St. Joseph’s Indian School is scurrying

I’m always a little nervous when a lawyer knocks on my office door, but this visit made me very happy. A generous donor had willed St. Joseph’s Indian School a tract of land and we are finalizing the sale. The monies from this request can go into long-term investments that will benefit the Native American students a long way down the road.

I only had one scheduled meeting today, with Human Resources. But since everyone is back on campus and scurrying around to make sure all is in place for the students’ arrival Sunday, there are many, many impromptu meetings, phone calls and emails and we try to take care of all the details. As folks started going home at the end of the day, I had to work backwards to conscientiously answer the backlog of post-it notes I had written on top of other memos as they came in.  But we will be ready.

St. Joseph’s Indian School’s annual powwow isn’t until September 17, but we are already starting to set up the work schedules to make sure it all goes smoothly. We’re expecting another good crowd of visitors.

After supper, I took a walk around campus. Most of our houseparents go to their own homes or apartments for the night. Some however, live several hours away. During the school year they stay here for the 6 days they work, then go home for a 3 day break. For these prep days, it isn’t worth all the travel, so a few of them are on campus already. I saw the lights on in the Matthias home (jr. high girls) and stopped in to see Lisa, who had materials for her girls spread out all over the kitchen table as she tried to get organized. Like the other houseparents, she had a good break and is excited as she prepares for the arrival of the kids she knows well, and a few new students.

I continued my walk, and ran into Dick who was taking a break from the Fisher Home (jr. high boys) where he was cleaning and organizing and out for a walk himself. I changed direction and made a lap around the campus enjoying his company. It’s relaxing just to stroll and get caught up with what’s going on in the lives of staff members.

Smiles and memories from St. Joseph’s Indian School

The staff sat through many meetings and presentations today. One favorite event is viewing a slide show of the past’s events. That always brings smiles and nostalgic memories. There was also the mandatory talk about fire and safety, and classes on dealing with blood and airborne pathogens when kids are hurt or sick. We all have to continually strive to learn a little about a lot of different topics.

Smaller focus groups met to pull together the ideas and questions we heard during yesterday’s strategic planning sessions, trying to fill in more details. One question we ask a lot around here is, “Who has the R? – Who will be responsible for making sure what we say we want to do gets done?”

Besides meetings, teachers are getting their classrooms ready. The walls are starting to come to life with more color and objects that announce the start of another school year. Houseparents also are organizing and setting up the homes – everything from stocking the cupboards to decorating bulletin boards and prayer spaces. The balance between physical work and the input of ideas seems to be a good combination.

Partnering brings inspiration, strength and commitment

I notice an excitement in the air at St. Joseph’s Indian School and a buzz of conversation when all the child services staff comes back for our all staff orientation. About half of our staff work year round, and half are on 9 month contracts. I’ve seen some houseparents and teachers over the summer as they worked in the day camps,  summer school or in the summer homes. But some folks we’ve not seen since graduation in May. Just standing at the chapel doorway as folks streamed in for our opening prayer service brought many smiles, warm handshakes and hugs.

Today is the one time of the year when all our staff can be together with no kids to supervise. We used the day to discuss and move forward our strategic plan. Strategic planning is a lot of work. I feel tired and drained at the end of such days. Part of the struggle is the actual discernment – what is God calling us and asking of us? What direction should we move? The great principles always meet the reality of limitations and all the day-to-day duties that distract from longer range goals. It’s a comforting support to know that we’re not alone, but working together on this common project.

This year’s theme is Partnering brings inspiration, strength and commitment.

Seeing all of our staff gathered in one place gives me the opportunity for my annual “state of the union” address. It’s more a chance to introduce new people, highlight all the work that’s gone on over the summer, look ahead to where we hope to go, and try to inspire. If nothing else is remembered, I hope each employee feels themselves a valued and an important part of all that what we do here. It takes so many different skills and talents to make the work at St. Joseph’s Indian School possible.

