Lakota Students Give To Others

The Lakota children practice generosity by giving food to the poor.
St. Joseph’s fourth and fifth graders delivered food and toiletries to St. James to share with those in need.

During Catholic Schools Week in January, St. Joseph’s fourth and fifth grade students collected food and toiletries for St. James Catholic Church.  The church has a pantry that is open to the Chamberlain community.  Tubs were placed around campus to collect a variety of useful items.  Many students also brought items they picked up.

At the end of the week, all fourth and fifth graders went to St. James to deliver the goods in person.  We collected four tubs of toiletries and food items!

We got to see the pantry and Fr. Guy explained to the students how it works.  Fr. Guy was very grateful for the donation.  St. Joseph’s students were excited about the project and hope to do it again sometime.

Statistics tell us we feel happier or better about ourselves when we are able to give to others.  I feel projects like these give our Native American students the opportunities to get such a feeling.  Many were excited to go with their houseparents or counselors to pick out items to put in the tubs.

Fr. Guy’s excitement about our gifts made it even better!

I hope each of you who are benefactors feel the same joy in giving to the Lakota (Sioux) children.  Like Fr. Guy, we are very thankful and I hope you get a sense of how excited we are by your generosity.  In this season that expresses the kindest and biggest gift of all, Christ’s sacrifice, may we all be motivated to give of ourselves for others.

Witnessing History

The Lakota children witnessed history as a new Pope was named on March 13, 2013.
St. Joseph’s second graders used a Promethean Board to watch the announcement of the new Pope.

I’d just come back to the office after lunch yesterday when I heard rumors of white smoke coming from the Vatican. I called St. Joseph’s principal, Kathleen, to let her know. With the Promethean Boards we have in many of the classrooms, teachers can transfer images and programs from their computer to the big screen, so students got to watch the unfolding announcement live. I visited several of the classrooms, and the kids had tons of questions.

“Why the smoke?” – so I explained the voting process.
“Who are those people in the funny uniforms?” – and we learned about the Swiss Guard.
“When are you going to become Pope?” – I took a pass on that one.
And, as curiosity and impatience both grew, “What is the pope doing now and when is he going to come out?”

I enjoyed sharing this special moment in history with our Lakota students. People have been asking me about my first impressions of the new Pope Francis. I am encouraged that he has a reputation for reaching out to the poor in his diocese in Argentina. Choosing the name Francis raises the hope that he will be able to lead followers to strengthen and rebuild the church where it is broken, work for peace in our troubled world, and reach out with greater charity to those in need.

A visit from Fr. Bob, fellow SCJ

Sunday
Fr. Bob, a member of our Priests of the Sacred Heart religious order, arrived at St. Joseph’s Indian School from Chicago yesterday. Seven inches of heavy wet snow fell on campus Saturday, and Fr. Bob couldn’t make it up the hill to our house! We had to park the car down below and carry suitcases up the hill. One of the houseparents came into morning mass and joked, “Did you pray for this?”
Actually, I have been praying for the moisture we badly need. So many people who work the land have been suffering from drought. Once I heard a native South Dakotan remark that, in other areas, weather forecasters talk of the threat of snow or rain, but here in South Dakota we talk about the promise of snow and rain. We are glad to receive whatever comes! Today the sun came out, the roads started melting, and it was much easier to get around.
After mass, we joined the Afra Home (1st – 3rd grade girls) for weekend brunch to give Fr. Bob a sense of how our Native American students live. Third grader Mariah was a good tour guide as she showed off the home and told Fr. Bob about student activities.
The William Home (4th-5th grade girls) is nearby. Since both homes had many students checked out to go home for the weekend, the two homes joined one another for the meal. Some of the William Home girls started out in Afra, and always enjoy coming back to check in with their former houseparents. The two homes try to do occasional activities together, especially so sisters and cousins can spend quality time together. The older girls enjoy spending time with the younger ones. The tables were filled with conversation and laughter.
Monday
Sunday evening and Monday, the SCJs gathered for our Lenten Recollection time. We were joined by the priests who work on nearby Indian Reservations – Lower Brule and Crow Creek – and here locally in Chamberlain. Fr. Bob’s reflections centered around the Earth, our relationship with creation, and our call to be God’s stewards. Life at St. Joseph’s features constant activity, but Bob’s presence reminded us that we all need to slow down and try to listen for God’s direction and guidance.
After we finished, I went downtown to check on the opening of our new Thrift Store. Chantelle, our manager, said that curious folks had stopped in all day. Some just wanted to see how the former grocery store had been transformed, but once inside, they decided to pick up a few clothes or knick-knacks.
Lena, one of our sophomores was tending the cash register and getting on-the-job experience dealing with the public and earning some spending money. The new store has room to set up nicer displays; the objects near the entry caught people’s eye and needed to be rearranged at first, and restocked by the end of the day.

