St. Joseph's Indian School

Friday, November 12, 2010

Two priests from my religious order visited us today. Fr. Zenon is from Congo and Fr. Vincent from Indonesia. When they stepped into the classrooms they found a map of the world and showed the students where their homes were. One of the classes was interested in the terrain of their homeland, and learned about jungles and rain forests. Another class asked about animals and learned about elephants and monkeys. Fr. Zenon is an educator in the Congo, and ran a school with 1,200 students. He told one of his biggest struggles had to do with tuition. In his country, students dropped out as the year went on because they couldn’t afford the fees to continue school. Since  St. Joseph’s doesn’t charge tuition, our students don’t face that pressure; but it is a very real issue in most private schools.

Tonight, our local hospital held their annual fundraiser and holiday extravaganza. With all the decorations it reminded me of how soon Christmas will be here. The Nurse Practitioner who sees me at our health care center on campus, and is my local contact with the doctors at Mayo, was at table with her mom. When she introduced me she said, “This man is a walking miracle”. Hearing her describe it that way made me realize how far I’ve come since diagnosis. I’m glad I’m able to get out and around and do so much now.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

 A friend called to check on my health. During the course of our conversation I realized that even if I recover completely from this cancer and surgery, as I age I will continue to deal with physical limits, diminished and letting go. Going through this illness, I believe that I’m going to be OK when those times come. I am surely learning to take each day as it comes. I tread lightly and temporarily on this earth and only God lasts forever. I’ve feel like I’ve come through this as a better person. God has definitely walked with me every slow and painful step along the way.

We have a reading group on campus, and our book this quarter was a short but interesting work, “The Richest Man in Town”. It tells the story of Marty, a Wal-Mart cashier, who made such a difference in people’s lives just by paying attention and being kind, listening and doing his job. Robin, one of our counselors went to school in Brookings where Marty lived. She told us that she and her husband would actually wait in line 45 minutes even when the other checkout lines were open, just to be waited on by Marty, and receive a warm greeting and even a hug.

After catching up on the office work, I had the freedom just to wander the classrooms for a while. I don’t make a big deal about going into the classrooms; I just drift in and see what’s going on, ask a question or two, help if I can, and move on. It gives me a little taste of what’s going on in the life of our teachers and students. This week is mid terms already, and hard to believe how quickly we’re moving towards the holiday seasons.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

A delightful couple from Louisiana stopped by to visit. They’d received something from St. Joseph’s years ago, and put it away in a drawer. They thought the work we are doing looked good on paper, but didn’t want to give to a cause they hadn’t seen for themselves As they were preparing for a trip to this area, they rediscovered that tucked away picture and decided to make St. Joseph a stop on their tour. After learning first hand of what we are trying to do, they left a substantial donation. I wish all of our donors would have that opportunity, but many cannot make the trip.

Many folks do make sort of pilgrimage here in September when we have our annual Powwow. Because it has grown year after year, we need all hands on staff to accommodate the visitors and activities. This afternoon I spoke to the business staff to enlist their help next year. Rather than seeing it as a burden, one staff member who works with the mail every day said it will actually be nice to get out of the office and be part of the festivities.

I finished the day with supper at the William Home (4^th & 5^th grade girls). When I arrived, they were playing a game of Twister, and invited me to join in. It looked like fun. But the foot nerves haven’t completely healed, and my balance is shaky. I chose just to watch instead, and giggle at the knots they got themselves into. Before supper their counselors had a group session to teach our students about bullying. The counselors emphasized the difference between tattling (telling to get someone into trouble) and reporting (telling to keep people safe and out of trouble). That’s a valuable life lesson to learn.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Like any community, some of our staff are dealing with sickness, while others are stressed or struggling. As we become aware of these we work to provide what support we can. Personnel work takes up a  lot of our time as administrators, but is so important. We want to be there for our staff, so they can be there for the kids and one another. Besides whatever help we can offer in the workplace, I  also keep in mind those people in prayer.

We had a substantial meeting to discuss our High School program. We covered lots of ground including retention rates, staffing, conditional contracts, academic expectations and student numbers. Our High School students typically have a lot of drama in their lives, and it takes a lot of patience and effort to find ways to get them to talk and work through their issues.

Classes began for students who are preparing to be baptized at Easter. I stopped in to the after school class to visit the 3^rd and 4^th grade session. “What does it feel like when you get baptized? What does the Bread taste like?” I pretended to pour water over one of the students’ heads and took time to answer their questions as best as I could. There’s such enthusiasm at that age. My hope is to keep nourishing that desire and faith, so it becomes a source of strength and direction in their lives.

Our safety and security team met and reviewed what has been accomplished recently. They have added new fire rated exit doors, more security cameras around campus, and wired for new fire alarms. The facilities staff has been very busy. Great job!

With work,  sports and activities the High School girls are hard to catch at home on any given night. In this short lull between volleyball and basketball season, everyone was home at Hogebach, so I joined them for supper. After supper a few of us played a silly, but energetic card game (spoons). Three of the girls from that home have been chosen to compete in an upcoming Knowledge Bowl.  We quizzed each other on the sample questions. I knew my baseball players much better than the deserts of the world. We laughed and had fun and hopefully it will help them (and me) remember those facts when they’re needed.

Monday, November 8, 2010

I don’t usually do fundraising appeals from the blog, but my staff pointed out to me PayPal is running a contest this week for non-profits like St. Joseph’s. They will match any donation you make up to $5,000. There are bonuses for the charity with the most transactions and most money raised. The contest runs the next 4 days, November 9 – November 12. (www.stjo.org/paypal)

While I was in the chapel with my community for prayer and adoration right before lunch, I heard a great crash and felt the ground rumble. It was planned but still caught me by surprise. One of the ancient cottonwoods on Wisdom Circle had been felled. Foster, our groundskeeper told me he felt guilty about bringing some of the trees down, but they have gotten so large and heavy. Their location next to the buildings and playground makes them a risk to students and staff. The children in the Benedict homes who feed the squirrels were worried about their loss of habitat. They thought that Skipper (their name for the head squirrel) and his friends should be happy when the Burr Oak trees are planted and take root.

I recall a local rancher’s definition of an optimist – a resident of South Dakota who plants a tree! I daydreamed about all the children who have played under their shade over the years, and how as those trees grew, they witnessed how St. Joseph’s has taken root and grown over the years as well.

Big girls basketball game against our arch rival Chamberlain Cubs is tonight. I helped out in the concession stand, then worked at the scorer’s table for a quarter so Andy could make more popcorn for the large and hungry crowd. Chamberlain came away with two victories and bragging rights, but we’ll see them before the season is over and try again.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

This morning the front page of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader paper featured a series “Growing up Indian”. If interested the following link has some informative articles about the places our students come from, with pictures and video.

http://www.argusleader.com/section/gui

What I appreciated about the article was that they tried to present “The Rez” in all its complexity. While there are serious problems, there is also hope and love and family. It’s our hope at St. Joseph’s that we can form leaders who will make positive choices and make a difference for their people.

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.