The addition to the building is finished, but some displays are still under construction in the new Tokéya uŋkí nájiŋpi (We stood here in the beginning) Historical/Alumni Center.
I’m Charleen, the Historical Center Coordinator; I joined the team in October 2012. I have worked at the museum as a seasonal part-time employee the past three summers. I have always had a love of history and I am honored to be the Coordinator for the Historical Center. My responsibilities include greeting visitors to St. Joseph’s and giving guided campus tours. I am looking forward to helping our visitors learn more about the history of St. Joseph’s Indian School and the great Lakota (Sioux) Culture.
Construction of the Tokéya uŋkí nájiŋpi (We stood here in the beginning) Historical/Alumni Center is still in progress. However, the Historical Center is now open to visitors and some of the displays have been completed. The displays are amazing and a visit is highly recommended. The Medicine Wheel Garden will be completed this spring. Native plants and landscaping will complete the project, once the chill of winter has gone.
The Medicine Wheel Garden will be complete this spring.
Currently, guided campus tours are available at 10:30 a.m. Monday through Friday. Tours can be scheduled at a different time if this does not fit your schedule. Transportation can be arranged for any tour.
All tours begin at the Akta Lakota Museum.
Summer schedule: May 1- October 31, daily tours will be at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Monday – Saturday.
In addition, visitors can enjoy a self-guided tour with additional options available at the Historical Center.
A cd to put in your car player
An mp3 player for a walking tour.
All options are free of charge.
To schedule a tour please call me at 800-798-3452 or email me at muscd@stjo.org
Cup stacking is one of the most popular games at the Sobriety Carnival!
Greetings friends! I hope you are all doing well, staying healthy, and staying warm. Things here at St. Joseph’s Indian School are going well. We have a busy week ahead of us!
This weekend is our annual Valentine’s Day Sobriety Carnival and Dance. This celebration helps to promote sobriety while the Lakota students in grades 1-5 grade enjoy carnival games and the students in grades 6-12 get to have a dance.
Our Substance Abuse Prevention Committee (SAPC) puts on several activities throughout the year to promote sobriety and the dangers of using drugs and overusing alcohol. The students always seem to enjoy these celebrations.
This weekend the St. Joseph’s Indian School seventh and eighth grade boys will host a basketball tournament. Several teams will be on campus to play in the tournament. The boys are very excited to play and hope to have many fans in the stand cheering them on.
The seventh and eighth grade boys’ basketball team will host a tournament at St. Joseph’s this Saturday.
Next week will bring the start of the Spring Cycle of the FAST program. Families and Schools Together, or FAST, is a great program that brings several of our families to campus for eight Fridays. The program consists of activities designed to help promote family togetherness and strengthen family bonds. We are looking forward to sharing the eight Fridays of FAST with 15 families this cycle!
As always, we thank you for the support you offer to St. Joseph’s Indian School. Without your prayers and financial generosity, we would not be able to offer the programs so vital to our students here at St. Joseph’s Indian School.
We just returned from Buellton California, in the scenic Santa Ynez Valley, where we hosted two donor appreciation luncheons in the area. While some of our friends had a short trip, others drove in from as far as Fresno, Lancaster and Anaheim to join us for an afternoon. Ashley and Martina were our two Native American high school students who spoke to our donors about their life and routine at St. Joseph’s Indian School.
The girls walked in the Pacific Ocean and wrote their names in the sand at Refugio State Beach.
Travel was an adventure. For Ashley it was her very first flight. The attendants let her peak into the cockpit and the pilot made her feel welcome (and safe!). From Sioux Falls to Denver, she had a window seat and could see the Missouri River, Badlands and Nebraska Sand Hills as we flew high overhead. On the second leg, Martina stared out the window, marveling at the mountains, canyons and vast stretches of western desert, which gave way to the incredible sprawl of metro Los Angeles. Our last short leg was at night, and the city and coastline came alive with lights and we descended into Santa Barbara. Our return was not as smooth. Fog delayed our takeoff, and because of missed connections we could only get back as far as Denver, and had to stay overnight there and come back a day late. The girls didn’t mind missing another day of school, and had fun walking around the airports, window shopping and people watching.
Despite the long distances, I recognized a few donors who have made the pilgrimage to St. Joseph’s campus for a summer vacation stopover, or to take part in one of our powwow celebrations. When others hear of our activities in September, it piques their interest and I’m sure we’ll see a few more make the journey. One couple who love motorcycling hope to roll by and visit during the Sturgis rally in August.