 

Your dreams have to be bigger than you are

I’m always on the lookout for an inspirational quote. Besides scripture and more obviously spiritual sources, today I was touched by a line I heard while watching highlights from the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction. Deion Sanders grew up poor. He strove for excellence on the playing fields to rise above that and to provide for his family, especially his mother.

Your dreams have to be bigger than you are.

I hope that we pass that attitude on to our Lakota youth, that they can dream big and be dedicated in the pursuit of excellence, so they can grow and thrive.

We were delighted to offer hospitality to Brother Conrad, a Capuchin Franciscan who worked on Indian Reservations in Montana for many years. He has stayed with us several times over the years as he travels back to visit and reconnect with the people he came to know and love. While each tribe is unique, many of the Northern Plains tribes share much in common, and we compared stories about the joys and challenges of working in Indian Reservation communities. One of Brother Conrad’s gifts is carpentry and mechanical skills, and he spent many hours fixing buildings and helping people in that way. Because of his interest, we toured some of the construction projects happening on our campus.  While making the rounds we ran into a Houseparent couple, Robb and Cheryl, preparing the Hogebach house (HS girls) for the arrival of our students in a few days. Besides seeing the facilities, they gave a good overview about the kind of work and mentoring that goes on in the homes.

 

Wisdom and dedication

Our school bus was sitting in the parking lot, hood open and a group of people were gathered around looking at the engine. There wasn’t any trouble, just several of our St. Joseph’s Indian School staff members taking part in CDL training so they could get certified to drive the bus. Jerry  Vaad had been our mainstay behind the wheel, transporting several generations of sports teams and classrooms bound on field trips. But Jerry died toward the end of last school year. I’m grateful that six members of our staff heeded the call for help. Alice, one of our houseparents, was the only woman to sign up, but she said that if she could do it, anyone can, and she was going to encourage more women to sign up next time.

These last days of summer are a bit quieter and more relaxed. I have longer periods of time uninterrupted by meetings or phone calls, which lends itself to reading and preparation.  Today I worked on talks for the upcoming orientation and strategic planning, and got started on a homily. The time also lends itself to prayer and reflection. Walking by the Missouri River, I held up our students and staff in prayer, asking God for wisdom and dedication to make this another good year.

Hogs at St. Joseph’s Indian School

The hogs are on the road. Not the pork kind, but Harley Davidson motorcycles on their way to Sturgis, South Dakota. This is the busiest time of year on our highways, and you can hear the steady roar of the motors making their way west. We see a lot more motorcycles in our Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center parking lot as members of our tiyospaye – extended family stop to say hello, and tourists stop to learn about the Native American history and culture of the area.

I received a video from the Indian Land Tenure foundation. They educate people about how Federal Legislative policy has affected tribal rights and land situations. The video gave a broad history about such laws as the Indian Removal Act, Tribal Termination and the Dawes Allotment Act which checkerboarded many of the Indian Reservations. I’ve learned about this part of history over the years, and this was a good overview.  If anyone is interested in learning more about treaty rights the website is www.iltf.org!

Dog days of summer

After a morning at the desk and computer, I spent the afternoon walking around campus. The heat wave has let up for a few days, and it felt good to be out and about and see what staff members have been up to. When I’m on foot I always find out about projects that don’t make it into reports.

The Rec Center fixed up space in the activity room and now has an exercise station with 3 different computer activity systems – Connect, Wi Fi and Play Station. Like most young people, our students get immersed in gaming. We want to channel that interest in activities that help students both educationally and physically instead of allowing them to become couch potatoes. Watching some of the home computer activities last year, I know these games will be well used and prompt some healthy movement, jumping and dancing and building hand-eye coordination, all while also having some fun.

At the school, the Residential Coordinators were lined up in front of two long tables filled with pages and pages of paperwork. They were putting together packets to be handed out to houseparents and teachers for next week’s orientation. These include student handbooks, forms, guidelines, schedules and lists everyone will need.  We try to do as much as we can via computer, but there are some things that you just need in a file at your fingertips.