Meeting the new crew

Our world is changing so much. People are relying less on mail and more on other forms of communication. To meet future needs, we are opening an office in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Staff at our Donor Care Center will spend much of their time on the phones with our donors and on line responding to the many questions we get via email.
The new crew finished up a week of training last Friday, and I stopped by to meet and greet each of them. To each person I met, I simply said, “Tell me a little about yourself.”
It’s amazing all the directions they took from there and what I learned about folks! Some folks talked more about family, others more about their work experiences. Everyone talked about how it meant a lot to them to be working with a charity like St. Joseph’s Indian School, that has such a positive impact on children in need, and to be part of a bigger outreach to make a difference to families on Indian reservations.
We had a nice leisurely soup and sandwich lunch together before everyone had to go back to work. Maybe you’ll be getting a call from them to say ‘thanks for your help’ sometime soon!

Time flies when you’re having fun!

I can’t believe March is here already and we have started the fourth quarter at St. Joseph’s Indian School. WOW, time really flies when we are having so much fun!
We had a lot of fun when we celebrated Read Across America Day on March 1.

The Lakota students and Fr. Steve read in the hallway to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday.
Fr. Steve joined the Lakota children for reading.

The Lakota students loved the time they were able to spend reading to each other and to Fr. Steve in the school hallways. They also enjoyed ice cream treats at the end of the day.

The Lakota students had lots of fun reading to each other.
We had so much fun celebrating Read Across America Day!

Our eighth grade girls were able to miss a day of school last week and attend GEMS (Girls Engineering Math and Science) in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. They enjoyed not being in school for a day, but the real enjoyment was being able to attend a session on makeup. Imagine that with teenage girls! They also were able to visit other booths related to engineering and science.

Our Native American girls in eighth grade learned about careers in math and science.
Our eighth-grade girls attended GEMS and learned about GIS mapping.

Staff and students are gearing up for St. Joseph’s Spring Break which will start on March 22. We are looking forward to having an educational morning at the Recreation Center doing a Science/Weather program called Tornado Alley, which features a 3D movie! This will be a great start to Spring Break.

When the students return on Easter Monday, they will return to an Easter Egg hunt for the younger students (Grade 1-5) and the older students (Grades 6-8) will have a picnic dinner in the Fisher Home driveway, weather permitting. Considering our weather the past few weekends has been snow and rain, we will hope and pray for better weather on Easter weekend.

The staff would like to thank all of our donors for the help, support and encouragement that our students receive throughout the year.
“Experience Jesus’ presence each moment. Pray as you enter each place, welcoming Christ to touch and to heal. Embrace God and the way God touches your life again and again.”

St. Joseph’s Mentor Program

Mentor matches provide the Lakota students a positive role model in their lives.
Delores and Kaelyn love spending time together!
Hello, our names are Celia and Dee and we oversee the Children Count Mentor Program at St. Joseph’s Indian School. The mentor program was established in 2001 to match a Lakota student with a positive adult staff member.
The goal of the program is to establish a positive relationship between adults and children, and to have a positive impact on Native American youth by actively participating in their lives. These relationships can help children compensate for early experiences and protect them from the influences of social toxicity, negative peer groups and media violence.
Currently, we have 48 student/adult mentor matches.
Students at St. Joseph’s are referred to the mentor program by their counselor because they lack one-on-one contact with an adult – they may not have a family member who can check them out for an evening or weekend – or because they would benefit from a positive relationship with adults who actively participates in their lives.
The mentor committee hosts five events throughout the school year. Some of these events include a picnic, movie night, roller-skating, a Christmas get-together and bowling.
Everyone has a great time!
In addition to these organized events, staff spend 2-6 hours per month individually with their match. Some activities that students enjoy with their mentors are going out to eat, attending local sporting events, going for walks, making cookies and doing crafts, just to name a few.
Thank you for your support of this great program!

Sharing enthusiasm, spirit

Most managers and supervisors tell you that 10% of their staff causes 90% of their grief. Today, our management team had the opposite problem – choosing some of the best staff members nominated by their peers for our annual employee recognition awards!

We have lots of committed, enthusiastic people at St. Joseph’s who do their job well day in and day out, and make such a difference. Good staff promote the mission, fulfill the vision and inspire others with their attitude. We selected eight people from different areas of campus who will be acknowledged this year for their extra efforts and positive, can-do approach to work. They’ll be honored at a banquet later in the month.

