Guest Bloggers – Page 25 – St. Joseph's Indian School

I just love getting notes…

I just love getting notes. As much as I love keeping up with friends and family by e-mail, Facebook and blogs, there is something

Claire is a St. Joseph's houseparent — Claire

special about having something solid in my hand. I’m not picky.

The other day, I was helping out in St. Joseph’s first grade classroom and one of the students drew me a picture. It was of a tornado. I wasn’t exactly sure why. I thought it was because we had a tornado drill the previous afternoon.

Actually, I learned he had heard about the tornadoes in the South and seemed very concerned about the people there. I pointed to a perilously tipped triangle in the middle of the drawing and asked if it was a tipi. He rolled his eyes at my ridiculousness and gasped, “No! It’s a piece of pizza.”

Some notes are a little easier to interpret. After a long evening sitting outside the bathroom in Pinger home (junior high girls), doing what I call winagi watch (keeping evil spirits away while the kids are getting ready for bed) one of my sixth grade girls drew me a picture. It had hearts and rainbows and said “Thanks for everything.”

I have that one up on my fridge.

I have a small but precious collection of those tender moments…Thank you. I’m sorry. Can you wake me up 15 minutes early so I can finish my laundry? Stop acting so childish and put your foot down (!!)

And now is the time of year for those notes that I both love and dread so much: graduation announcements. (When did they get to be so grown up anyway?) I love seeing graduation pictures for eighth graders and seniors alike. I love hearing about their plans, and talking about their dreams. I admit to getting a little soggy when I think about them moving on from St. Joseph’s Indian School.

Maybe that’s why a note in last week’s mail was such a relief. “I’ve got one more week left,” she wrote about her first year of college. “See you soon.”

What kind of letters and notes do you like to get?

I hope you enjoy the slice of life you get from St. Joseph’s mailings. I love sharing these stories with you, so that you know what kind of impact you have on our lives here – all our lives, both the kids and those who are privileged to work with them.

Wopila tanka – many thanks!

Claire

Coincidence or part of the bigger plan?

So…the other day I was walking into our Student Coordinator office and noticed a stack of boxes sitting by the door. I hadn’t really noticed the boxes for awhile and wondered

Six Lakota students helped Frank deliver St. Joseph’s donation of food to the local domestic violence shelter. — Helena helped Frank and other students deliver boxes of food to the local domestic violence shelter.

what they where and how long they had been in that spot…

Then it hit me!

The boxes contained the food from the annual food drive St. Joseph’s holds in November. *forehead smack*

In the hustle and bustle of the school year, we never delivered them to the domestic violence shelter here in Chamberlain. Color me embarrassed – I was in charge of delivering!

I immediately began working with Jennie, the Student Coordinator, to come up with a plan to deliver the food. We picked four students to help load and unload the boxes. I called the shelter and set up a time to make the delivery. The day arrived came and I ended up with two extra students to help. And help they did!

The six students unloaded the boxes quickly.

The person on duty at the shelter worker was very grateful for the donation – they had several clients in the shelter at the time and supplies were running low.

My embarrassment of forgetting the food boxes abated. I realized maybe us (actually just me) forgetting the food for all that time in the office was part of the bigger plan…

Maybe, just maybe, things happen for a reason. Maybe sometimes we just need to flow with our surroundings and trust what’s happening.

Or, maybe it was just coincidence that our twelve boxes of food came at the right time…

Whatever the case, it was the right time to role model and teach the students about generosity firsthand by giving back to our community, even if it didn’t work out exactly like I first planned.

Chances for small lessons of generosity, independence, belonging and mastery are given to us every day at St. Joseph’s Indian School. As staff and helpers, we need to remember to watch for these times and take full advantage of opportunity to teach our Native American students in the best way we can.

And today, I believe my “mistake” was part of the bigger plan to share this lesson of generosity with the six students who helped deliver those boxes.

