St. Joseph's Indian School

I’m back from a four-day trip to Kansas City where we held two donor appreciation luncheons. I sat next to Will on his very first flight and he had his nose pressed to the window the whole way. He was excited to see both city and countryside from the air, and pointed out our plane’s shadow passing over the clouds below. He and Kuwa stared with fascination at workers loading baggage into the belly of the plane and both young men giggled like little kids when they discovered the airport’s moving walkways.

When we travel one of my rules that the students often hear me repeat is: try at least one new food each day. The first night we ate at a buffet which made that much easier. I had to laugh when I opened my fortune cookie which read, “Now is the time to try something new”! I have to admit that this duo was pretty adventurous.

Neither student had ever been to a major league baseball game and were excited for the chance to see the Royals and Angels play. We were treated to a walk off home run to win the game for KC in the bottom of the 9^th, and after the game Kaufmann Stadium delighted fans with a colorful fireworks display.

Our luncheons drew 50 people each day. Both High School students were understandably nervous the first day, but with a little prompting, they had plenty to say. On the second day, they were more relaxed, drew a few more laughs and many more questions. Folks had a sense of living history when one of the guys told folks that Red Cloud was his great-great grandfather.

Many of our donors have known about St. Joseph’s Indian School for a long time, but only a small portion have ever gotten to visit the school. One of our donors has known about St. Joseph’s for a very long time because his mother graduated from there in the 1950’s. As always, we met so many kind and generous people, and enjoyed the chance to get to know each other better.

Before we left on the trip, I gave the students each a AAA tour book to look up sights they wanted to be sure to see. Surprisingly, an object art museum struck their fancy. Outside the Nelson Atkins Art Museum are two giant badminton birdies they wanted to get their picture taken by to show their friends. After checking that item off our list, we were close to an old historic area known as the Plaza. As we toured through that area, their heads were turning in every direction trying to take in the sights and sounds of everything from  jazz street musicians to limousines and Cinderella like horse-drawn carriages. As we drove through downtown, they rolled down the windows to gawk at all the tall buildings.

Mike, our houseparent chaperone, scouted out what he heard was arguably the best BBQ in a city that takes cuisine quite seriously. He was nervous and in disbelief when we pulled up because the line extended out the door into the parking lot, and this restaurant was in a gas station!

I was intrigued by houseparent Anita’s campus wide email titled, “Let’s Make A Deal”. At the beginning of the school year all the homes are stocked with standard non-perishable food supplies. But the high school boys and 2nd grade girls definitely have different likes and dislikes. Homes often end up with surplus in some areas and shortages in others. Anita advertised food items she had and was willing to trade as she thinks about using up inventory. It’s nice when staff consciously makes good use of resources to reduce waste and get items where they are needed and appreciated.

I drove up to the Lower Brule Indian Reservation, and picked up Fr. Joe, who serves as pastor there. We drove up to Eagle Butte, for tomorrow’s board meeting at the Sacred Heart Center. It will be his first meeting, so I filled him in on a few of the people he’ll meet and a little background on programs the center is trying to focus on. 150 miles in the car together allowed us to talk a little theology and share stories of ministry. It also gave a good chance to catch up on how things are going on the “Rez”.

We talked a little theology and shared stories of ministry.

When we arrived in Eagle Butte, the rectory was empty, but I figured with Wednesday night being religious education night, we’d find folks at the church. We walked in just as the grade school religion classes were getting out. Since I served these parishes 16 years ago, I didn’t recognize any of the children that walked by. But I did recognize all their catechists. Several of the teachers I knew when they were in those same classrooms as primary students, and it was fun to see them as adults. I said to Wendy, who I’ve known since she was a very shy kindergartener, that it’s great to see the adult she’s become, with good self-confidence and trying to pass faith on to her children and children of the area.

The Fisher Home (6^th– 8^th grade boys) gave me a break from the administration and graciously hosted me for supper. I came over early and saw a chess board near the TV. The Fisher boys are just learning to play. I asked 6^th grader John if he wanted to try, and he enthusiastically said yes. It’s been a long time since I played. We were about evenly matched and considered it a draw by the time supper was ready. Dick and Carol, the houseparents, tried to apologize that they were serving leftovers, but those dishes were the first time around for me. I don’t visit the homes for cuisine, but for the company, and to get a taste of how things are going in the homes and how the students and houseparents are doing.

As with any groups of children, there are always finicky eaters to contend with. The Fisher Home lets each boy pick two and only two, specific foods that they really don’t like and can place on their “Yuck List”. Whenever that food is served, that boy can pass and doesn’t have to eat it. But they get no passes when other foods are served. It has cut way down on boys trying to avoid ALL vegetables or only filling up on peanut butter and jelly. They have to eat a more balanced diet and try new foods.