Tipi Press was producing stacks of the brochures that we will send out over the year: Planned Giving’s charitable gift annuity program, powwow materials, book marks and newsletters.

In the dog days of summer, before school actually starts, the incoming mail to Donor Services is lighter than other times of the year. Right now, we are actually able to respond to all the letters that come in the same day. But the staff is busy updating people’s files, weeding out duplicate addresses and cleaning out the nooks and crannies around the office. They found some Chuck E Cheese gift certificates tucked away in the recesses of the safe, so we’ll have to figure out which home gets dibs on those (although the closest such restaurant is 135 miles away in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and will have to wait for a home trip).

St. Joseph’s Indian School’s “Shop for a Cause” event

It was 18 months ago when I went for the recommended turn-50-get-a-colonoscopy-check-up, that the Doctor discovered the Sarcoma. Now that I’m back in good health, it was time to go ahead with that procedure, so I spend yesterday drinking all the fluids and wearing a path to the bathroom.

Today the tests went quickly and well, and they found no problems, praise God.

Since I’ve had cancer, any trip to the doctor brings with it a bit of anxiety; worried about what they might find next. It’s reassuring to get a clean bill of health. I still get notes that many people are praying for me and my prognosis continues to look good.

You can help St. Joseph's Indian School by shopping!
You can help the Native American children in need by shopping!

Clothes shopping for me isn’t all that complicated, since I mostly wear black slacks and a clergy shirt. But for those of you who shop at Macy’s, they have partnered with St. Joseph in a “Shop for a Cause” campaign. If a donor purchases a $5 Macy’s coupon, available on our website, they receive 25% off at Macy’s stores and macys.com on Saturday, August 27th!

The great news is that St. Joseph’s gets to keep 100% of the proceeds!

You can learn more about it on St. Joseph’s Indian School’s website!

Pursuing God’s dreams for our Lakota youth

We have five brand new staff members who just started working here last week, but have several others who have been hired since last fall in various roles ranging from custodians to the print shop to creative technicians.

One thing we’re very good about at St. Joseph’s Indian School is eating! We hosted lunch at our house today so that all of these newer staff could come together and get to know one another better. Some parts of campus get lots of traffic, while others are off the beaten path and don’t get to interact with other staff or students as much.

But as we prepare students to develop their talents and pursue God’s dreams for them, each staff member here has an important role to play.

 

Training at St. Joseph’s Indian School

Our new staff at St. Joseph’s Indian School began orientation today. They are learning everything from child services philosophy and Lakota (Sioux) culture, to which keys they need and how to file paperwork; I stopped in to say hello and wish them well. It will take most of the week to get the basic orientation, but there’s so much on the job training. It’s important to have good supervisors who can walk alongside new staff and help them make the adjustment, and bring their own gifts and strengths to the table.

I had some training as well. We’ve been doing more videoconferencing lately, and I needed help to learn how to Skype and talk with a staff member in Nebraska. We’re also going paperless in our Personnel Action Forms, so requests for vacation and sick days will all be handled over the computer. I needed a few pointers on how to do that.

As I walked around campus, several projects are getting wrapped up. Fresh coats of paint have improved the looks of a few buildings, and all the parking spaces on campus are clearly marked with a new coat of bright yellow paint.  New flooring between the chapel and school should better weather the mud tracked in by hundreds of feet each day. The Stevens and Matthias home renovations are well under way, and I stopped to check on progress there.

Shay, one of our High School graduates worked this summer in Planned Giving. I hope the business office experience gives her more insight into the classes she will take when she begins college in a few weeks. Today was her last day, which meant treats in the break room to see her off and wish her all the best.

Summers also bring in kind donations as members of our tiyospaye – extended family pass through the area. I met one couple from Florida who had clothing and toiletries to drop off before their visit to the Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center. Another group from a school in Nebraska has a huge load of children’s books. What we don’t use here we can share with the Indian Reservation communities and make sure they get into the hands of children who are hungry to read and learn.