I have been asked to give you a brief up-date on Fr. Steve Huffstetter, SCJ and his health situation.
A week ago, on February 26th, he went to Mitchell with one of the High School Boys’ Home for a movie and dinner. When he got back later that night his stomach began to act up and he had flu-like symptoms.
On Monday morning he was still feeling the effects and visited with the nurses here on staff at St. Joseph’s. They looked him over and suggested that he needed to go to the local hospital to be checked out. I drove him up mid-morning.
He called about noon and said they were admitting him. It seems there was blockage in one of his intestines, caused by a piece of scar tissue from his operation last year. He was hooked up to an IV and later in the week had a tube to help drain his stomach.
The Doctor kept close watch. Towards the end of last week things began to take a positive turn. The medication produced good results and surgery will not be needed. He is still on the IV, but is now taking some liquids and soft food. The Doctor kept him in the hospital so he could observe how Fr. Steve’s body reacted to the intake of food. Fr. Steve’s spirits are up and he will be coming home this afternoon – he is especially looking forward to having some good things to eat.
This notice is not sent to worry you, but to bring you up-to-date on how things are going with Fr. Steve.
Sincerely,
Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ
Chaplain
St. Joseph’s Indian School
Chamberlain, SD
Some of the boys here at St. Joseph’s are part of a group called the Explorers.
Over the past few years, this group has raised over $60,000 towards charitable giving in the local communities!
This year’s group has donated money to those battling cancer in and around the community of Chamberlain.
A large amount of the money comes from doing chores like raking leaves for community members who have a hard time getting around … or simply would rather have someone else do it.
The latest thing the Explorers did was go to Pierre, South Dakota and spent the day doing various educational activities in our State Capital.
The day started with a tour of the Capital building. We then went to the State Crime Lab, which the boys really enjoyed because of the shooting range. Obviously, the boys couldn’t do any shooting, but they enjoyed watching the officers shoot.
After the Crime Lab, we went back to the Capital and meet with Governor Dennis Daugaard. The day ended with the Explorers being introduced on both the House and Senate floors of the Capital, where they received standing ovations for their work in the community!
While the day was educational for all the students, I think the highlight of the day for the kids was the buffet at the Pizza Ranch. Below is a picture of the boys enjoying themselves the restaurant.
Houseparent Nate
The boys really enjoying themselves the restaurant after a full day!
Last weekend saw the start of our Families and Schools Together (FAST) program. We have been running FAST for several years and have graduated over 100 families. It is a great, fun program!
FAST is held two times per year – once in the fall and once in the spring. This round of FAST runs on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings, for a total of eight sessions (four weekends). The program is designed to help bring families closer together, while giving families a chance to meet staff.
During each session, families participate in several activities, including:
Time for parents to meet as a group
Time for an identified child to receive 15 minutes of uninterrupted time with a parent
Games, like Feelings Charades
A meal
A lot of fun is had by all! There is singing, laughter, play and time for families to spend together. Our first weekend went wonderfully, and we look forward to our next weekend of FAST!
The students are also gearing up for Spring Break, which starts at the end of next week. Other than a few days at Easter, Spring Break is our last big break and signifies that school is moving toward the end of the year. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we will get all of our Native American students and families home safely for the break!
I sometimes hold the mistaken belief that I am teaching something. A few weeks ago, I sat down on the couch with a ball of yarn and my knitting needles, trying to make a cable knit scarf. Within minutes, several girls were sitting with me watching.
“Oooooh! Can you teach me to knit?”
We spent that evening, and many evenings after, sitting in the living room with donated yarn and needles, working on the basics. Knitting usually involves two kinds of stitches—either wrapping the yarn towards or away. Moving back and forth – between towards and away – creates patterns that are both beautiful and elastic. We spent our time focusing on just one direction, repeating it over and over again. The girls were surprised at how fast I could stitch, and I had to remind them that I had many years of practice. They settled in happily with their projects, slowly working their needles.
It turns out that I had a lot to learn from these girls. They had no trouble at all asking for help. Our knitting times were punctuated with,
“Help! I think I messed up! Did I do this right? Can you help me fix this?”
They weren’t always sure what “right” looked like. Often enough, they hadn’t actually made a mistake. We’d look together, count the stitches, examine the loops, and make a few tugs. Then they were right back to work. In order to master a skill, sometimes you have to rely on someone more skillful than yourself to show you the way.
