Every Tuesday for the next few months, we will be highlighting one of our 20 homes on St. Joseph’s campus.
Here at St. Joseph’s, we provide nationally-accredited home-away-from-homes for Native American children in grades one through twelve.
There are no dorms at St. Joseph’s. Children live in one of our campus homes with two specially-trained houseparents. They live and play together as any family would. The boys and girls learn life skills and enjoy spending time with their ‘St. Joseph’s family’.
St. Joseph’s Cyr Home is one of our 4-6 grade boys’ homes on campus.
Theresa and Odis 6-day houseparents. Theresa has an interesting story and has been at St. Joseph’s since the fall of 1986. Here is what she shared:
“I have been here since the fall of 1986. When I came in ’86, I re-started the yearbook program and was the editor for a number of years. Through this process, I got to know everyone on campus!
Throughout my time at St. Joseph’s, I have been a houseparent, houseparent trainer, director of religious education, religion teacher and then back to being a houseparent. I enjoyed all my positions, but with houseparenting you get to know a smaller group of kids better than when I was a teacher and had all of the children in my classes.
I found out about St. Joseph’s when I was in Canada working as a houseparent for a high school program in British Columbia. A couple I knew from there had come to work at St. Joseph’s after leaving Canada.
I like to garden, and in August when the boys come back to school I usually have cantaloupe growing – they help me water it and really enjoy helping me eat it. J
Why I enjoy the work I do? I wouldn’t enjoy it if I didn’t have great partners. It really does take two of us to do the work and still have time to enjoy doing things with the kids. Of course I also enjoy the kids – it is fun to watch them mature and working with them keeps me young.”
Here are a few fun facts about the boys of the Cyr Home:
FAVORITE ACTIVITIES:
- Basketball
- Volleyball
- Skateboarding
- Video Games
- Hiking
- Fishing
- Sledding in winter
WEEKEND FUN:
- All of the above! 🙂
- On Saturday, the boys usually spend their evening watching a movie and eating popcorn.
- On Sunday, the home has a home meeting right after church.
FAVORITE FOODS:
- Breakfast casserole
- Theresa’s special goulash
- Odis’s breakfast sandwiches
- Chicken & Waffles
- Breakfast burritos
HOME TRADITIONS:
- Party Hosts- Every year, the Cyr Home hosts a party for the Hrabe apartments. The Hrabe apartments provide needed services to persons with developmental disabilities in a community setting. Usually it’s a Halloween party, but they did host a Cinco de Mayo party once.
- The boys enjoy recognizing and saying hi to all the residents around town!
- Christmas Tree- The Christmas tree always displays ornaments that the boys have made. Every year, Theresa puts their names and grades on the ornaments and the boys enjoy looking at the ones they have made over the years. The tree is getting quite full now!
- Hiking at Farm Island- Every year, the home hikes Farm Island in Pierre and enjoys a big meal at the Chinese buffet after.
Birthdays- For their birthday, each young man receives a throw blanket as a present. They know it is coming and they look forward to the gift… the warmer and cozier, the better!
Stay tuned… we look forward to introducing the Raphael Home next Tuesday!
This looks like a healthy place for a preteen boy to live. St. Joseph’s is a fine example of a boarding school. Dorms can be non-personal even for older boys, but for this age group parent-like persons add that personal touch. I hope these guys under houseparent care here appreciate their environment. The woman mentioned here has great experience to go with a given positive attitude.
Thank you for your kind comment, William! We hope you’re having a great week!