This week marked the start of day camp with children from the Lower Brule Sioux Indian Reservation.
Monday – The day began with meeting kids and parents at our pick-up spot, St. Mary’s Church in Lower Brule. Fifty students attended camp today.
After breakfast, we visited about camp expectations with all our campers. Everyone was very well-behaved and ready for a great day!
With two weeks of camp already under their belts, camp staff was ready for anything.
Tuesday was a beautiful sunny day with 58 children attending camp, 27 of which were new.
Janeen had Arts & Crafts going strong today, and Mark had a great game of kickball underway. All in all, camp is going well.
Wednesday turned sunny day after a nice rainfall in the very early morning.
We had 60 children in today’s camp for the water safety course presented by South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks and the Army Corps of Engineers, complete with the small boats for the kids to ride around in. Back on campus, we had Arts & Crafts and brick coloring.
The afternoon brought swimming and snacks.
It was another exciting week at the Rising Eagle Summer Day Camp!!!
I am Pamela. My position here at St. Joseph’s Indian School is Transition Specialist. So what do I do? I help our eighth grade students transition from St Joseph’s elementary school to Chamberlain High School.
We have a summer program here for our new freshmen, which allows them to take classes in the morning up at the high school with some of the high school teachers. This gives them the opportunity to get to know some teachers and the school before they attend in the fall.
Danisha shopping for her new school colors!
Another part of my job is to help our high school students transition from high school to the real world of being an adult. I have one senior girl attending the American Indian University at Crazy Horse. This gives her the opportunity to take college classes from the University of South Dakota and work at the Crazy Horse monument. Danisha has the opportunity to earn 12 college credits before starting her college years at Dakota State University.
Erin is another graduate who is making great use of her summer. She is working now and will be attending the Davis-Bahcall summer program. She will study physics for two weeks here in South Dakota at the Homestake mine and then go on to Chicago and finish the experience in Italy. Another one of our graduates is attending INMED at the University of North Dakota. INMED is a program for Native American students interested in a career in the medical field.
St. Joseph’s Indian School high school graduates.
I also work with our high school students in the world of employment. We have students working on campus learning about careers. We have day camp counselors, janitors, maintenance workers, museum workers and students working in the dining hall. This gives our students a chance to earn some money over the summer and learn about the responsibility of having a job.
Summers can be as busy as the school year around here! It is nice to see our American Indian students doing things that will help them prepare for their future.
Hello! Can you believe that summer is in full swing? Things here at St. Joseph’s Indian School, although it is summer, continue to move along swiftly!
My name is Julie and I have been here at St. Joseph’s Indian School for over 10 years. I currently work as a Family Service Counselor. During the school year, I stay busy seeing students for individual counseling, group counseling, and enrichment activities. But what does a counselor do in the summer when most of the kids are gone? Well, that is a good question!
As a Family Service Counselor at St. Joseph’s Indian School, part of my duties in the summer include traveling to see the students and families with whom I work during the school year. We visit with the students and families to make sure their summer is going well and to see if there is anything we can help with while the students are at home. Most of the time, this is just a check in and a great time to visit with students and families.
So far this summer, I have been to Eagle Butte to visit with one of my students. This week will take me to on two or three more trips and the rest of the summer is filling up with travel as well! Though many of our students are from the nearby Indian reservations of Fort Thompson and Lower Brule, we also travel as far away as Pine Ridge and Nebraska to visit Native American students.
Another thing the Family Services Counselors do during the summer is work on student admissions. Of course, we need to fill the first grade class with new students and other grades may have openings as well. Part of the admissions process includes going to the prospective student’s home to meet them and their family. A short interview is conducted to gain some background information on the student, and this is a great time to start building a strong relationship with the student and their family.
Interspersed with all of the travel, the Family Service Counselors work on getting consent forms signed for the next school year, finish up paperwork and start preparing for the kids to return. Summer is also a good time to attend workshops to keep us up to date on the current trends and best practices in counseling.
The best part of the summer is getting to go out and see our students and their families, as well as meeting new families. Although most of the kids were ready for summer to get here, they sure seem happy to see us when we visit! 🙂 And many times the first question they ask is,
“When do I get to come back to St. Joe’s for school?”
