St. Joseph's Indian School

St. Joseph’s Participates in Lakota Language Challenges!

Hello! My name is LaRayne. I teach Native American Studies alongside my co-teacher, Allen.

I want to take a minute to tell you all about our recent language challenges!

We had two Lakota/Dakota language challenges during the month of February. They were both fun, rewarding and confidence-building for all the students involved.

We had rendezvous challenges with the reservation school that borders our community, Crow Creek Elementary. We traveled there once, and they visited us once. Teachers from each school worked together to prepare the students in specific areas of food, family, days of the week, seasons, numbers, colors, school terms, animals and stages of life.

Each school came up with two questions from each category and the students went to work studying.

Lakota Language Challenge.jpg Both challenge meetings came down to the wire, and we had to use a tie-breaker question at the end to decide the winner. It was a split on wins. We won at home, and they also won on their own turf!

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Good day from a snowy South Dakota!

Good day from a snowy South Dakota.

Although we wanted rain more than snow, we’ve had two days of snow this week that has come down looking like it is going to bury everything, but then it lets up and melts quickly. The grass seems to like it as it is starting to turn green in spots. Hope you’ll have wonderful weather for all the new Easter outfits.

You may recall that I recently mentioned the Chamberlain Cubs had qualified for the State ‘A’ Basketball tournament in Rapid City, SD. They won their first game in a bit of an upset against Sioux Valley. St. Joseph’s own, Davis, went wild again scoring 20 points, grabbing a number of rebounds and making steals all over the court. Their next game was against the #1 seed, Sioux Valley Christian, which had several players over 6’4’’. It was a hard-fought battle, but their height eventually stymied the Cubs. The third game saw Chamberlain in the lead until the last few moments, when opposing Dakota Valley got hot. The Cubs were hurt by poor free throw shooting, only making 5 out of 14 attempts, and came up short when Davis’ three point try, as the horn sounded, rimmed in and came out.

They ended the tournament with a fourth place finish—we are very proud of them!

Another bright note was the fact that the Cubs’ cheerleaders won the Spirit of 6 Award! The award is given yearly in memory of the Rapid City Central Cobblers’ cheerleaders who were killed in an airplane crash coming back to Rapid City from the State ‘A’ tournament in Sioux Falls in March of 1968. To honor their memory, the South Dakota Peace Officers’ Association has been giving out the award to the best cheerleading squad at the ‘AA’, ‘A’ and ‘B’ tournaments since 1970. The award is given on the basis of those who exhibit best crowd control, best dress, sportsmanship and enthusiasm.

St. Joseph’s is proud to have two students–Irene and Danielle on the squad. Congratulations to the cheerleaders.

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It’s A Wonderful Week at St. Joseph’s Indian School

Greetings from St. Joseph’s Indian School!
The weather here has just been tremendous! We were in the high 60s and low 70s recently. The kids think it is great that they can get out and be active and not stuck inside due to several inches of snow and cold weather. We do need moisture, but would like it as rain. The students are getting ready to head out for their Spring/Easter Break and have already signed up for softball and track and field when they get back, which is another reason we hope the snow will not return!
I may have mentioned that the Chamberlain High School Boys’s Basketball team has qualified for the State ‘A’ Basketball Tournament being held in Rapid City this year! Two St. Joseph’s students are on the varsity team—Danny and Davis, who played the game of his life in the Region Championship game a week ago. Davis was the game-high scorer with 18 points, made great defensive plays and steals, had a number of assists and rebounds and held Cheyenne Eagle Butte’s top scorer, with a 26 point per game average, to only 10 points.
The team had a pep rally at school yesterday morning and left shortly after for Rapid City. They play their first game today! Classes at the high school have been canceled for the next two days so people can go out to support the Chamberlain Cubs. Their first game is set for around 1:15 PM on Thursday, so any spare prayers will be greatly appreciated.

Additionally, two more St. Joseph’s students—Irene and Danielle – are varsity cheerleaders and will be there to guide the student body in cheers of support. Go Big Red!
This past Tuesday we had the award ceremony for the winter sports, including boys basketball and cheerleading. Those taking part in encouraging the teams here at St. Joseph’s did very well and showed real talent. We hope they’ll continue their interest as they move into their high school years (following the example of several fantastic St. Joseph’s girls on the varsity and junior varsity cheerleading squads).

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Greetings from St. Joseph’s Indian School!

