Fall is in the air at St. Josephs…

Good day from St. Joseph’s Indian School!

Fall is in the air at St. Joseph’s. Leaves are changing and the students are enjoying the fall days as the football season comes to an end.

On Monday, when most of the country was celebrating Columbus Day, the State of South Dakota celebrated Native American Day.  There was a large powwow in Rapid City on October 10 and a good number of our students participated in the event. They were wonderful representatives of St. Joseph’s!

Monday also saw the start of the school’s second quarter. We started the day with a Prayer Service enhanced by Native American activities at Our Lady of the Sioux Chapel.  The service began with the entrance of our powwow royalty accompanied by the Chalk Hill Singers’ drum group.  Several students led us in the Four Direction prayer.  There were also readings from the Gospel of Luke and Joseph Marshall III, a member of the Sicangu Lakota Tribe.

Our artist in residence, V.R. Janis, made presentations in the classroom during the rest of the day. Our students learned a lot!

This past Saturday was the 16^th Annual River City Band Festival in downtown Chamberlain.  Our 4^th, 5^th and 6^th grade students helped carry banners in the parade. After the parade, the bands gathered at the local athletic field to perform their field shows.  St. Joseph’s drum group, the Chalk Hill Singers presented the Lakota Flag Song after the National Anthem to begin the afternoon festivities.  I believe this is their first public performance outside of a powwow setting — they did a fantastic job!

The local members of the Chamberlain Middle School Explorers elected their officers for the year recently and one of St. Joseph’s eighth graders, Kyle, was elected secretary.  The Explorers are a service club for sixth thru eighth grade boys that meet every Thursday at 7:30 AM at Chamberlain Elementary School.  This year seven St. Joseph’s students are taking part and four of them are new members.

The Explorers raise money through a variety of projects during the year and then donate the money for someone in need or to the Chamberlain community to help fund various projects.  Last year, they contributed to the new Chamberlain swimming pool complex. They also focus on civics and various lessons called ‘man stuff.’

The group also travels to Pierre to visit the State Capital and meet the Governor.  The year ends with a trip to a major league baseball game.

Two of St. Joseph’s students, Ramez and Tayeden, had a great time meeting donors at the luncheons in the Dallas, TX area. After the luncheons, they had the chance to visit the Texas State Fair and take a VIP tour of AT&T stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys.  They even had the chance to visit the Cowboys’ locker room and have their pictures taken in front of the locker of their favorite player, Dez Bryant.

Last week saw the end of the golf season.  Chamberlain High School’s team won multiple invitationals and had all members qualify for the state tournament. Out of the 16 teams that took part, the Cubs came in 8^th. Danny, one of St. Joseph’s students, placed in the top 25 as a junior. We are excited to support him next year!

Thank you for your generosity. YOU make everything we do possible.

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

Author: St. Joseph's Indian School

At St. Joseph's Indian School, our privately-funded programs for Lakota (Sioux) children in need have evolved over 90 years of family partnership, experience and education. Because of generous friends who share tax-deductible donations, Native American youth receive a safe, stable home life; individual counseling and guidance; carefully planned curriculum based on Lakota culture and individual student needs and tools to help build confidence, boost self-esteem and improve cultural awareness. All of this helps children to live a bright, productive, possibility-filled future. View all posts by St. Joseph's Indian School