As our school year winds down and the students get ready for summer break, I would like to thank our extended family for making these teachable moments possible for our students. Everyone shows support to our students to make this possible – we can’t do this work without you! We are truly thankful and blessed by your generosity.

Happy summer!

Frank W.

Residential Coordinator

Celebrating graduations, end of year at St. Joseph’s Indian School

One graduation down and one to go!

On Sunday, nine St. Joseph’s students (out of a class of 61) took part in the Chamberlain High School graduation ceremony. The armory was packed with graduates, family

and friends. It was an especially important day for Errol – he is the first St. Joseph’s high school graduate to do so with honors. He is also a Regent Scholar and member of the National Honor Society. Congratulations Errol!

As the last graduate was leaving the stage after receiving his diploma, Chamberlain Principal Mr. Bertram, commented that

this was the largest number of graduates we’ve had from St. Joseph’s Indian School to date.

This brought a very nice round of applause from those assembled. It definitely brought a proud smile to the faces of all the St. Joseph’s staff, families and supporters attendance.

Pilamaya – thank you – for helping these students reach this milestone!

Congratulations to St. Joseph’s Class of 2014! — Thanks to your generosity, nine St. Joseph’s seniors graduated high school this year!

Chamberlain school is out for the year, but St. Joseph’s students still have the remainder of this week.

Spring sports awards were given out yesterday. Archery and track participants were recognized for their accomplishments, houseparents were thanked for helping with ball games. T-ball coach Leonard spoke about a young lady who began the season not even knowing how to hold the bat – it was almost bigger than she was! But in the last game of the season, she smacked two home runs! It’s wonderful to watch our Lakota students learn and grow throughout the year.

After the awards were handed out, it was on to the softball diamond for the annual eighth graders vs. staff softball game. The rules are a bit different than a standard game – staff had to hit big 16” softballs, while students hit a normal-sized one and also had the benefit of getting five outs per inning. A good time was had by all and the game ended in a 20-20 tie.

Please keep our eighth grade students in your prayers as they receive their certificates on Friday.

We hope all of you have a very safe and relaxing Memorial Day weekend. As always, we are grateful for your generosity which enables us to offer the programs our Native American students and families need.

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

Major League Fun for St. Joseph’s boys

The end of the year at St. Joseph’s is filled with different educational field trips and fun home trips. The Explorers group went on just such a trip last week. Along with a St. Joseph’s chaperone, boys involved in the group went to two baseball games in Kansas City – a night game and a day game.

The boys’ view from their seats during the day game. — The boys attended two games: one day and one night.

The boys were very excited to be going on this trip and worked hard to earn the opportunity. Each year, the Explorers raise money in many different ways. Mostly, proceeds benefit the Chamberlain and Oacoma communities. In the past, they have raised money for softball fields and families struggling with difficult medical issues.

This year, they are helping fund new playground equipment at a local park.

With their annual business wrapped up, everyone piled in for the eight-hour car ride to Kansas City, Missouri. Everyone was filled with anticipation – we were going to watch a

Major.

League.

Baseball.

Game.

Live in the stadium!!

Many of the boys talked about what they would have been doing in school and how great it was that they WEREN’T in school on the way down to Kansas City. That only added to the excitement!

After arriving at the hotel, we walked across the street to the stadium. Some couldn’t contain their excitement and ran!

When we got there, all the boys received a Kansas City Royals t-shirt as part of a promotional give-away that night. Very cool!

After finding our seats and setting ground rules for the boys, they were off to explore the Hall of Fame and get closer to the field to see if they could catch a ball during batting practice. The boys asked many questions about the game of baseball, the field and everything else you can imagine! Everyone really enjoyed the night.

The next morning, we had brunch before heading back to the stadium for the day game.

When the game ended, we made the long trip back to South Dakota and St. Joseph’s Indian School. Most of the boys slept at least half the way home. We had a late arrival time (about midnight) so the boys found space on the nearest piece of furniture they could find and slept there until morning (they didn’t want to wake up the whole house!).

