also times of student transitions. I met Kayla and Anthony, two of the new students we accepted from our waiting list once we had an opening. They are both excited about the opportunities here and scared about how they will fit in. I tried to learn their names right away. It’s important as a child when adults know you as an individual and can call you by name. (Something biblical about that as well!)

School starts tomorrow. Welcome back everyone!

God’s love during the Christmas season

I hope that all of you had a Merry Christmas and through the love of family and friends, felt the love of God as well.

After three days with no one other than Fr. Bernie and I around, campus is gradually coming back to life. Two break homes opened on Monday. About 15 high school students who are in sports are back, along with a few younger students who have a need to be here. Yesterday Laura, one of our custodians, made her usual 7:30 a.m. stop at the high school home to empty trash and accidentally set off the alarms! During the school year, students are already up and on their way to school by then. With the holiday schedule, they were all still sleeping, and when she opened the doors the horns and whistles started blaring. Our students got out of bed much quicker than normal – maybe something the houseparents can keep in mind for the future!

The week before and after Christmas brings different rhythms to St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus. Some days are frenzied, others so very quiet. Last week, our grade school youth were home for break, but our high school students stayed through Thursday. Stress levels were high as the students took exams and finished the final semester projects and papers. I could see the visible signs of relief on their faces as families came to campus to pick them up for vacation.

My holiday temptation toward over-eating had several worthy opportunities. Our facilities department had their annual holiday luncheon on Tuesday. They can be proud of the quality and quantity of projects they can say they accomplished as they look back over the past year.

The development office had their Christmas pot-luck on Thursday. The fall pot-luck features a lot more fresh vegetables from the garden, while this spread was filled with dishes that you need to eat in moderation, but I don’t always have the will power not to fill your plate.

While the campus is quieter without children around for a few days, many of our staff are still hard at work. We have thank-you’s to send to the many generous donors we heard from during Christmas. With the homes empty for a few days, it’s a good chance for the fix up projects that are too noisy or messy to otherwise do.

On the partial list for facilities this week:

Painting several rooms in the school
Removal of old storage tank in boiler room
Tile and freezer floor work in the Dining Hall
Changing many – many – many air filters around campus
Spray for Bed Bugs

Also on the list is snow removal – but we haven’t had much of the white stuff yet. The mild weather has allowed us to focus on other projects, especially the Stevens & Matthias Home remodeling.

The milder weather has also let the outside construction contractor to make good progress on the Iya Tokeya Inajin – They Stood Here in the Beginning – Alumni building. This week and last they have put up support columns and attached the aluminum studs. The frame of a building going up is one of the most noticeable and dramatic parts of any project.

Last week, three members of our committee took a drive to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to make some decisions about concrete castings to be used for the exterior. A four-hour round trip for a half hour meeting seems like a lot, but in South Dakota we get used to the mileage. What we don’t have too often is traffic. My brother, who lives in Chicago, can get stuck in traffic that long going but a fraction of the distance. With the good company of Tom (facilities) and Dixie (museum director) our conversation made the miles fly quickly by.

On Christmas Eve, I traveled north to the parish in Stephan, on the Crow Creek Indian Reservation. When we don’t have campus masses, I enjoy returning to the area parishes I used to serve. Christmas is a wonderful time in small towns to see the extended clans and I caught up with many people who have moved away, but came home for the holidays.

Because of a larger than expected crowd, we completely ran out of hosts and I had to break the last few I had into tiny fragments. But I suppose even a little bit of Christ can do a lot for people who believe.

I hope Christmas services strengthened people’s faith and experience of God’s love.

On Christmas Day, I did the cooking and invited all our area SCJ parish priests to relax at our community house after a long weekend of Masses.

This week, I have very few meetings. The end of the year gives me a chance to clear the desk and dispatch with the 15 and 20 minute projects I pushed aside in the pre-holiday rush and also have time for some of the long-range planning that we’re in the midst of.

Another lovely tradition

Our Lady of the Sioux Chapel hosted the Chamberlain Area Churches Choir as they graced the space by singing an uplifting Christmas Cantata. This is the third year the community has gathered for the event, which gets better attended each year as word spreads. The singing and Christmas story “The Love of God” certainly helped lift my spirits and place me more deeply in the Christmas spirit. Afterwards fellowship and Christmas goodies were shared in our skateroom. My only regret was that our Native American youth weren’t around to be able to share in such a lovely tradition.

This path of life

Only one other staff member was in the office all day, and I took advantage to work on several project uninterrupted. I gave several hours to answering Christmas cards. I answer cards as they come in, so some friends and relatives won’t hear from me until after Christmas, but I figure you’ve got twelve days to celebrate anyway, right? With each note, I say a little prayer and remember people with nostalgia. I wish time and distance didn’t separate us so much from all the people who have made such a difference in our lives. I wish we were more connected, but I believe we will be in God’s greater plan. As the Lakota (Sioux) say – Mitakuye Oyasin – We are all relatives and I’m grateful for all those I share this path of life with.