Fr. Anthony, St. Joseph's Chaplain — Fr. Anthony, St. Joseph’s Chaplain

Greetings from St. Joseph’s Indian School!

A few weekends ago, St. Joseph’s principal, Kathleen, and I took St. Joseph’s spelling bee contestants to the annual Corn Palace Regional Spelling Bee on the campus of Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, South Dakota. The spelling bee had two divisions—Local and Regional. St. Joseph’s was represented by multiple spellers in the Local division and three in the Regional.

Our students came through in a big way. Savannah captured 1^st place among all 7^th graders by spelling ‘pharmacy’ correctly and Charlie won 3^rd place among all of the 6^thgraders. All in all, St. Joseph’s students came home with three 5^th places, one 4^th place, one 3^rd place and one 1^st place! We are very proud of them and their efforts.

Leap Year Day saw the bottom fall out of our beautiful weather. What was supposed to be only an inch or two of snow turned into nearly 5 inches! The snow unfortunately caused our last home basketball game to be postponed, but the game was able to be made up the following week. Continue reading “Greetings from St. Joseph’s Indian School!”

Catholic Schools: Communities of Faith, Knowledge and Service

Good Day from St. Joseph’s Indian School! The mild weather has continued and most of our snow and ice is gone. We know, however, that there is still a lot of winter left which can bring some challenges.

I hope you are having good weather wherever you are at.

Lots of things have been happening here at St. Joseph’s recently! The start of the month saw St. Joseph’s taking part in Catholic School Week activities. The theme this year was Catholic Schools: Communities of Faith, Knowledge and Service.

There was a different activity each day of the week to fulfill the theme.

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Spreading Some Love at St. Joseph’s Indian School!

DOT 1

Valentine’s Day is a wonderful day, but unfortunately, it sometimes causes people to feel lonely and detached from the world. This year, we decided to help St. Joseph’s high school girls “spread some love!”

The girls spent a recent evening practicing the Lakota values of generosity and belonging. Each girl was able to decorate as many cookies as she wanted.

The only catch?

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It’s been busy at St. Joseph’s!

Good day from St. Joseph’s Indian School!

St. Joseph’s recently handed out academic hardware to our high school Homes with the best academic averages and the least amount of missing assignments. The first award went to those who have maintained a 3.0 or higher grade point average for the entire semester. We give a shout out (and a prize!) to Listella, Sarah, Reyna, Hope, Camron, Danielle, Ashley, Martina and Trey for achieving this high standard!

The high school Home with the highest GPA went to the Hogebach home! They also captured the award for least missing assignments, which I’m sure helped them secure the high GPA they are boasting.

Since the seniors are in a new program this year, the two senior homes competed against one another. The Senior Girls Home won with a 2.90 GPA and also captured the least amount of missing assignments. Their efforts also enabled them to win the award for most improved GPA as they went from a C grade up to a B-.

The High School Advisor, Patrick, said the competition was very close and new winners could emerge next time.
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I have a dream…

Claire, Paraprofessional — Claire, School Librarian

Greetings from St. Joseph’s Indian School!

Last week in the school library, we celebrated the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. I started out each class by asking the students what they already knew about MLK. Some of them knew quite a lot, and others (depending on their age) not so much. They were quick to volunteer what they did know: He was shot! He worked to make whites and blacks get along! He had a dream!

I talked to them about what King’s dream was—that his children would not be judged by their skin color, but by their insides… “the content of their character.” Then I asked the students to write down what their dream for the future was: two sentences, please, or one sentence plus a picture for the younger students. I let them know that the dreams would be posted in the library and in the hallway.

Asking kids about their dreams is exciting because you never know what you’re going to get. Some students were confused because they “could never remember their dreams when they woke up.” This led to some discussion about the difference between your dreams at night, and the things that you hope about for the future.

Dreams ran the gamut from immediate (Claire will give me some candy) to long term (I want to go to college, get a job and take care of my family). There were a lot of future NBA/ NFL hopefuls, as well as potential nurses, teachers and doctors. Some students wanted to meet (or beat) their icons, like Stephen Curry and Adele. Others wanted to vote for a Native American presidential candidate. And one kid wanted to go the evil genius route and rule the world. Bwa ha ha.

