Last week the Super Bowl, this week the Polar Plunge at St. Joseph’s Indian School

Dear Friends of St. Joseph’s Indian School,

That dreaded word was back again over this past weekend — SNOW.  It seems like Chamberlain was on the edge of the storm, but starting with Chamberlain and moving east the amount of snow fall just kept rising — Mitchell got about 3”, Sioux Falls received 6”, Chicago had a foot and a half and New England another foot or so.  Our grounds crew did a great job of getting all the streets on campus open as quickly as possible.

Last week was Catholic Schools’ week, we ended the week focusing on academics. The day ended with the induction of members into our new chapters of the National Junior and Elementary Honors Society.    There were eight Junior Honor Society members and seven Elementary Honor Society members.  At the Friday ceremony we encouraged the rest of the student body to continue doing their best with their studies.

Prior to the ceremony, the Lakota students took part in some academic games, but as I was visiting the classroom it looked more like preparation for a trip to Las Vegas!  One class was playing Go Fish and the cards were being passed around quickly as everyone tried to match up their cards to win.   Another class was throwing marked chips to see how many you could get to come up with the mark showing.  They would shake them in a cup prior to throwing; at first I thought they were playing Yahtzee.

This weekend several of our staff will be taking part in the annual Polar Plunge to raise money for the Special Olympics of South Dakota.  They had bake sales to raise money and also are sponsoring a Penny War in which students and staff can select from four staff members, yours truly included, to see who gets a whipped cream pie in the face. Final results will be revealed on Friday, February 6.  On February 7 our polar plunge team, TURTLE POWER, will join others in the local Chamberlain community to take a dip in the frigid Missouri River.

One of our high school homes — Sheehy — hosted the annual Super Bowl party for all St. Joseph’s high school students.  The seventh and eighth graders were also invited to give them a little taste of what they have to look forward to. The house was divided into two viewing rooms based on who you favored — Seahawks or Patriots.  Snacks and refreshments were served, decks of cards and board games added to the fun. There was a variety of prizes awarded for a score or a great play came across the screen.  We also had the chance to pick what the score would be at the end of each quarter. I had the prize in my hands for 36 seconds until the Patriots allowed Seattle to move down the field and score.  Since the game was exciting down to the last minute everyone got caught up in the game and crowded into their favorite viewing area to cheer on their team.  It was an exciting evening filled with a lot of fun and good times.

I hope you all have a wonderful week as we begin a new month!

God bless,

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