I stopped by the Rec center after school where the fourth and fifth grade cheerleaders were enjoying an end-of-the-season pizza party. Our Native American girls have so much spirit, pep and energy! They were having fun with a few cheers even though they were the only ones around to hear.
In the evening, many of us went to another pep rally – this one at the high school to send off the Chamberlain High School girls’ basketball team, who finished 21-1 and will advance to the state tournament this weekend.

We don’t have any current St. Joseph students on the team, but several staff have daughters on the team, and we always want to cheer the efforts of the young people of our community.

Offering prayers, comfort

As a parish priest, I frequently made the rounds in hospitals. I haven’t had the occasion here at St. Joseph’s Indian School to do that very often, but today I did.

Fifth grader Kendra went to the health center complaining of a bad stomachache. A few hours later, she was in surgery to remove her appendix. Her mom was with her when I got to the room. Kendra had just woken up from the anesthesia and was enjoying a popsicle. We prayed and I let her know we had a whole bunch of Lakota students back at school asking how she was doing and keeping her in their prayers as well. I didn’t stay very long, since what most patients need is rest and recovery time. Hopefully, she will be back running the playground in short order.

In the halls of the hospital, I ran into a family I knew from Fort Thompson, South Dakota, which is about 25 miles from Chamberlain. The two daughters asked me to stop in and visit their aging mother, who had a host of health problems. We chatted for a while and then prayed.

Next, I ran into a man from the Crow Creek Indian Reservation whom I didn’t know, but he saw the collar and asked for prayers for his family as well. A listening ear and a brief prayer can comfort and help heal. Ultimately, though, we place our loved ones in God’s hands.

Another reason I love St. Joseph’s Indian School

The Lakota students and their teachers took a break to read a Dr. Seuss story.
Who can go to work in their pajamas, then sit in the hall and read Dr. Seuss with kids? ME!

There is much testing going on at St. Joseph’s at this time of year, especially in my area. Individual Education Plans are wrapping up for this year, but new students coming in need to be placed in the appropriate setting. I have been using Key Math to see where our holes are in Math and this has become a very useful tool! I learned something new this year! 🙂

Winter is teasing us right now. It will be nice outside one day and then it turns ugly cold! It is creating cabin fever! We do go outside with the Lakota boys and girls if it is above zero and the wind chill is above zero. Even though the kids might complain when they go out, they enjoy getting a breath of fresh air and running to keep warm.

Basketball is a hit here at our school – both boys and girls! Even our little ones are pretty good at basketball! They take on the bigger kids when they get the chance. It is nice to see the care the older students show the little ones. Lifting them up to make baskets, stealing the ball and giving it to a little one, pretending that the little ones stole it from them, and “trying” to block the shot!

Have I mentioned this time, how much I love it here at St. Joseph’s? Well the basketball story is just one reason. There is a ton more reasons. Who can go to work in their pajamas, then sit in the hall and read Dr. Seuss with kids?

ME, that’s who! We are reading “Cat in the HAT!”

The kids loved it! It was so much fun, especially when we started reading in unison!!! Imagine that! What a magical time it was! And then we got treats afterwards!!!

There are still many more reasons I love it here – stayed tuned!

The Lakota children love their teachers at St. Joseph’s Indian School!
Samantha, Robin and Kyla read for Dr. Seuss’ birthday.

Eighth graders visit State Capital

The Lakota students found the Senate chambers very interesting.
Cassidy, Melvina and Vilencia look down to the Senate floor.

Last Friday, St. Joseph’s eighth graders went on their cultural trip to Pierre, South Dakota. We left school about 8:10 A.M. and traveled west on the interstate to Vivian and proceeded north to Pierre.

Upon arrival in Pierre, we toured the State Capital Building. The students were impressed with the beauty and grandeur of the building, and all the old features. The aspect of the tour that held their attention the most was looking for the blue and heart shaped tiles. The Capital building has a tile floor; when it was installed, the workers were given a limited number of blue and heart-shaped tiles to place throughout the building as a mark of their own.

St. Joseph’s eighth-grade students had a great time visiting Pierre!
St. Joseph’s eighth-grade students take a group picture on the steps of the Capital Building.

From there, we went to Pizza Ranch and enjoyed lunch. After lunch, the day brought us to the Cultural Museum. The museum exhibits items from the different eras of South Dakota’s people. The students seemed to enjoy looking at how people lived in the past.

On the way home, we took the road that follows the east side of the Missouri River. They were all looking forward to going down the stretch of road with the bumps!   It was a fun, educational experience for the Lakota eighth graders to get to see some country, take in some government and experience the history of South Dakota’s various cultures.