The boys had a very good experience and learned a lot about baseball on the trip. We had fun looking at the history of the stadium, the Kansas City Royals Hall of Fame, and the evolution of the game itself.

During their year being involved with Explorers, they learned many other valuable lessons. Thank you for helping St. Joseph’s provide these opportunities!

Thank you for your generosity!

Dear Friends of St. Joseph’s,

As you may know I celebrated my birthday last Monday, May 12. I was informed there were a lot of birthday greetings popping up on St. Joseph’s Facebook page. Since I do not have a personal account, I went to another office to take a peek at the greetings.

Needless to say, I was overwhelmed.

There were over 180 greetings! One hoped that my birthday would be “out of this world.” It came close as there were greetings from France and Sweden, from both coasts and even from a fellow May birthday celebrator.

I am very grateful for your kindness and thoughtfulness and I give thanks to God for the chance to be here at St. Joseph’s Indian School.

I am also grateful that many of your kind wishes for a happy birthday were accompanied by statements of support for our school and the Lakota (Sioux) children we serve. Your generosity makes it possible for us to offer so much to the Native American students and their families. Because of this important work, nine of our students graduated high school yesterday!

Pilamaya – thank you – again for your thoughtful greetings! I appreciate the prayers you offer up – we can always use them.

May God’s blessings be with each of you on your special day when you celebrate the gift of life given to you and the many gifts and talents with which you have been blessed.

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

Poetry, snow & sixth grade at St. Joseph’s Indian School

The end of the year is here! It is a very busy time at St. Joseph’s Indian School, fitting in class trips, end-of-the-year activities and wrapping up projects.

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

In reading classes, the Lakota students completed units on poetry. During this unit, it is always a treat to have our principal, Kathleen, come and read to us. She does an amazing job and captures the attention of all the students.

We read mostly lyric and narrative poems, and students explored the different ways authors presented their words. Some used humor and others appealed to our senses and emotions.

I also discovered we have some talented young poets right here at St. Joseph’s!

During the reading of the poem “The Dream Keeper,” our Native American Studies teachers came into our classroom and helped us make our own dreamcatchers. The students did an awesome job and had a lot of fun.

Spring is also the time that our sixth graders take their cultural field trip to the Badlands National Park in western South Dakota. We schedule this trip a couple of weeks in advance and then have to accept what Mother Nature has in store of us.

This year she decided to rain on our day…

Actually, we were like postal workers and could say that “neither rain nor sleet nor snow” will keep us from having fun on our class trip!

Everyone knows the end of the year is coming fast and the students are looking forward to their summer break!

Linea – Reading Teacher, grades 6-8

St. Joseph’s sixth graders made their own dreamcatchers after reading the poem “The Dream Keeper.” — After reading “The Dream Keeper,” St. Joseph’s sixth graders made dreamcatchers in class.

St. Joseph’s sixth graders had their class trip to the Badlands National Park in May. — Sixth grade boys stand in the rain and snow in the Badlands during the sixth grade class trip.

Awards Banquets for St. Joseph’s Seniors

Greetings once again from South Dakota – the land spring has forgotten! Although we have not had any of the snow that Rapid City and the Black Hills have received

Fr. Anthony and the Lakota children. — Fr. Anthony spends time with St. Joseph’s students.

recently, it has been cold and wet over the last few weekends. We are grateful for the moisture, but would be happy to share some of it with the drought areas in California.

As the school year winds down, activities pick up for the Lakota (Sioux) students. Over the last two weekends, 11 of our 19 homes have been away on their home trips. Some have gone shopping in the Sioux Falls area and others have headed out to the Black Hills. This coming week will see the seventh graders head out on their cultural trip to explore various sites in South Dakota and the neighboring states that have Native American cultural and historical impact. They’ll be back on campus prior to graduation on May 23.

St. Joseph’s high school students have also had a variety of activities take place, including end of the year awards. Last Monday was the academic awards banquet:

Students who took part in the one act play were awarded a Superior Play & Acting Award on the State level;
Robert and Kyran were recognized for taking part in Boys’ State;
Senior Errol was honored as a Regent Scholar and recipient of the Al Mueller Memorial Scholarship and the Ruth Potter Memorial/Dakota Indian Foundation Award.

Wednesday, St. Joseph’s seniors were honored at a prayer service and reception where Cody was awarded the Jerry Vaad Memorial. This award is in honor of a long-time employee in the athletic department at St. Joseph’s Indian School. It is awarded to the graduate who best exemplifies sharing of time and talent with other members of his or her tiyospaye – extended family – on campus.

Friday came and it was time for athletic awards:

One of our new students this year, Danny, won the most improved award for golf;
Shawn was mentioned for making all-conference honorable mention in football;
Gabe was designated most inspirational for boys’ basketball;
Adrian won the JV Most Valuable Player award;
Jacob was considered the most inspirational on the high school track team;
Senior Reuben was honored for being a basketball team captain and making all-conference.

Chamberlain High School only has three days of classes left, so tomorrow night is the Baccalaureate service the United Church of Christ. It will be a special moment for all the seniors as they look back at their accomplishments and ahead to their graduation on May 18. Please keep them and their future plans in your prayers. Read more about them here.

Have a great week and know you are being remembered in our Novena of Masses offered the 11^th through the 19^th of each month. May God continue to bless and reward you for your generosity towards the Lakota boys and girls at St. Joseph’s Indian School.

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

April’s journey to St. Joseph’s Indian School

Good afternoon!

April works with St. Joseph's students and families. — April works with St. Joseph’s students and families.

My name is April and I greet you with a warm and hearty handshake. I work with our Lakota families at St. Joseph’s, along with many other roles. I would like to take this opportunity to share with you about why I am at St. Joseph’s Indian School. I guess I can start by sharing a quote from our Elders. They say everything happens for a reason and when one door closes, another opens.

A long time ago … and I mean a long time ago… when my children were playing basketball and football, I would come to St. Joseph’s for their games. The first time we drove into campus, I was so impressed. The first thought that entered my mind was I would love to work here.

As time went on and my children grew up, there was no reason for me to visit anymore until I learned of my grandchildren who came to school here. I was able to come and get them on a weekend. They would tell us about St. Joseph’s and share that they liked it here, especially because there was a swimming pool! J

Time went on and I began my journey of healing back in 1986. Little did I know at that time, I needed to do what the little sacred spirits at St. Joseph’s are doing today… I wanted to learn who I really was and about my culture. So I decided to go to treatment.

Things were not good and I wanted to know why I was making so many wrong choices. With the help of my Hunka relatives (adopted through a traditional Lakota ceremony), Mr. Gene Thin Elk and Rick Thomas, I was able to start building a foundation for myself and learned how to make some positive choices.

I thank the Grandfathers every day for giving me a second chance.

This time I would show my children a clean and sober mommy. There were many steps I needed to take to do just that. I have been alcohol and drug free for 28 years.

Through the years, I decided I wanted to help my relatives in a good way, the best way I knew how. I felt so good on the inside knowing that I had nothing to hide and that I had a voice in a good way, to share with others that it’s okay to cry and to laugh.

April chaperoned St. Joseph’s students on a trip to learn more about their Native American heritage. — April and the Lakota (Sioux) students during their cultural trip.

The Elders say that tears and laughter are the two best medicines that we have. I strongly believe that.

Our Elders also say that each one of us are gifted. Maybe we don’t know yet what that gift is, but others will see it and tell us because of the way we choose to walk.

I was raised as a strong Catholic; my parents had us in church every Sunday. And God Bless my mom who shared with me and my siblings that it is ok to carry a Bible in one hand and the Canupa – pipe – in the other. Never forget where you come from and don’t ever disrespect others, she said.