They were also much better at handling unraveling. If they made a big mistake or got tangled up or things fell apart, they happily came back to me with empty needles and a skein and said,
“Can you start me over again?” And again? And again?
Dakota, and the girls did a great job!
Because sometimes the process is much more important than the product. Sometimes we really don’t need to get something “done,” we just need to do it. No need to get attached to an outcome. No need to freak out when that cable pattern gets turned inside out and it can’t be fixed and you have to give up and undo 6 hours of work (ahem). Unraveling is not the end of the world.
And sometimes we don’t need to “do” something as much as we need to be with someone while we’re doing it. If we’re sitting in the living room together – stitching and unraveling, moving towards and away, mastering and forgetting and re-mastering – then the real skill is one of belonging.
In these past few weeks I have learned so much from these girls. They set an example of how to recover from a mistake with grace. Whether on the basketball court, on the playground or in the knitting circle, they demonstrate the power of admitting a mistake and setting it right. They trust their houseparents to hold them accountable, help them course-correct, and then celebrate their success when they get it right. I’ve been inspired at their courage in the face of so much unraveling.
Perhaps the girls will come away from this experience with a scarf or a new hobby. I’m hoping that their time knitting will provide them with a sense of Mastery and Belonging. Learning, after all, will show up in rather unexpected places.
Our high school students went downtown to church this evening, but all the rest of our Native American students and a good number of staff gathered in Our Lady of the Sioux Chapel this morning for mass to begin the season of Lent. The first graders are the ones with the most giggles as ashes smear their foreheads and sprinkle down on their nose. But I sense a seriousness too, about wanting to become a better person. The dark crosses on foreheads were noticeable around campus all day.
My prayer is that I can have more discipline in all the areas of life that will help me to understand and follow God’s will. I get more serious about my growth in the Lord’s ways during this season. Lent is meant to inspire us to overcome sinful and selfish ways and to become more like God. That starts by picking up the daily crosses we are asked to embrace.
I always pick something concrete to give up. This year it is desserts and computer games. I play games a lot more than I watch TV, and with the extra time can spend more time in prayer or doing things for others.
I also try to focus on improving an attitude or a virtue. I get many requests each day from every corner of the campus. Sometimes it feels like a burden rather than an opportunity to serve. I’m reminded of Mother Theresa’s attitude of trying to treat each request as direct from God, and find a way to say yes to whatever was asked of her. I hope to be more generous in responding to what is asked of me.
This morning’s gospel focused me on the main purpose of the ministry at St. Joseph’s Indian School:
“Whoever welcomes a child such as this for my sake welcomes me,” (Mark 9:37).
I’m reminded that even with meetings and paperwork, I owe the students here some quality time every day.
After yesterday’s wet sleet, today’s sunshine and 40 degrees felt warm, and the children on the playground were full of life and energy. Looking back, I was able to catch a glimpse of God in the children’s laughter and activity.
When she saw me striding onto the playground, 4th grader Trinity ran up to me, grinned broadly and greeted me with a big hug. She talked about representing St. Joseph’s Indian School in the upcoming regional spelling bee, which will be held Saturday. I quizzed her on a few words and reminded her to say the word before she started and when she finished.
Harold, Jashon and Richard were surprised when I reached out and intercepted the football coming toward me, and threw back a tight spiral in the direction from where it came. I spent a lot of time playing sandlot ball when I was growing up. Little encounters like those mean a lot, and remind me what I’m here for.
I ran up to Central Receiving during break and found Glenda and Cathy opening and sorting all the boxes that came in today. Donors sent us clothing, shampoo, books and educational computer programming that we’ll put to good use.
After that, it was back to budgets and meeting with our facilities supervisor to decide what projects we can afford to do in the coming year, and also what must be put on hold. Besides cost, we have to also figure in which projects our workers will have time to do. What they do, they do well, and I’m grateful for their ongoing efforts to keep the campus well attended to.
The facilities crew continues to keep busy with their projects around campus. During Christmas break we were able to employ a few college kids that helped the grounds crew trim up some trees around St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus. Who would have ever thought we would be trimming trees in December in South Dakota? That is something that doesn’t happen very often!
The renovation work on the Stevens and Mathias Homes is going smoothly. Right now our carpenters, electricians and plumbers are working every day to make it possible to meet our completion date. We are hoping for the homes to be completed this summer and ready to move into at the start of the 2012 – 2013 school year.
