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, 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.
Half of our school year is already over at St. Joseph’s! It seems like it has really
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.
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.
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.
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 6th out of 14 for individual exams.
They earned 5th 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 39th LNI.
Fr. Anthony helped pass out gifts at the Christmas celebration.
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
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
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
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.
Happy New Year from all the students and staff at St. Joseph’s Indian School!
Fr. Anthony, Terri and Fr. Bernie had a wonderful time during Chamberlain’s Parade of Homes!
I hope everyone’s New Year is off to a great start. Our students and staff are in the process of working their way back to campus as the Christmas Break comes to an end. The weather is making it a bit interesting today – we have snow and 11 degrees outside, along with blistering winds lowering the wind chill to well below zero. Word has already come from the Rosebud Indian Reservation that their bus will not be able to make it to St. Joseph’s today due to the weather. South Dakota could get up to 6 inches of snow or more before tomorrow. Please keep all those traveling in your prayers for a safe journey.
Since things were quiet around campus this past week, I would like to bring you up-to-date on some things that happened just before Christmas.
Pope Francis has dedicated 2015 to be a Year of Consecrated Life —honoring Sisters, Priests and Brothers who have made the commitment to religious life. Our Provincial, Fr. Steve Huffstetter, SCJ, sent out a memo encouraging our Priests of the Sacred Heart (SCJ) communities to discern ways we could make ourselves visible to the people in our areas so as to give witness and invite them to know us better.
On December 14, 2014, Fr. Bernard Rosinski, SCJ and I, along with our housekeeper, Terri, took part in the annual Parade of Homes in the Chamberlain area. It is a fundraiser for our local Cozard Memorial Library. There were five homes and one local business that people could visit.
We hosted between 60-75 people and had a great time answering questions and showing off our home —beautiful, thanks to Terri’s wonderful sense of decorating.
Later that week, we invited St. Joseph’s staff to come up and see the decorations and enjoy some cookies and hot cider. About 40-50 staff accepted our invite during this busy season. It was a wonderful experience!
~~~
On the calendar for the week ahead is the start of the third quarter at school and our celebration of Christmas with the Lakota (Sioux) boys and girls. The students are looking forward to opening their gifts your generosity provided! I always enjoy visiting the homes and seeing the expressions of joy on the children’s faces as they open their gifts. We’ll be sure to take some pictures so you can see them in next week’s blog!
With 2015 upon us, I also wanted to remind you of the donor luncheons that will be coming up, giving you an opportunity to meet some of St. Joseph’s students and staff:
January 18-19, 2015: San Francisco, California
April 25-26, 2015 : Panama City, Florida
June 7-8, 2015: New York, New York
If you are able to attend and would like additional information, please call 1-800-584-9200. We look forward to spending some time with you!
Enjoy the week ahead. May God’s blessings continue to be with you as in the New Year. Thanks again for your support and encouragement of our Lakota students and all of us. Be assured of our prayers for you and your special intentions.
My name is Laura and I am the Donor Relations Officer in the Development office here at St. Joseph’s Indian School. I have been here for 14
Laura, St. Joseph’s Donor Relations Officer
years and I’m a mother of three boys. We are a wrestling family and I look forward to the season every year.
This year, I am lucky to have a son on the Chamberlain high school wrestling team along with a couple of our St. Joseph’s students – one of whom is Jay.
We had our first tournament recently and it was Jay’s first time ever wrestling in a meet! He did great but did not get a win that day. I talked to him afterwards and asked how it went. He said “not good.” I assured him that he will get the moves figured out and encouraged him to keep his chin up!
A week later, we went to another meet and Jay was up to wrestle. I had butterflies in my stomach for him! I found myself yelling and cheering for him like he was my own.
Jay wrestles on the Chamberlain high school team with Laura’s son.
And guess who pinned his first guy for a Win… That is right, Jay!
The look of excitement on his face was priceless. I am so proud of our students for getting out of their comfort zone and trying new things. I feel like St. Joseph’s employees and students are One Big Family – I’m so happy to be part of it!
There is a saying I like: You can never lose – you either Win or Learn. I look forward to seeing St. Joseph’s boys alongside my own Winning and Learning this wrestling season. You can bet I will be there cheering them on the whole way!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and that Santa was good to you all. Things are still very quiet here on campus as the Lakota (Sioux) students and much of the staff are away for Christmas break. We have only a handful of students staying in the break home.
We got some additional snow overnight and some VERY cold weather has settled in. Local news stations are predicting wind chills of -30. Brrrr!!
Since there is not a lot of ‘current’ news to share, it gives me a chance to pass along some tidbits that we may have missed in Busy December.
RJ (right) took first place in the individual government test! The team took 3rd place in the LNI Knowledge Bowl.
Right before the Christmas break began, several of our students traveled out to Rapid City, South Dakota to take part in some of the events at the annual Lakota Nation Invitational (LNI). What began as a basketball tournament in the 1970s is now a celebration of Native American arts, culture, language and family. The days-long event includes traditional hand games, a language bowl, knowledge bowl, archery competition and more.
Joseph’s sent a Knowledge Bowl team and they captured 3rd place. After the team contest, there are individual tests in a variety of subjects. One of St. Joseph’s team members, senior RJ, took first place in Government. One of those congratulating RJ was Senator John Thune, who was also the speaker at RJ’s eighth grade graduation. Given his interest in government and politics, this was very exciting for RJ!
One of our freshmen, Kaitlyn, took part in the archery contest and came in 2nd out of 30 shooters.
Joseph’s hand games team took 1st place! Their weekly practices really paid off.
Congratulations to all those who represented St. Joseph’s at LNI. You are a credit to our school and we’re so proud of you all!