Dick got a call from the family of a former student who is now in trouble with the law. When we get news like that it does get discouraging. We want to form people who walk a good path through life. Setbacks like that reinforce the need to teach students to make good choices here and now, and find non-violent ways to resolve even the smallest of conflicts.

Snow on the ground, overcast skies and a cold and grey day made for lots of yawns for everyone I came across today.

But it was no lazy Saturday because eight of our student families were on campus for our FAST (Families And Schools Together) weekend. I met a few of the parents and guardians I hadn’t yet met, and said hello to some very familiar faces of those who have sent several of their family through our program.

Our high school girls took care of babysitting for the younger children and served the lunch as well. It was a chance for them to earn some spending money, but also help free the staff to have more quality interaction with the families.

Fr. Anthony and I saw a matinée at the Chamberlain Movie Theater this afternoon. It’s nice that our small town is still able to support a movie theater. While we may have to wait a couple of weeks for a movie to come out, my friends in the cities are always envious of the prices. For two tickets and two bags of popcorn I paid $9.50!

Our newest board member, Doug grew up here in Chamberlain, South Dakota and has been on campus countless times for events at the Rec Center, museum and chapel and even had his wedding reception in our Dining Hall. But there were many areas of campus he never toured before. We started in the Development Office. He asked great questions about our business practices, but also insightful ones about our educational approaches and student population. He assumed a lot of the mailing, design and computing was all jobbed out. But Doug quickly learned that  most of  it is done right on site with our own locally grown “experts” who have been on staff for many years. Doug knew most of the people we met along the way, but hadn’t known exactly what kind of work they do here at St. Joseph’s Indian School. It takes so many people working together, to make St. Joseph’s Indian School successful.  Though the staff in the Development Office doesn’t have as much direct contact with our students, they are just as committed to the program and kids as the teachers and counselors.

I had a scare tonight as I drove back on campus from downtown Chamberlain. When I went by the pool in our Rec Center I saw an ambulance outside, and a group of people huddled around someone poolside. I raced inside with my heart beating with worries that something had happened to one of our students. What I didn’t’ know was that it was a scheduled ambulance training, and all the area EMT’s were doing their continuing education on how to work with people on backboards. After the wonderful sense of relief wore off, I was thankful that we can make our facilities available to the community to help train people for the times there really are accidents.

After a morning filled with meetings, I looked back over the week and realized that with everything else going on, I hadn’t once visited the  youngsters classrooms. When I did, the first sight I saw Scott, our PE teacher walking the hall with a baseball bat over his shoulder. My first thought was of the movie Lean On Me where the principal patrolled the halls to cut down violence. But Scott’s bat was plastic, and a sign the whiffle ball season is upon us. He was meeting the 4^th graders to walk them to the gym so they could play ball. I watched for a bit, then batted myself once (a single) before resuming my school tour.  

I stopped by the Dean’s office to see if many kids were in trouble, but there were no serious discipline issues for the day. Mike, one of our houseparents, was subbing for the Dean today, and working on some of our Affiliated Programs like our Soup Label Project that he also oversees. We have turned in 465,000 labels this year, which has meant earning things like printer, lap top computer, digital camera for a home and many more. Because so many people help with small, regular donations, it all adds up together to make great things possible.

The 7^th graders were in the computer lab, working on a program called, “Grammar Gorillas”. They were being quizzed on distinguishing nouns from other parts of speech in the sentence.  The other section of 7^th graders were enjoying their block of library time. Many were reading, and a few were taking computer quizzes on books they had just finished. A few with free time were working on a 1,000 piece puzzle of the United States. We talked about places we’ve been. Dawson pointed to the 5 states he has been in so far. Many of our students have limited travel opportunities and experiences. The younger kids hear tales of travels brought back by 7^th-12^th graders about their travels to donor appreciation luncheons, and hope someday themselves to get the opportunity.

After school was a frenzy of student activity. Several students ran by me, their first track workout of the season. Others played football in Fisher Field and a few were shooting baskets and dreaming of a final four appearance. At the Rec Center the 1^st – 3^rd graders were taking part in the first t-ball game of the season, moved indoors because our brief taste of spring has turned to wintry weather again. 4^th and 5^th grade boys were doing a cardiovascular video workout. And our mini buses shuttled 4^th-6^th grade girls to the two-week gymnastics practice that Chamberlain High School is putting on to get younger students interested in that sport.

I ate supper with the Pinger Home (6^th-8^th grade girls). The gymnasts were excited about their flips around uneven parallel bars and learning some floor exercises. The runners complained of sore calves as they try to get into shape. Other girls talked of school and classes, or life back at their “home home”. The 7^th graders are preparing for a week-long cultural trip as soon as school gets out and the 8^th graders excitedly recalled their adventures at Bear Butte, Devils Tower and the Little Bighorn Battlefield.