The Stevens Home is in the painting stages. The painting crew has finished the main floor of the Stevens Home and has begun working on the remaining painting, which should be finished by the end of next week. The carpenters are also in the Stevens Home installing door frames throughout, and floor tile is being laid on the main floor. The kitchen cabinets and counter tops for both homes arrived last week, so they are on site ready to be installed. The Mathias Home will be completely sheet rocked this week and the taping will begin. The duct work is also being completed this week on the Mathias Home.
Even though the renovation is keeping our facilities crews extremely busy, they also have the day-to-day maintenance that occurs around campus. These gentlemen do a great job managing their work and making sure everything on campus is in tip-top condition.
Today was Jennifer’s farewell. She has been a houseparent at St. Joseph’s Indian School for eight years. When her husband Chris decided to go back to school this past fall to become an electrician, we knew it was just a matter of time before Jennifer found other work closer to home, which she did. We are glad for her generous service to our students. In addition to the houseparent roll, Jennifer also helped with our admissions and record keeping.
After school Monday, we had an open house in the Rec Center, with refreshments and a large farewell card made of poster board. Each student and co-worker wrote a few words of remembrance as they said their goodbyes. Thanks for all the children’s lives you helped and cared for!
Tonight the Chamberlain High School Band and Show Choir performed to the backdrop of a lasagna supper. The big band jazz pieces got my toes tapping under the table. The junior high group rocked out with a 50’s number with the girls wearing poodle skirts and the boys with greased back hair and black leather jackets. The show choir performed a group of five songs that all had to do with falling in love, including a crowd-pleasing “Kiss the Girl” Reggae number, complete with dreadlocks and knit caps.
Although we’ve had students in past years involved in the show choir, none of our current students are in this year’s ensemble. Several of our staff have children who sang or played instruments, however. One of the people at my table admired that I show up to be supportive at so many community events. With other commitments, I don’t get to do that enough, but try especially to support youth activities in the community.
Friday I was in Eagle Butte for a Cheyenne River Indian Outreach (Sacred Heart Center) Board meeting. The adolescent program seems stable, and is gaining the confidence of tribal and state placement agencies so it has been running close to capacity. Some youth in need of services have had to be put on a waiting list until a bed opens up, or referred on to other programs. The question we started discussing was keeping the program running as it is, or working at licensing for a greater number of children to meet the need. The tough issue is training and retaining enough reliable staff to keep up a good quality of service. The needs are great, and I applaud the Center’s mission of working to eradicate violence and serve those who have been hurt.
I traveled up and back with Fr. Joe, who is pastor of six parishes on the two reservations the SCJs serve. Personnel is an issue for him as well. The two religious sisters who have worked for many years among the people are both being called back to their community. It may be hard to find replacements, in which case the Pastoral team will have to work closely with the parishes to encourage local leadership to come forward to a greater degree.
Saturday morning I met with a young couple I’ve enjoyed working with for marriage preparation, and spent a couple of hours answering letters. With the previous days’ travel and meetings, I took the afternoon off for some rest and relaxation.
President’s Day weekend is an extra long one for our high school students, who were free of classes on Friday, and again on Monday. Many of them are checked out for the weekend with family. The Sheehy boys are on their annual ski trip to the Black Hills, and the Hogebach girls went to Sioux Falls on a shopping expedition. With so many away, we had a noticeably smaller crowd in church.
Today after mass, I visited the Rooney Home (6th-8th grade boys). I try to have a meal in each of the homes at least once a quarter, to be in touch with what students and houseparents are up to. Today’s visit meant I completed a round of all 18 homes, and will start the rotation all over again. What I noticed about the Rooney boys was that they have hearty appetites. Brunch consisted of waffles, sausage, eggs and hash browns. In some of the homes the kids eat and run. This group ate and talked and ate some more and told a few stories and ate some more . . . luckily they have a little more for food in their budget than the 1st– 3rd graders do!
Our local SCJ group gathers at least once a month, and this afternoon we met to go over budgets for the year. At the evening meal, it was our turn to eat and talk and tell stories. With everyone finished with church for the weekend, there was no hurry to rush off, but rather a leisurely time together for catching up and fellowship. Living as part of a religious order, that mutual support is not just appreciated, but necessary to keep a vocation healthy and alive.