Good food and good company

Activities continued at the Lakota Nation Invitational Tournament (LNI) in Rapid City, South Dakota. After the Knowledge Bowl concluded, our Lakota (Sioux) students took individual tests in their strongest school subjects. They competed against other gifted and talented Native American youth from across the state of South Dakota, but mostly, I emphasized, they were competing against themselves, as they try to grow in knowledge. Not winning, not being the best or brightest can be a powerful incentive to study harder and learn more.

True wisdom begins when we know what we don’t know.

Our high school team will stay on another day, but I had to get back to Chamberlain for our end-of-the-year staff Christmas party. On the first part of the drive, I turned the radio on to hear how some of the basketball games were going and head a ballgame broadcast entirely in Lakota! That’s a creative way to spark interest and keep the Lakota language alive. It wasn’t too long before the reception faded, I turned off the radio, and appreciated the silence on the three-hour drive home. With little traffic, traveling in South Dakota can be very meditative and a good time for taking stock of blessings, and things I need to work on.

Jodee won the shiniest sweater! She looked great!

Many of our staff, including the maintenance crew and the development office people who are still answering all the mail and donor requests work year round. Our teachers and most houseparents are on a school schedule and will have the next two weeks off. Tonight was a night to relax and celebrate the successful completion of the first semester.

The planning committee threw in a new wrinkle this year and awarded prizes for the best Christmas sweaters – shiniest, most beautiful and most creative. We had some characters with lights and bulbs and tinsel which let to lots of laughter. Good food and good company. Thanks to all who worked so hard to make the evening a fun success!

Lakota (Sioux) students represent

Six high school students made up our St. Joseph’s Indian School’s Knowledge Bowl team, and traveled to Rapid City, South Dakota for the Lakota Nation Invitational Tournament (LNI). The competition was double elimination, and our team won three games before losing our second in overtime. All but one game was decided by 3 points or less – those back and forth games kept me tense and on the edge of my seat the whole time. I wanted so badly answer some of the questions myself. What young people often lack is the breadth of knowledge and countries, cultures and history that come from reading, travel and a few more years of life experience. In one game, I was pleased that Erin earned our winning points by completing one of my favorite phrases, “It’s better to light a candle that curse the DARKNESS”. Our Lakota (Sioux) students represented the school and themselves well.

Besides two seasoned seniors, we had a junior, two sophomores and a freshman on the team. The newcomers intend to study harder, hungry to return next year.

The LNI is a combination basketball tournament, knowledge bowl, art show, wrestling tournament, Lakota language competition and much more. It’s like a huge family reunion for so many of the tribal people in the great state of South Dakota. I ran into folks from all three of the Indian reservations I’ve worked on and several former St. Joseph’s students. The Rapid City Civic Center was filled to capacity with so many people and activities.

Several students entered pieces in the juried art show. In the category of “Traditional Native Arts”, Merrill, one of our 8^th graders, took home first place. Merrill painted and decorated a deer skull, which also included a handmade dreamcatcher. He earned a coveted ceramic plate trophy from Sioux Pottery. Congratulations Merrill!

Santa’s Workshop at St. Joseph’s Indian School

The kids had so much fun at their Christmas concert!

For grades 1 – 8, the first semester is in the books. Our staff still has a couple of days of in-service, but classes wrapped up today and the students are now on Christmas break. The high school students still have another week of classes.

Today’s student Christmas program was a big hit. Most of the performances were done in larger groups, but three of our students had enough confidence and stage presence to serve as Masters of Ceremony. I was also delighted to see a few students brave enough to sing a duet. Sixth graders Caden and James did a rap song about Christmas that had the chapel rocking. We had an appearance by Santa and a teacher led Elvis rendition of “I’ll have a Blue Christmas Without You”. The families who were able to come for the show, were all invited to lunch at the school cafeteria before hitting the road.

Santa’s Workshop at St. Joseph’s Indian School looked great! — Here’s just a glimpse of Santa’s Workshop at St. Joseph’s Indian School.

I faced one of the tougher challenges of my job when I was on a three panel team to judge the decoration competition in the basement of the Benedict Building between Human Resources and Facilities. They worked frantically this week to transform the offices into a winter wonderland. HR made their section of office look like a Ginger Bread house, complete with gum drops on the wrapping paper walls. Problem was we spied a few 1^st graders on their way home from school plucking them from the wall to have a snack! HR’s was more beautiful and appealing to the eye, but Facilities brought in a secret weapon – students dressed up as elves pretending to use the tools to make toys at a table labeled “Santa’s Workshop”.

With no collusion at all, when we added up the points for originality, arrangement, theme and overall presentation, we ended up with a real honest to goodness tie. But everyone who walked the halls had a smile on their face and felt like a winner.

My Christmas spirit is definitely building

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 7^th and 8^th 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 7^th and 8^th 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.

Lots going on

The girls had so much fun dancing like dolls!

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 5^th 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!