Many students had dreams of seeing better things in the world, like no war, bullying or ISIS. They would like people to stop fighting and doing drugs. They dreamt of having their Lakota (Sioux) culture and language preserved, and of going to powwows and sewing regalia. One student wished that single moms didn’t have to work so much that they couldn’t spend time with their kids. Another dreamed of having lots of money so they could help out their family.

Some students were quite adamant that they had “no dreams.” I wasn’t quite sure whether they meant that they were in full-on despair, or that their “dream” was to avoid having to write two sentences. Maybe both?

It is risky to talk about dreams, because maybe they won’t come true. Or maybe people will laugh. Or maybe their dreams have been stomped on enough that they aren’t worth having. I don’t know. I just dared them to dream anyway—even if it was just that we would have candy for lunch.

What I do know is this: being at St. Joseph’s helps these students reach for their dreams. They are able to be connected to their culture, get an education and give back to their communities. Maybe playing for the St. Joseph’s Braves or the Chamberlain Cubs is their first step towards playing for the Golden State Warriors, and maybe graduating middle school/high school is their first step towards a teaching degree.

Thank you for supporting our students and staff as we reach for the future.

Claire

‘The king is dead, long live the king!’

Good Day from St. Joseph’s Indian School!
You’ve heard the saying, ‘the king is dead, long live the king,’ and we’ve seen an indication of it here at St. Joseph’s!

Most of the Christmas decorations came down right after our Christmas celebration on January 10 and several decorations promoting St. Valentine’s Day went up – not just commercially, but on campus as well. There is a sign welcoming you to the infirmary with two big hearts, a set of lips and the greeting ‘hugs and kisses.’

St. Joseph’s staff participated in the annual Chili Cook Off yesterday. We have yearly contests to find the best chili and soup! Those entering need to make a good amount so the staff can come and taste the variety of entries. Staff make sure they come early so as not to miss out on the goodies! The various dishes were tasted by our judges and prizes were awarded.

As our second semester gets under way, we’d like to update you on how our recent grads, alumni and scholarship recipients are doing! Kyron, JaTonne and Angela are back in class for the second semester. RJ is working here in Chamberlain at Sanford Hospital. Shawn is in Yankton looking for work. Cody, a 2014 grad, is back in class at University of South Dakota. Erica is discerning what her next step will be.

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Pilamaya! Pilamaya! Pilamaya! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I offer thanks on behalf of our students here at St. Joseph’s who had the chance to celebrate Christmas this past Sunday. Our students received some wonderful gifts and they extend their thanks to you!

I had the chance to visit several of the homes and see the smiles and hear the giggles as packages were opened and everybody got a chance to see what Santa had brought.

Every home does things a bit differently. Some have breakfast after coming back from Mass; others tear right into the pile of gifts under the trees. Some open one at a time so that everyone gets the chance to see; others let everyone open at the same time. Some homes have the same gifts for each student, while others have gifts of a similar type but geared for each individual. (This was especially true among some of the older homes where sports caps were a key gift… allowing each student to show their support for a team or player.)

Star Wars items were also very popular, as many of the students were able to see the movie during the Christmas break. One home is all set for a Star Wars-themed camping trip as each student got a Star Wars pop up tent and sleeping bag.

Swimming goggles were the hit with several of the younger homes. They love to swim at St. Joseph’s rec center and had been complaining that the swimming pool chlorine was getting in their eyes.

One home even purchased a bicycle for each student!! They all wished it was warmer outside so they could go for a spin! I explained to them that they have something to look forward to in the spring.

We are grateful to you, our Benefactors, who contributed to the Christmas fund that enabled St. Joseph’s houseparents to serve as Santa’s elves! I wish you could have been present to see what happiness your generosity brought, but I hope these photos do the day justice!

Our Boys Basketball Season gets underway this coming Thursday as our 5th and 6th graders take on the students from Pierre Indian Learning Center (PILC). All teams, fourth grade through eighth grade, will be playing through the end of February. The boys have been practicing and look forward to showing off their skills! We hope everyone has fun and that there will not be any serious injuries.

We usually act out the Nativity Story as part of the Sunday Liturgy before our Christmas celebration, but this year we found a cute video production that you might also want to take a look at. It is children telling the story, as they remember it, but adults acting out scenes. You can see it here.

I think you’ll enjoy it.

Again, thanks for your generosity. You truly helped to make our Christmas celebration here at St. Joseph’s something special.

May the Great Spirit’s blessings be with each of you throughout 2016.

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain