St. Joseph's Indian School

Saturday, November 6, 2010

The sun actually felt hot this afternoon as I walked around campus. It doesn’t seem like November, and I would have gladly traded this day for the cold day in September when we had our Powwow.

The girl scouts were busy planting tulip bulbs in the flower beds outside Our Lady of the Sioux Chapel. We’ll appreciate the fruits of their labor next spring when they come up. Other groups of students were playing dodge ball, or making their way to the pool for some swim time.

Several groups were traveling. The football team wrapped up their year with a trip to see a college ballgame at SDSU in Brookings. They had field level seats right by the band, and got the taste of a college campus on game day. Besides a fun reward for a year of hard work on the gridiron, we hope that such trips also peak their interest in attending college themselves.

One of the houseparents, Mike, talked to me about some of the challenges our students face when they transition from St. Joseph to the public High School. Our students here are given more chances and time to correct homework assignments. In High School if they don’t get corrections back right away, those are counted as missing assignments, which quickly lower their grades. Besides teaching students to master content, we must also teach organization and discipline to meet those standards and expectations.

Friday, November 5, 2010

We had our first long hard frost overnight, which left the ground a pale and foggy grey as I gazed out the window this morning. But by noon it warmed up into the 60’s and made for a lovely fall day. Winter may be inevitably creeping nearer, but each day when the students can get out and roam free during break time has a positive impact on attitudes and behaviors.

St. Joseph’s participates in several of the Artist-in-Residence programs the State of South Dakota sponsors each year. This week we hosted TJ Casey, a cowboy poet and musician. With his help and prompting, it was our students who were the artists. They got up in front of the assembly hall and read the works they had created over the course of the past week. It’s huge to get our students to overcome shyness and stand up in front of a crowd. TJ’s humor and encouragement made the poetry fun, and allowed them to express themselves. Not everyone read publicly, but all of them wrote poetry.  Mr. Casey then called up each of the sections of 7^th and 8^th graders to perform their group compositions, that he will set to music and record. Some of the works were whimsical, others touching. Then he treated us to a few of his songs. His guitar work and rich voice captivated our kids attention.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Tonight was the season opener for our 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grade girls basketball teams. Our first two games resulted in losses, and the team showed lots of areas they need to practice harder on. The 8^th graders stages a 4^th quarter rally and won on an exciting end of the game shot. We played Lyman county, where I used to be pastor, so I enjoyed roaming the stands and catching up with folks there.

I wrapped up the last of my physical therapy sessions today. With the therapist’s help over these past couple of months, I now understand the exercises I need to do for strength and balance.  I’m not coming back as quickly as I’d like, but I am coming back. Now it will take time and a steady determined effort to help the healing.

Today, the Christmas cards I picked out to send to our staff were delivered to my office. When I first looked at the large pile I moaned at the extra work it will take to personalize each of them. But it does give me the chance to say “Thank You” in a brief but personal way, for my co-workers do so much for our students, staff and donors. Last night I got engrossed in the novel The Help which is set in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960’s. The book looks at how the employers often knew so little about the life and struggles of the women who served as their maids. Each staff member (and student) here at St. Joseph has their own story to tell. While there’s always “the desk” to attend to, I also want to be aware of the dreams and needs of each of the unique individuals God puts before me here.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

I share a secretary with the director of Child Services. This week is Karla’s birthday, so the three of us went out for lunch. During the school day, I try to make time to hear what’s going on with family, but we all get busy with needed projects and paperwork. It was nice to have time to sit across a table, share a meal,  talk leisurely and leave work behind.

A new sales rep for a company we do business with visited us for the first time. Dressed sharply in suit and tie, he stopped at a gas station in Fort Thompson, on the Crow Creek reservation. As he was pumping gas, someone there asked him “Are you a FBI agent?” Not too many other suits around these parts I guess.

5^th through 8^th grade held their honor roll assembly. While a good number of students made the honor roll, I was surprised at how many perfect attendance awards there were. But that happens here regularly, since the students live here. The students whose families are more involved in their lives are more likely to miss days, because they may go home for weekends and not get back on time. But we have a sizeable group of students who don’t have a lot of parental involvement, and rarely get checked out. Several even stay during holidays and into the summer months. Working with those students is where I feel we most fulfill our mission.

When five o’clock rolled around I felt tired. Instead of making any further rounds or taking part in evening activities, I opted for a low-key night. Stress doesn’t help in the battle against cancer, and when I feel fatigue coming on, I’ve learned to slow down. I read, prayed and exercised. When I do that I usually bounce back the next day with more energy and focus. When I push too much is when I get impatient, lose my enthusiasm and creativity, or have other difficulties.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Today, I did my civic duty and went down to the county courthouse right after breakfast to vote. Our students also got to take part in the process through a state program called “Kids Vote”. The main difference between my ballot and theirs was that theirs included pictures of each candidate.  After school, I met the 8^th graders who volunteered to tabulate the ballots.  Since they were all marked with crayon or pencil, there were no hanging chads. But if the voters didn’t write their grade level on the otherwise anonymous sheet, we had to disqualify the ballot. That is part of the learning process about elections too. The students’ votes were fairly reflective of the state-wide averages, and for some the passions ran just as deep.

Besides voting, another cycle we regularly go through every four years is accreditation. The staff here has worked very hard to pull all the paperwork together. Today, we finished two days of our on-site visit. The reviewers always find things we need to work on, but that’s why we go through the process – so we can have other eyes looking to see what we can take for granted, and spur us on to improve.

It felt good to hear that our students seem genuinely and generally happy to be here. The reviewers told us they were very impressed by how good a job our maintenance staff does in taking care of the campus, and our system of repairs that gets things done in a quick and timely manner.

The observation I was most proud to hear, was that they see our programs and staff working together in an integrated way. We are all in this together, and our work compliments each other as we strive for the same basic goal – the education and well-being of the students who live here.

Monday, November 1, 2010

After supporting St. Joseph’s with their donations for many years, three boyhood friends were traveling through South Dakota and stopped by to see the school. One still lives in their hometown in Wisconsin, while the other two have branched out to Texas and Florida. When we stopped by the 4^th grade classroom they were tickled when the students started asking questions about their states, “Do you have an ocean by you?” “Is it hot where you are?” “ Have you ever been to Tallahassee?” (they are learning state capitols) and “Does Texas have many cows?”.

Some donors like to remember their loved ones with a memorial gift. Clayton donated to the Jubilee Scholarship Memorial and had his deceased wife’s name engraved on a brick.  It’s often a touching moment to witness a family member go to such a place of remembrance. Seeing the name of a loved one can bring back many years of memories. I enjoyed our tour and time together.

Before supper with the Stevens Home (6^th-8^th grade girls) I got talked into an outdoor game of basketball on their driveway hoop. I’m still not able to run or make quick cuts, but my shot started to come back a little. The camaraderie with Irene, Jaelyn, Martina and Devona was such a blessing. My foot was a little sore afterwards, but worth it as I keep pushing to do a little more each day.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Some weekends I’m convinced I have a great homily, but it doesn’t connect with the students. Other days, I’m not too confident of what I have to say, but it strikes a chord in someone’s life. Many Sundays you just never know if you’ve inspired anyone or not, until further down the road. I do my best to find appropriate words and examples. But I never know what space the listener is on or how the Spirit will work. Like many parts of life, we do our best and leave the rest in God’s hands.

After mass was over, this Sunday was truly a day of rest. Many of the students went into town Trick or Treating, so I didn’t make any rounds. I stayed home and enjoyed the quiet time to read, exercise and get ready for the upcoming week.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

I received a gift certificate to the local bakery for Bosses’ Day and decided to go there for lunch with the 8^th grade student that I’m a mentor for. After a sandwich and dessert, we decided to browse in a couple of the antique stores downtown. One sign read, “We buy junk and sell antiques.” I saw many things that I’m sure my family threw out that are now treasures. It was a fun trip down memory lane. Robert was most fascinated by the old telephones that you had to crank to get the operator’s attention.

Friday, October 29, 2010

I chuckled at God’s sense of humor this morning during morning prayers when I read the scriptures from Habakkuk 3 – “He makes my feet swift as those of hinds and enables me to go upon the heights!”

I drove to Rosebud to see my Spiritual Director and talk things over, as I try to do every month or so. While I may not be where I want to be physically yet, I think I’m getting to a better place in the other areas of my life. And the spiritual journey is most important of them all.

Usually, I’m one of the judges of the Halloween costumes, but due to today’s trip I missed seeing all our Trick or Treaters come by the school offices. I did get home in time to peek in on the High School Party, complete with music, strobe lights and lots of treats. As I could have predicted, there were way more students around the edges of the room than on the dance floor, but I was sure no different in my teenage years.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

A fellow priest from out-of-town visited today to see about starting spiritual direction. I myself, have been seeing a Spiritual Director regularly, ever since I began college. The practice has helped see me through the hard times, and discover God’s hand in both the ups and downs of life. When I worked in formation ministry, I regularly directed seminarians. This is the first priest that has asked me, and I felt honored and humbled. I’m hoping the candid conversations about prayer and the interior life will deepen my own faith.

In the school, I stopped in on Peggy’s 4^th grade class to check out their Monster Workshop. With Halloween coming up, they had to write a story about a monster, then they had to design and build a child sized model. Their creations were made of cardboard, straws, cloth, milk containers and whatever else they could imaginatively use. I listened to their stories as they honed both their writing and presentation skills.

In PE class, the students were playing basketball. I couldn’t help try running the court with them, but was quickly reminded that my recovery is not to that point yet. I did later get on the elliptical machine in the Rec Center, where the motion of running was easier on my foot and leg. I’ll keep plugging away.

After school, the 1^st – 4^th grade awards for Honor Roll and Outstanding/Perfect attendance for the 1^st quarter were given out. The students were more excited about the pens and mini-footballs given out as prizes than they were with the certificates. But all signaled a job well done.

I ended the day with supper at the Afra Home (1^st – 3^rd grade girls). They all showed me the Halloween costumes they will wear, and the pumpkins they painted for the home decorating contest. Leola decided to draw my “portrait” on a napkin, and before I left I had original artwork by Chassidy, Tamika and Allyssa as well.