Tina, our phone receptionist, traveled to help with the set up and hospitality. She told me that one of the most frequently asked questions by donors on the phone is about me – “Is Fr. Steve a real person?” Many said it was nice to meet the one behind letters and emails. But the same holds true for us.
It’s a joy to be able to thank groups of people in person who make the work of St. Joseph possible.
Martina feeds the ostriches at the farm they visited.
Saturday after the luncheon, we checked out a nearby ostrich farm – a unique experience for me, but a sheer delight for our Lakota girls! A bowl of feed cost just $1. We held it out on a dust pan and hungry birds flocked around us. It was amazing to see them up close and personal! In the distant fields we observed their surprisingly quick running, and even saw a male doing an elaborate mating dance to get attention.
We drove into Solvang for mass. Visiting Old Mission Santa Ines allowed me to tell some of the background of the California missions and the history of the area tribes. It was also the annual appeal Sunday for the diocese. In lieu of a homily, we heard a 22 year old Hispanic Woman speak about how the parish school she attended in South Central LA helped give her a chance to go to college and present her with opportunities that others in her neighborhood didn’t have. I looked at our Lakota (Sioux) students, hoping and praying the same for them.
We sampled some Danish foods and pastries, then walked around to enjoy the town’s atmosphere. We found a bookstore that had a large section dedicated to Hans Christian Anderson, and later we took a photo by the Little Mermaid fountain.
On Sunday after the luncheon, we finally spent some time at the ocean, walking along Refugio State Beach.
My favorite moment came when Martina and Ashley were intently tracing their names in the sand with their toes, and a wave came up from behind, about mid-calf height, and sent them squealing and laughing to safer ground.
After enjoying some of the open scenery, we continued to Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara, where the shop with shell jewelry was the highlight. On these trips, I notice that our students may buy one of two things for themselves, but they are always thinking of family and friends, trying to find something that will give them joy.
The shops at Paseo Nuevo were full of pink bling!
We headed downtown to the fashionable Paseo Nuevo shops. The girls’ eyes lit up when passing a store called “So Good,” filled with every kind of ring and necklace imaginable. It was the pinkest, blingiest place I have ever seen. I knew that, while it wasn’t my cup of tea, they would be there a long, long time. That gave me a chance to go out for a walk and check in on the Super Bowl. After they had their fill, we ended up at a pizza place where we watched the fourth quarter of the game.
We’re safely back now, with lots of memories, not just of sights, but of the warm and wonderful people we sat at table with and heard their story and their connection to St. Joseph’s.
How did you become connected to St. Joseph’s Indian School?
San Francisco fans on the right, Baltimore fans on the left.
Ah yes. Time for post-Super Bowl Monday Morning Quarterbacking. What was done, what wasn’t done, what should have been done instead. I’m not talking about the game of course. I’m talking about the 5th Annual High School Super Bowl party! In the past, Anita from Sheehy home has done much of the organizing for the party. When she suggested this as an activity for St. Joseph’s High School Student Leadership Group, they jumped at the chance. We have planned several events this year and have learned some important lessons through trial and error.
This was going to be our Comeback Kid moment.
We were going to show the world how great we could be.
We’ve been working together long enough that we can play to each other’s strengths. We coordinated a menu with contributions from each high school home. Dawson loves to be helpful and is eager to jump in, but he often takes on too many tasks and can’t do it all. He was allowed to take on two tasks. He picked up the pop for Giles home and hand delivered invitations to the eighth grade homes, high school staff and homes. Andrew knows that he gets busy, so he picked a task that he could do immediately and be done. He called up and secured a large-screen TV for the Raven’s room. Erica is good at contacting people through e-mails, so she did some coordinating of donations. Leahanna likes hands-on tasks, so she counted out the M&Ms for our guessing game. Chris loves to orchestrate and organize. He took care of designing and printing the invitations. The kids helped me make a list of snacks and prizes that would not be “lame.” Everyone agreed to stay and help clean up afterwards.
Come Sunday evening, we were ready.
Sort of.
All the assigned tasks were covered, except for decorating. (Note to self: next year assign a set-up crew as well as a clean-up crew.) We had plenty of food. We had plenty of pop, water and Gatorade. We had games for the non-football fans. We had cool prizes. (Note to self: the punch balls were noisy and obnoxious, especially when the kids started bouncing them off of each other. Get more next year.)
Patrick acted as referee, blowing his whistle whenever there was a touchdown, interception, field goal, etc., and drawing names for prizes. (Note to self: get him a smaller whistle, or don’t let the teams make so many touchdowns. Ouch!) We had 40 students and 20 adults over the course of the evening. This includes a dozen eighth graders who were getting a taste of life in the high school homes. Everyone seemed to have a good time – 49ers fans being the exception, but that wasn’t the group’s fault. The Raven’s fans at St. Joseph’s relax during halftime.
House parents did a lot of behind-the-scenes management, from cooking the taco meat and hot wings, to making the veggie trays, to securing coolers, and surreptitiously throwing cans into the recycling bin. But at the end of the night, the kids made short work of taking trash out, sweeping floors and rearranging furniture.
One challenge our team faces this year as a group is commitment. Sometimes members don’t attend meetings or don’t contribute. Sometimes members agree to contribute with great enthusiasm, but time flies and agreements are forgotten. Sometimes, opportunities to grow and serve just don’t take root at all – maybe because of apathy or maybe because some ideas just aren’t as brilliant in the cold light of day as they are on paper.
Some plans get supplanted by more attractive, immediate pleasures like Facebook, basketball games, and afternoon naps. Some commitments get choked out by worries, fears, and problems. Who can think ahead when a loved one back home is ill or the news is full of stories about the end of the world?
Positive opportunities even compete with each other—school, jobs, sports, theater, college visits. A person can get pretty overwhelmed! But every so often, an idea takes root and grows. A small, dedicated core group maintains their determination and focus. They coax their peers into coming along. Sometimes we end up with something unexpectedly special.
Go Ravens!
So this Monday, I can say that I am proud of my team and their performance. They showed dedication and commitment. They overcame a tough start, and finished the season on a high note. Sometimes they made me kind of nervous, and I wondered if they were going to pull it off. They hung in there! And of course, they have an awesome fan base. This team has dedicated supporters from all over the country. We couldn’t have done this without them cheering us on and having faith in us. Thank you, and thank God!
By the way, who won? I didn’t really have a chance to watch the game….
Fr. Steve is away on a Donor Luncheon to the Santa Barbara, California area, which gives me another chance to share with you what’s been happening here at St. Joseph’s. Initially it seemed like a quiet weekend, but, upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a normal hectic pace with activities happening all over the place!
As you may be aware, last week was Catholic Schools Week around the country. Fr. Steve and I helped with the spelling bee contest for each of the classes in the elementary program. There was a lot of reflection on ‘i before e, except after c,’ and the Lakota students did a great job!
Three of our students will be taking part in the contest that crowns a national champion in Washington, D.C. and the others will take part in a state-wide contest later this month in Mitchell, South Dakota.
The fourth and fifth grades sponsored a Catholic School’s Week food drive to gather items to benefit a local domestic violence shelter and St. James’ parish, which is the local Catholic Church in Chamberlain and is also staffed by an SCJ (Priest of the Sacred Heart).
Afra Home (first, second and third grade girls) went to Lower Brule, South Dakota as part of their social outreach program. They attended Mass and then served the community with cookies and juice. Each student home does some sort of outreach activity for an entity in the local area. As many of our Native American students come from the Crow Creek and Lower Brule Indian Reservations, they like to go back and do something for the elders and their families at home.
On Friday, one of our eighth-grade students, Cassidy, went with the Chamberlain High School gymnastic team to a meet in Wall, South Dakota – home of the famous Wall Drug Store! Chamberlain has a very good team and Cassidy has been part of the JV squad for the past two years. They are looking forward to qualifying for the state competition.
If you recall, I had mentioned that Chamberlain High School had taken part in the state-wide one act play competition. Each team must set the stage, perform and take down their set in 45 minutes or less. This year, they did a play by Mark Twain that dealt with trying to improve prices for an artist’s work by putting out the word he was dead. They performed the play at the regional competition in Pierre, South Dakota, and qualified for the state finals.
Their time slot was 8:00 AM this past Saturday morning. One cast member said it took several alarm clocks to make sure he got up in time! Despite the early time, they gave it their all and won a superior rating. One of the leads, Chris, a St. Joseph’s senior, was singled out for extensive praise by the judges.
Sunday was the feast of St. Blasé, and we had the traditional blessing of the throats for the students and staff at our Sunday morning Mass. In giving the blessing, we ask St. Blasé to intercede and protect those who receive the blessing from any aliment of the throat or other illness.
It was probably good that we did that since there was a lot of screaming and hollering during the Super Bowl later that day. One of our high school homes hosted a Super Bowl party for the other high school homes, and also invited the eighth graders to attend. They split the fans of the two teams so each could cheer watching their own TV. There was a lot of good-natured ribbing back and forth and things really got excited and loud when the 49’ers made their late run to try and catch the Ravens. All sorts of crazy contests—like number of M&Ms in a jar and gag prizes for whenever something special happened in the game – added to the fun.
Saturday gave our fourth, fifth and sixth grade boys’ basketball teams a chance to play their counterparts from Chamberlain. We play each other twice per season, with each side providing the officials for one of the games. This time they were from Chamberlain, which may explain why the swept all three games. The games were close and a good crowd attended.
The weather was crazy as well. On Thursday many areas of the State called off school because the weather was in the minus 30 degree range! Yet, by Sunday, we were back up to the mid 40’s with lots of melting.
I hope you all have a great week ahead and that our loving God will continue to bless and protect you now and always! We are grateful for your interest in and concern for St. Joseph’s and the programs we offer for the Lakota (Sioux) children. Pilamaya – thank you!
Furniture is ready to take its place in the Summerlee Home!
Our facilities crew is hard at work finishing our remodel projects for the Lakota children at St. Joseph’s Indian School! Here’s an update:
The Summerlee Home is finished other than some minor finishing touches, like hanging bulletin boards and other small jobs. Houseparents are beginning to move some things into the home. The Summerlee girls are planning on spending their first night in their newly renovated home on February 1.
Now that the Summerlee home is complete, we are able to put more staff on the William Home renovation.
The Summerlee Home now has a snack counter where the girls can visit with their houseparents while they’re preparing dinner.
We just finished taping the sheetrock and will begin the texturing process. As soon as that’s done, we can start painting. We have also contacted the ceiling installer and he is scheduled to start installing our ceiling grid the first part of February. The kitchen and bathroom cabinets are under construction in the carpenter’s shop. We hope to have this home completed the first part of April.
The thrift store’s new location is moving along nicely with a completion date in the first part of March. We have just finished painting the retail section of the store and have moved to the back work and storage areas. Contractors are in the process of hanging door frames and the ceiling grid will be placed next week. Once we have our ceiling grids installed, the electricians will be able to start hanging light fixtures. When the lighting and HVAC processes are complete, we will begin installing carpet and inlay flooring for the retail area, changing rooms, bathrooms, break room, and offices.
Students participate in the annual spelling bee contest.
We held two competitive events on campus yesterday. The first began at 11:30, when several of our staff squared off in our annual chili/non-chili cooking contest. Three recipes gained a ribbon and bragging rights, but everyone on campus was a winner when we got to sample many tasty efforts. I had 11:30 mass, and by the time I reached the tables at noon the early lunch crowd had polished off the top three pots. But the others I sampled were hearty on a cold day and quite delicious. Human resources pulled out some colorful piñatas and recorded fiesta music set a fun tone. We laughed about the Kleenex on the table for runny noses and the bottles of antacids for those who found the samples to hot. It gave staff from different areas on campus the chance to mingle in a way that doesn’t happen often enough.
Then at 1:00 the real drama began as the top six spellers in each grade (determined by an earlier competition in their classrooms) participated in the annual Spelling Bee. Fr. Anthony and I were the word givers, and alternated between the grades. Some words I was glad when the students asked for a definition, because that enlightened me too! A few of the matches ended quickly. When it got down to the final two in 7th and 8th grade the rounds went on a long time. When one of the students had a chance to win, it seemed they would miss the second word and give their opponent another chance. The winners now advance to the regional competition in Mitchell.
I was at the Hogebach Home (high school girls’ home) last evening when the phone rang. Trinity answered the phone and once she hung up, broke into Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus.” What happened? – because of dangerous cold and wind chill, Chamberlain Public schools called for a 2 hour late start. Almost every high school kid I know would rejoice with a couple extra hours to sleep in. How cold was it? When the William Home (4th-5th) grade girls walked home from the Rec Center after swimming, their hair was frozen in the time it took to walk 2 blocks.