My mom was a great teacher, along with my dad. Both are now in the Spirit World.

As a result of all this, I strongly believe I was guided here to help our little Native Spirits feel comfortable and re-learn that it’s ok to talk with another person – our clergy, counselors, houseparents, teachers or mentors. Each child is different and come with their own little stories that we can learn from together and help them to the best of our ability.

That is why I am here.

Maybe I can also be a grandma they don’t have, or to model the grandma (Elder), and share what I have learned through the years before I came here. I hope we can all keep learning together.

Wopida tanka – many thanks,

April

Flurry of activities as the school year winds down

This has been a busy last few days. On Wednesday and Thursday of last week our eighth grade students had a day to shadow St. Joseph’s students attending Chamberlain High School. This is a great opportunity for the students to meet teachers and discover ways to get around the high school campus. As our eighth grade graduates get ready to move into our high school program, our seniors are getting ready to move on to college, vocational school and other educational avenues. On Wednesday afternoon a prayer service and reception will be held for our nine high school seniors. Their graduation ceremony is May 18^th.

This past Sunday, I attended the awarding of the annual Distinguished Alumni Award to Mr. Sam Dupris of Bloomington, Minnesota. Sam attended St. Joseph’s from 1937-1942 along with several of his siblings. Sam told our students that the values and educational base he received while attending St. Joseph’s has helped him throughout his life. After a stint in the Army, he used the GI Bill to attend flight school and for more than 25 years spent time with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) working his way up the ranks to be captain and chief pilot. Sam is the first and only Native American to serve as a FAA pilot. He was inducted into the South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame in 2001 and South Dakota Hall of Fame in 2010.

This past Saturday, the annual Chamberlain High School Powwow was held at the new Chamberlain Community Center. Irene, a junior in our high school program, was selected to be Miss CHS Powwow. She joined, Mia and Cassidy, fellow St. Joseph’s high school girls to participate in the dancing. Our drum group also participated with music and songs for the celebration.

Many new faces are on campus as new staff is being interviewed and hired for next year. While we are happy to welcome them, it also means some of our ‘veterans’ will be moving on. Eleven will be retiring from St. Joseph’s with 114.5 combined years of service and dedication to our students.

You may remember I mentioned the Explorers were doing a car wash last weekend to raise money for new playground equipment at American Creek Campground. They washed 84 cars, made over $500 in tips and a little over $3,500 in pledges. Since June of 2002, they have raised a little over $79,500 to be used for audio visual equipment, projects to beautify the Chamberlain/Oacoma area, supporting meals on wheels and aid to local residents facing health issues.

I hope you have a positive week while finding ways to draw closer to those you care about and taking that first step in reaching out to make a new friend. May God’s blessings continue to be with you!

Sincerely,

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

Lakota students explore career options

Hi everyone!

My name is Pam and I teach Personal Living Skills (PLS) and P.E. at St. Joseph’s Indian School.

Pam, St. Joseph's Personal Living Skills teacher. — Pam, St. Joseph’s Personal Living Skills teacher.

As the year comes to an end, St. Joseph’s eighth graders are starting to think not only about high school, but their future career options as well. In our Personal Living Skills class, the Lakota (Sioux) students are getting a better understanding of themselves and how their interests and skills will relate to real-world academic and career opportunities.

They have been using the website SDmylife.com to research, select and plan their careers. To find a good match, students started by taking a career interest survey. As they explored the options, their questions answered by professionals working in a particular field. Students researched which school subjects would help them prepare for their career match.

We have several students looking at pursuing careers in the medical field and criminal justice, as well as joining the military. As our eighth graders continue to mature over the next four years of high school, they will be able to expand their search with ability assessments and create a portfolio that will assist them in their future endeavors.

Thank you for your support!

St. Joseph’s eighth graders will graduate on Friday, May 23, 2014. — St. Joseph’s eighth graders are ready for high school!