Frank, our Residential Coordinator for the seventh and eighth grades, came up with an idea at the start of December to have some Christmas fun. Employing the popular “Elf on the Shelf” story, he added a twist – our elves broke the rules!
Each day, students found the elves somewhere in school breaking a rule! These elves had iPods in class.
Each day, students found the elves somewhere in school breaking a rule! Their job then was to submit their name and the rule being broken for a chance to win a prize. In addition to being a lot of fun, the elves helped students remember to follow the rules in the exciting weeks leading up to Christmas break.
Another noteworthy success for a St. Joseph’s student was achieved by Kyran, a high school senior, who is a member of the Chamberlain FFA Marketing Team. His team recently placed second at the State Fall Leadership CDE’s! Also on the team with Kyran is Connor, who is the grandson of our school secretary, Dianne. Congratulations to everyone!
I hope all of you will have an enjoyable New Year’s celebration and that God’s blessings, love and guidance will be with you throughout 2015.
Campus is quiet and most of the students are home for the Holidays. A handful of our Lakota
Claire, Teacher’s Aide & Houseparent
students arrived back today for the break home, though. High school students on the basketball teams are expected to practice over the break. Unlike their teammates who live in town, St. Joseph’s Indian School students must leave their families back home in order to be able to make practices. This shows an extra level of commitment and sacrifice.
The break home provides some structure and support for our winter athletes. That doesn’t mean that things aren’t festive. The mood over break tends to be pretty relaxed—no school during the day and no homework to be done at night. The high school kids who don’t have early morning practices love to sleep in. Evenings are spent socializing or watching movies.
A few years back, I was working in the break home with Craig and we decided to make the 70-mile trek to the closest “big city” of Mitchell, South Dakota, for a trip to the movies. We loaded up the Suburban with seven kids and off we went. All was going so well—the kids enjoyed the movie and an impromptu trip to Wal-Mart. We were heading home when the engine started making strange noises. And then the transmission blew.
There we were, stuck in first gear and unable to go any faster than 3 miles per hour. It was 9:00 at night, we were an hour from Chamberlain and it was a dangerous 17 degrees below zero. Thankfully, we were right at an exit. A passing Sheriff saw our flashing lights and accompanied us up to the ramp. But even he got impatient and after about 15 minutes of us chugging along, he turned tail and left.
Luckily the kids thought this was great fun. They cheered us on, “Go Craig Go!!” and even leaned forward to help us go faster. We headed toward the closest gas station, picking up a little downhill speed until we were careening along at 4mph. One of the kids had to go to the bathroom. He got out, ran to ahead to the station, used the loo, and still beat us to the parking lot.
The kids weren’t particularly stressed or upset. Maybe it was because the heat and the stereo were working. So we were cozy and had our tunes blasting. Maybe it was because they could see the humor in the situation—Craig talking to the engine, urging her on like a racehorse. But I think mostly because St. Joseph’s is a safe place.
One of the awesome things about working at St. Joseph’s Indian School, is that when disaster strikes, there is always someone to call. We were armed with cell phones and help was immediately on the way. Our on-call supervisor and her husband drove 50 miles from Chamberlain with another Suburban and met us at the gas station. We had just arrived, making the 3 mile drive in just under an hour.
In many ways, St. Joseph’s Indian School provides a safety net for our kids. Sometimes it’s a dramatic sub-zero temperature rescue, but mostly it’s the small stuff—a safe place to spend break, a sympathetic ear when the coach is tough and muscles are sore, a few encouraging words before morning practice.
That safety net can mean a lot, especially when the going gets tough.
If you are reading this, then you are part of our safety net too—pulling for our kids, offering encouragement and keeping them in your prayers. Thank you for all you do to make our kids feel safe and supported.
Hope everyone’s shopping is almost finished as the Season of Advent dwindles down in preparation for the coming of the Prince of Peace on Christmas.
It is quiet on campus today since the students left Friday for the Christmas Break and the weather is icky — rain yesterday and now snow and wind.
On the sports scene this last week, coaches gave out the awards for the girls’ basketball seasons. Those who were most improved, coaches’ choice or team leaders were honored.
About 30 of our younger Lakota students are taking some instruction in wrestling.
After awards, the coaches for the upcoming bowling season met to select their teams. Students in grades 7-12 will hit the lanes on Saturday afternoons once everyone is
back after break.
Last Wednesday evening, about 30 of our younger Lakota students who have been taking some instruction in wrestling hit the mats and showed off their new skills. Before the competition started, I shared with everyone that I had received a phone call regarding a St. Joseph’s benefactor in Illinois whose lung cancer has returned. A friend had called to ask for our prayers for him and while we talked he mentioned the gentleman had been a wrestler. I told him I would ask our wrestlers to dedicate their efforts in his honor.
The Explorers, who meet early each Thursday morning, ended this semester’s activities by donating the money they have raised this year. Two youth in the Chamberlain community, Gabby and Gunner, are the grateful recipients. Both are experiencing health issues related to cancer. The money – $1700 – was split between both families to help with medical expenses.
The Explorers sold “Cub Rolls” which were used to bombard the basketball court when the players came out to warm up.
The other fundraiser undertaken by the Explorers is called “Cub Rolls.” The boys sell rolls of toilet paper which were then used during the Chamberlain Lady Cubs basketball game last week. Those attending the game bombard the court with the rolls as the players came out to warm up. The Explorers are then timed in their clean-up efforts. The boys raised $400 which will be used to cover costs for their trip to the State Capital in Pierre, SD and other club expenses.
Best wishes to all of you for a very Merry Christmas and a grace-filled holiday.