I hope you all have a blessed and safe summer! – Julie H
Hi, I am Laura from the Development office. Some of you may have talked with me over the phone or even met me while attending a Donor Luncheon! Part of my job is to set up and organize these events.
I just got back from a luncheon in Oklahoma City. Dean and RJ were able to talk to donors who attended and tell them what life is like here at St. Joseph’s Indian School.
Pilamaya – thank you for your generous contributions!
We had a wonderful time and met some very special benefactors while we were there! This couple has been donating for over 50 years. What a joy it was to meet them!
The highlight of the trip was all the famous sports people we saw. These two high school boys were in heaven.
While checking into our hotel we saw the Oklahoma University girls’ fast-pitch softball team. They played great while we were there and were going to be in the championships games. RJ, who is going to be a sophomore in the fall, has an interest in being a NBA referee someday. He was thrilled when we saw that Ken Mauer, Ed Malloy and James Capers were also staying at our hotel. They were there to officiate the Thunder and Spurs game.
While greeting our wonderful guests for the luncheon, Stephan A. Smith from ESPN asked me for directions. Little did I know who he was until Fr. Steve and the boys told me!
The luncheon was a great time and the boys did really well talking in front of a group of people.
Later that evening, on our way back from church, we saw a group of people in a crowd and went to check it out. We found that it was the San Antonio Spurs getting ready to board the bus for the game! We added several more basketball stars to our list of celebrity sightings, including Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Boris Diaw to name a few.
After dinner we went and walked around the Chesapeake Energy Arena where the Thunder and Spurs would play their game. We saw Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson shooting TNT’s “Live in the NBA.”
We all got to shake their hands as they went into the stadium.
I better not forget to mention the Thunder cheerleaders.
The boys were happy to smile for a picture with the Thunder cheerleaders!
Sunday we spent time at the Chickasaw Cultural Center in Sulphur, Oklahoma, which is a beautiful place. The boys enjoyed learning about a different tribe. On the way back from the Cultural Center we stopped by Oklahoma University and showed the two boys around the campus. What a huge place it is. Our last stop was the football field, where we happened to run into Bob Stoops – the head football coach! He offered to take a picture with the boys.
This is a weekend these two young men will never forget and I am so happy to have been able to share it with them. It really was an amazing time with good friends and good luck!
We hope to get to meet you at a luncheon in the near future to thank you for all you make possible!
Bob Stoops and the boys.
Please check our luncheon schedule at www.stjo.org/luncheon to see if we will be in your area to make more wonderful memories for the Lakota boys and girls of St. Joseph’s Indian School.
As of today, over 400 Native American children have attended St. Joseph’s Rising Eagle Day Camp!
It’s been a great week to spend with kids from the Crow Creek Sioux Indian Reservation.
Monday was sunny and hot day, which was great for playing outside! We picked up some toys from Central Receiving, including toy trucks and cars for the sand box, walking stilts and pogo sticks. We also found an assortment of different balls and camp staff taught the kids to play 4-square and hopscotch.
Day Camp is going great!
Tuesday we had the Water Safety Course as our morning activity. The children really enjoyed riding around on the water and steering the small boats. Many thanks to our local Game, Fish & Parks office and the Army Corps of Engineers for their presentation.
Wednesday, there were 47 children waiting for the camp bus, plus five dogs and some puppies. They even tried to get on the bus!
Back at St. Joseph’s, we had one little girl who was upset and wouldn’t tell us what was wrong. Thanks to some TLC from Mary Jane, she was soon eating lunch and joined her group outside at the playground. Thanks Mary Jane!
Each child received a toothbrush and toothpaste as they get off the bus to go home today.
Thursday was another beautiful, hot day! We had lots of fun with our usual activities – playing outside games, swimming and crafts. Everything went great.
Next week, we’ll head to the Lower Brule Sioux Reservation to pick up day campers!