Since our kids live on campus, and the snow isn’t deep enough to cause problems, we pressed on with our regular school day today. Recess was indoors. When we get a long stretch of cold I notice the students getting cabin fever, but our weather has had enough ups and downs that they haven’t had to stay inside for more than a couple of days.
We’re working on budgets and had to submit our list of planned capital expenses for fiscal year 2014. Because our staff have so many good ideas for improvements, our wish list is always quite long. Then we have to prioritize and decide what we can afford, what our facilities crew has time to get done, and what is most pressing, especially where safety and preventative maintenance are concerned. Our costliest projects will be the next phase of our campus drainage upgrade, and the tuck pointing of several of our large older brick buildings. Perhaps the ones I’m happiest to see are the remodeling of the last two homes on our list, Afra (1st-3rd girls) and Raphael (1st– 3rd boys). I know the houseparents who live with the children in those two homes have been envious of the improvements we’ve made to all the other homes, and excitedly await similar upgrades and improvements.
Pearl invited her brother over for her birthday party.
Greetings from the staff and girls of the William Home!
We have been very busy since our return from Christmas break. We had our St. Joseph’s Christmas party the week after the kids came back. Thank you so much to our donors who helped make the students’ Christmas party possible!
Basketball season for the girls is over but that does not mean that things are not busy! The girls are now involved with tumbling and cheerleading weekly. We had two girls with birthdays last week, so we hosted parties for them in the home. Each had some of their friends over for supper and cake. We had a great time!
Rose got a Candy Land game for her birthday!
The spelling bee is this week and we’re proud to say four of our girls will participate.
The William Home continues with their walking fitness program and have totaled 13,136 laps, which is just over 656 miles. We are ahead of our pace to reach 15,200 laps by spring break!
Hope you all enjoy the updates from the William Home and we thank you for all that you do for the Lakota children at St. Joseph’s Indian School!
We invited our inter-city girls basketball players from the Chamberlain School (6-8 grade) to what we called a community hair shop. The purpose of this time was to share our talents and to learn a hair style – braiding or rag tie curling – so that when our St. Joseph’s students take part in a powwow or a dance event, they will have more people who can fix their hair the way they like it done.
We started with seven of our high school girls fixing the hair of our inter-city girls. In return the, the inter-city girls fixed hair for St. Joseph’s girls in grades one through five. We also invited staff and their families to take part in this exciting event.
We had about 60 girls (maybe more!) take part in our hair shop. Everyone had a grand time!
After having their hair tied for curls, Shawna, Alyssa and Freddie let their styles set.
We began Catholic Schools week with all the staff and students assembled in the Rec Center this morning for prayer. Bright yellow and blue balloons in yellow and blue (St. Joseph’s school colors) added a festive atmosphere to the stage.
This year’s theme is Raising the Standard. We try to do that, not just with academic excellence, but by forming ourselves and our Lakota (Sioux) students in all-around ways. Each attendee received a rubber bracelets with the words “body mind, heart and spirit,” engraved on them. Those are the holistic areas of child development and our own personal staff development on which we focus.
A good number of teachers and houseparents were out sick today. We’re getting the wave of flu and colds that hit other areas hard earlier. Our students have generally been staying healthier than our staff, but the health center has also seen a slight uptick in patients. We had a few subs in the school, but also had the help of some “student teachers.”
As part of Catholic schools week, some students in each classroom were given the chance to stand on the other side of the desk and address their Native American peers. Some gave out spelling words, others taught a few math problems. . . Maybe it gave them a better appreciation for the work their teachers do.
My hope is that their experience in the classroom here will light the spark that will one day draw a few of them back to the classroom as educators.
After school, I went to Fisher Home (6th– 8th grade boys) for supper. The guys had come in from the playground and were kicking back watching cartoons before supper. I always want to have dynamic conversations with students, but like many adults I get lots of one word answers when I ask “how was your day?” or “What did you do in school today?”
Building relationships with youth, especially those who come to us from difficult home situations or poverty, takes patience. I’ve learned to let young people talk about what they want to talk about and unfold their tale in their own time and way. Sometimes you have to sit through Sponge Bob and build rapport to set the stage for later. Around the supper table, the boys were relaxed and more talkative without much prompting and I did enjoy that time.
Icy roads canceled tonight’s basketball game, making it a good night to stay in and read a book. I don’t mind wintry weather that forces me to slow down and nurture my quieter, introverted side, as long as I know all the students and travelers are safely home.
