Guest Blogger: Julie

Hi, my name is Julie L. and I am the Clinical Services Director at St. Joseph’s Indian School. I have worked at St. Joseph’s since 1987. I currently oversee the Clinical Department and the Health Center.  During the summer months, the Health Center is not as busy as it is during the school year.  We see less activity as there are fewer students on campus.  We do, however, provide services for the staff and their immediate family and have a nurse on call when students are here.  The Clinical Department (Family Service Counselors or FSCs) is busy with admissions work and home visitations.

I have just returned from Germany as part of an exchange program that we have with the SCJ school in Handrup.  Another staff member and I took four high school students on this journey.  It was very fun and exciting for all of us to travel overseas, as none of us had done this before.  It was so great watching the students experience many new things during this trip.

The students spent much of their time with their individual host families and with one another. Patrick and I stayed at the monastery and were treated very well by the priests and sisters.  We got to see many sights and learned a lot about Germany while we visited for two weeks (fun times at an amusement park in the Netherlands, a weekend in Berlin, and visiting a castle, to name just a few things that we accomplished while there).  The students also shared presentations about themselves and St. Joseph’s Indian School to different classrooms at the Handrup school.

Our German host students and a chaperone will be coming to South Dakota in October to see our school and visit some sites around South Dakota.  All of the students are very excited about this as they bonded quite well as a group and can’t wait to see one another again.

The last two days we spent in Amsterdam.  This was really fun for the students as they enjoyed staying in a “Botel” that was right on the water.  We also visited Anne Frank’s house which was interesting as the students have read her book for one of their high school classes.  As we flew back to the United States, you could see that the students were tired but very happy with all that they had experienced.

We hope and pray that you all are having a wonderful summer and, as always, thank you for your continued support for the students at St. Joseph’s Indian School.

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