This winter hasn’t been the worst in recent history, but that didn’t keep students at St. Joseph’s Indian School from blowing up a blizzard of activity on Friday, March 1, the school’s annual “I Hate Winter Day.” The day capped another annual celebration at the school: “Read Across America Week.”
Storytelling is a treasured Lakota cultural tradition, so the nationally celebrated week is a favorite at the school. Along with other schools throughout the country, days included enjoying the works of Dr. Theodor Seuss Geisel. Through rhythm and rhyme, Dr. Seuss’s works coax children to fall in love with reading and storytelling and remember simple passages easily.
Third-graders in Melissa’s class were enthused about the extra story time.
“My favorite part was reading The Lorax,” said Amira.
“I like the silly Dr. Seuss poems,” added Micah.
Readings were paired with dress-up days: Monday meant striped hats, ala “Cat in the Hat.” On Tuesday students donned the color green and silly socks. Wednesday was orange-themed, and Thursday was the favorite pajama day.
Third-grader Sam affirmed, “Pajama day was the best because we got to bring a stuffy.”
But the day to pull out all the stops was Friday. Students ran off steam while running circles around Frank, 7th-8th Grade Residential Coordinator, in an obstacle course in the gym. Meanwhile, a team of judges picked winners in the Beach House/Sandcastle Construction Contest. Claiming a class pizza party for their construction aptitude are first-through-third-grade division: second grade with a stunning sand castle; fourth-through-sixth-grade division: sixth grade with a Jack Sparrow-inspired entry; and seventh-eighth grade division: eighth grade with Bikini Bottom, Population 538.
Learn more about St. Joseph’s Indian School at www.stjo.org.
Blessings for all you do,a long time contributor and one of my daughters, Toni did some field work at St, Joseph’s..
Love seeing the progress of the children and teachers,,,,,
Being a retired Literature teacher/Librarian for 35 years, this post brought back so many wonderful memories of my life. My daughter is also an elementary school librarian and has just finished her annual Read Across America/ Book Fair week extravaganza! Will be forwarding this email to her to also enjoy. Thank you for all that you do to help these children. Every time I send you a donation, I wish it could be 10x more. God bless you all for your dedication to culture and literacy and Christian ideals.
myself, i am from the adirondacks and i really like the snow, but i do not like the bitter cold either!!!!! i was born and raised in the mountains and our cold weather was a dryer cold, but it did drop down in temperature from time to time. growing up, we were able to sled, skate and ski, but our equipment was way outdated. we made do and we had lots of kids to play with in the neiborhood. i wish those days for my wife and i were still here, but as the moons come and go, so do the years as we are now both in our mid 70s and Carol, my wife, has parkinsons and is not able to do very much. now, max my dog and i play outside as much as time allows me to. my wife needs a lot of care with her parkinsons so my time is more spent more with her! max shares me with her and he is happy with that! max is a english shep dog and has been a God sent! well, have to go now