Hello blog world! My name is Scott and I am a family service counselor. I work with 6th-12th grade boys and will begin my 19th year at St. Joseph’s Indian School (SJIS) this fall. During the school year, I help provide individual and group counseling services to the boys and also act as a go-between for the school and the children’s families.
Right now, though, it’s summer and I’m adjusting to a little more life on the road. I’ll be traveling this month to visit families and students I work with here at SJIS. It’s a nice way to connect with all of them. I enjoy seeing the beautiful landscapes of South Dakota and getting to see the home turf of the kids. They always enjoy showing off their towns and telling stories connected to their home environment. It’s a great way to continue to build the relationships we work on during the year. Plus, it’s laid back because they aren’t stressed out by the rigors of homework and other scheduled activities, like we have during the school year.
I also travel to conduct interviews with potential students when we have vacancies in our homes. I always enjoy meeting new children and new families and I look forward to establishing new connections with them when the school year begins.
In the last few years, I have had quite a few more kids remain on campus in June as summer programming increases for the age group that I work with – especially in the high school age group. I have many older boys who are still here for awhile, working summer jobs, attending the high school transition program and officially learning how to drive.
I enjoy the pace of the SJIS summer routine and also look forward to time off in the summer to re-charge and prepare for the next school year.
Fr. Steve stopped in my office and asked if I would perform #13 on my job description – be a guest blogger and write today’s blog. And of course, without thinking, I said “sure.”
To explain, #13 on my job description reads ‘Performs other responsibilities as required by the Executive Director.’ 🙂
Then all I thought was “yikes!”
A little anxiety set in as I thought “I am not a blogger … and besides, my job might seem boring for people to read about …”
All that aside – Hi! I am Karla, the Executive Assistant.
First, I must say that I love my job and have been doing it for almost 19 years. My work includes more ‘behind the scenes’ kind of detail. Working with the Executive Director of Child Services (Mike, my boss), I have the opportunity to assist Child Services with all the different programming taking place on campus for our students. My job consists of the usual duties like taking notes, setting up meetings, filing student information, etc. In a nutshell, it’s kind of like a jack-of-all-trades. I do enjoy multi-tasking, however, and the busier our office is the better I like it. Currently I am getting the calendar together for the 2012-2013 school year, as well as filing end-of-year student information.
St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus is a different kind of busy now that school is out. Summer day camp is taking place; the high school summer program is up and running, as well as activities for the students in grades 1-8 staying in the summer home. Construction, cleaning, moving and general maintenance are in full gear in preparation for the new school year. Keeping the office organized some days can be quite eventful, as you never know what might come up, or who may show up, so we never expect a humdrum kind of day.
I just heard some little people laughing and walking outside my office going to the playground. That means the summer day camp bunch has arrived … seeing the smiles and hearing the laughter … that is what brings satisfaction to my job and warmth to my heart.
Thanks to all of you that support our mission and give us the opportunity to provide for the students and families we serve. If you get to Chamberlain, visit our campus, visit our Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center and see for yourself why St. Joseph’s Indian School is an awesome place!
My name is Allyssa and I am the Human Resource Associate here at St. Joseph’s Indian School. I have worked at St. Joseph’s for two years. My duties mostly include the employee relation aspects of the organization. This includes the staff appreciation breakfasts, the Christmas party, staff recognition, staff wellness and our annual chili cook-off.
Those involved with the wellness group enjoy guest speakers, newsletters and healthy activities on seven dimensions of wellness. The seven dimensions include physical, spiritual, emotional, occupational, intellectual, environmental and social wellness. The overall goal of the program is to provide employees and their families a holistic approach to wellness. Most recently we held a 5/10K walk, run, bike for staff and family members. We had a wonderful turnout of 100 participants and are planning another event for the fall.
HR will temporarily relocate during the summer months while our offices get a facelift. We have begun the packing process, but have a ways to go yet. Our tentative moving date is July 1. Although moving is never fun, we are looking forward to the end result!
What a year our students have had! The biggest change was me!! My name is Gina and I teach computer class.
