St. Joseph’s Indian School: Meet the High School Students Part 1

Hello there! I’m Maija, and I have the best job at St. Joseph’s Indian School! I work primarily with the Lakota (Sioux) students in high school and junior high. I get to plan

fun activities with the kids, train new houseparents, call applicants and more.

I had the pleasure of putting together a series of five blog posts that you’ll see over the next few weeks – one post from each of our high school homes!

St. Joseph’s high school students live on campus, but attend Chamberlain High School, so their schedule is a little different than our younger students.

I hope this blog gives you a glimpse into our world; the activities the kids are involved with, their hopes, and goals.

HOGEBACH HOME: When one enters the Hogebach Home, they can just feel the good vibes emanating from these young ladies. They describe their home as:

• Positive
• Smart
• Busy
• Loud
• Full of laughter
• The best home ever
• Amazing
• Full of independent girls

Michelle sums it up by saying “we’ve got style.”

Hogebach houses two freshmen and six upper-class Native American girls. The upper-class girls are glad to have such smart freshmen in their home and have done a great job encouraging the younger girls to keep their grades up. They do this in part so they can earn back the academic trophies.

In St. Joseph’s High School program, there are two traveling trophies that circulate through the high school homes:

• highest average home GPA
• fewest missing assignments

These trophies are awarded at mid-term and at the end of every quarter, so the homes have eight chances each year to steal it away from the previous winners.

The Hogebach Home once proudly held both trophies for quite a long time. The Hogebach girls have been working hard and hope to win at least one trophy back at the end of the third quarter, which is March 7.

The girls love having Eya, their houseparent’s 13-year-old Australian Shepherd, in their home. They are the only home on campus with a dog and consider him a part of their family. Irene says that Eya loves popcorn and is smart; he knows when someone is sad and he’ll sit by them. Amber states the dog is hers. Either way, the smart dog and smart girls get along very well in the Hogebach Home!

The end of the school year will be here before we know it. All the girls in Hogebach hope they get the trophy back, have no missing assignments ever again and everyone finishes the year staying positive!

Pilamaya – thank you – for your support of St. Joseph’s and these awesome kids!

Have a great week,

Maija & the Hogebach girls