I came to St. Joseph’s in September fresh out of the business world. Together, the students and I grew by leaps and bounds. Among a lot of new skills acquired , the first and second graders now know what a CPU (central processing unit) is, what the letters stands for, and what it does. Besides improving their typing skills every class period, they delved into programs such as KidPix and MS Word making graphic pictures and posters.
The best part of helping kids at this level is the moment when they “get it” and they realize they do. There was one young boy who consistently had a LOT of trouble just signing in to the computer with his name and password. Shortly after Christmas break, he was in class and I heard a big shout out from behind me, “I DID IT ALL BY MYSELF!!” and he threw up his hands in triumph!
He had finally mastered signing in without help from me or his neighbors. I went over and high-fived him, and the ear-to-ear grin on his face said it all! That was worth every struggle he had weathered, just to see the sense of accomplishment and pride he had at that moment.
The third graders learned many new things in Word and KidPix also, but their final project was learning an internet based program called Little Bird Tales where they wrote a book titled “All About Me.”
They had fun drawing scenes from their lives and writing a sentence about it. When they finished their project, the stories were printed and bound so students could take them home and share with their families.
Joe’s monster he drew for the Monster Exchange!
The fourth and fifth graders did a Monster Exchange project where they drew a “monster” in the Paint program and then wrote a description of it to exchange with the other class. They then had to try and draw the other class’ monster from the description. The results were quite interesting to say the least! They learned that drawing from the description was not as easy as it seems.
The upper classes (sixth through eighth) learned a lot about Microsoft Office and its programs. For one of their projects, each student made a PowerPoint presentation about themselves and their life at St. Joseph’s. They learned all about the bells and whistles of the program. They LOVED to have the computer applaud for them as they started their presentation!
One of the best projects we did this year was with the eighth graders in collaboration with the Social Studies class. They are required to write a research paper and present it to the school, so we worked together to complete the project. We did assignments that would benefit them not only in computers but would also be some of the work they had to do in Social Studies. I really enjoyed doing this as it showed the kids that the stuff we do in class does have an actual real life purpose. I really hope next year I can do more projects like that.
All in all it has been a very productive year for us. I am looking forward to finding new and fun ways for them to learn all about technology.
Jarrad and Fr. Steve at this weekend’s eight grade graduation ceremony.
On May 25th, 2012, St. Joseph’s Indian School was proud to watch 21 eighth grade students process into Our Lady of the Sioux Chapel and graduate from eighth grade. It was a wonderful day, full of celebration. We, the staff of St. Joseph’s Indian School, are always humbled and honored and to be able to spend such a special day with our students and their families. While it was a bit cool, the day went off without a hitch and the graduation ceremony was truly lovely.
So what does it mean to graduate from eighth grade? For many of our Native American students, they will return to St. Joseph’s Indian School in the fall to be a part of our High School program. For others, they will begin a new journey in a new place. No matter where they are going, it is a new chapter for our eighth grade students as they begin their high school career. Some are nervous, some are excited, some a bit scared, but in my opinion, all of them are ready to take on this new challenge.
For those returning to St. Joseph’s Indian School this fall for the high school program, they will come and spend three weeks on campus, beginning on May 28, 2012, to go through our transition program which will help get them ready to attend Chamberlain High School this fall. It is just a preview of what they will be experiencing at a new school. The students will get to meet some of the Chamberlain High School teachers, tour the Chamberlain High School, and begin to the learn ropes of being a freshman. It is a great introduction to what they can expect this fall.
While the eighth grade students are preparing for the fall, the Clinical Services Department is doing the same. This summer, the Clinical Services Department will spend a great deal of time traveling. What do we do while we are traveling? We visit our current students and their families and we work on admissions for the fall. Part of the admissions process is to interview the student and their families to learn a bit more about them and to see if their needs can be met by St. Joseph’s Indian School. It is a great time to start building relationships with new students and families. Traveling to see our current students and their families is just another part of building relationships with those already a part of St. Joseph’s Indian School as well.
While summers can be a bit quiet around St. Joseph’s Indian School, there is always someone around, so if you are in the area, make sure and stop by to see us! We are always willing to give a tour, talk about what we do and share what a great place St. Joseph’s Indian School is. So come and see us, you are always welcome!
