Tag: Central Receiving

Belly slides and Christmas gifts

Native American youth sledding down a hill.
Sledding in full force at St. Joseph’s Indian School.

The past few days our Lakota students have been out sledding in force, but today the sun came out and began melting our snowfall into the dry and thirsty ground. They’ll have to wait until the next storm before the hills again allow for good sledding. But that didn’t deter kids from having fun at recess.

Today’s winter coats are warm indeed, but the plastic outer material is slick enough to make sleds optional. I watched the children belly slide head first down the gentle slopes leading to the playground, laughing all the way! I’m sure the teachers don’t mind the students burning off a little excess energy before coming back to the classroom to focus on reading, writing and arithmetic.

I had to pick up a package a friend sent for Christmas, so I wandered over to Central Receiving, where all the boxes that come to St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus wind up. Glenda and Cathy have worked as a team for many years. This time of year gets a little hectic for them, but they seemed in good cheer as they opened and sorted piles of clothes, toiletries, toys and games, books and school supplies and knick-knacks  of all kinds.

Central Receiving at St. Joseph's Indian School.
Glenda and Cathy sorting piles of clothes, toiletries, toys and games, books and school supplies, and knick-knacks of all kinds.

Some of the boxes are from people who are taking part in our Holiday Wishes Christmas program. Those presents will be distributed after Christmas break when the students return in January. Items like hair conditioner, socks and basketballs are always in demand, and go onto the shelves so our houseparents have easy access to them. We have several requests for help with Christmas presents for needy children on nearby Indian reservations and are putting aside hats and gloves, stuffed animals, coloring books and crayons to brighten their holiday.

Glenda and Cathy have also put aside a lot of nice things for our Christmas store on Saturday. There, our children shop for presents to take home to their families. I saw a stack of five crock pots sent in by one generous donor who specified they go reservation families. Baby and toddler clothes are also very popular as kids think about younger brothers and sisters back home. We are blessed with many generous donations that we in turn can share so they are put to good use.

Lakota students learning important values

I’ve been around campus the past few days, but haven’t spent much time in the office. Starting Monday afternoon through this morning, all the priests and deacons who are part of the Sioux Falls Diocese gathered for our annual Clergy Days. Besides topics of continuing education, it provides the chance for social time and renewing friendships and support. The diocese gathered just across the river at Cedar Shores Convention Center. Rather than getting a hotel room three miles away I commuted, and was able to check in with life on campus and take care of a few of the notes and messages that come my way.

In the midst of that, on Wednesday we held a Board of Directors meeting for St. Joseph’s Indian School. One of the main fall items is to review the audit report. The good news is that the books are in good shape and the numbers add up to make our programs possible. We heard reports not just from our Child Services programs, but from the Sacred Heart Center in Eagle Butte, where we support a wide range of Indian reservation based social services programs, and from the Lower Brule and Crow Creek reservations, where my SCJ community continually reaches out through parish work to meet pastoral needs.

Deacon Dave Nagel, who was the director at St. Joseph before me, is now our provincial treasurer and still serves on the board. He enjoyed his time back on campus and made the rounds to catch up with as many of the staff as he could.

At our Clergy Days Social, Fr. Jerome, who is now retired, told me he had been a missionary with Maryknoll in Thailand. Craig, our junior high Language Arts teacher, also worked there, and in fact met his wife Ja overseas. In one of those small world stories, they knew each other, and after a quick phone call I was able to help them reconnect and relive lots of memories.

Besides theological input, the South Dakota Department of Criminal Investigation helped educate us on the scourge of methamphetamines. While big cities may struggle more with cocaine or heroin, for the Midwest and rural America in particular, meth is the bigger problem. On the Lower Brule Indian Reservation, near tribal headquarters, a prominent billboard reminds the tribe, “Meth is Death.” From my time as pastor, I would agree that addictions of every kind tear families apart and are the biggest block to spiritual growth and well-being. The stories from police in the field, and hard to view photos to back them up, brought home the harsh reality in a new and powerful way. In a few weeks we at St. Joseph will celebrate Red Ribbon Week, trying to get across the message early and often to our students – we all need to work together to prevent drug abuse and the horrible impact it has on our communities.

Clergy Days was not all meetings. One evening was the jubilee celebrations for those who have served in the priesthood for 25, 50 and even 60 years. Another evening the local Knights of Columbus grilled some good South Dakota steaks and hosted everyone at the local parish. Tuesday afternoon was free for folks to relax, and I offered a tour of St. Joseph’s campus for folks who have not seen our facilities. We started at Akta Lakota Museum, then dropped by the school. Our second graders were using the smart board to polish their addition by learning to count coins and add up the values. Our choir was practicing songs for church on Sunday, and took us through the hand motions to the song “His Banner of Me is Love.” I was tickled to see one of the 80-year-old priests, seated in a chair, smiling as he mimicked their actions.

Once school was out, we visited Afra Home, where the 1st – 3rd grade girls were gracious hostesses and gave tours. Some were very brief –

“Here is the dining room and here is the kitchen.”

Other students took lots of time showing everything, even digging out the variety of toys in the playroom.

We ended our tour in Our Lady of the Sioux Chapel, and spoke of our pastoral and spiritual efforts to help our students come to know and love God.

After school on Wednesday, I heard the loud beat of the drum, and followed the sound to the edge of the playground. Our Chalk Hills Singers group was gathered around the drum in the shade of an old cottonwood tree. Dave, one of our Native American Studies teachers, was helping them master the songs. It was also his birthday, so when I mentioned it, his son Courage started on the drum, and led the group in a powwow style ‘Happy Birthday’ song.

As I walked back to the office, I ran into our Student Leadership Group, loaded down with carrying bags, full of goodies. They had been up to Central Receiving, where we keep all our donated items. Through people’s generosity we have gotten a large amount of school supplies, and they were bagging up items we have a lot of, like crayons and notebooks, and preparing some gift bags for students in nearby schools who are in need. I thanked Frank, their adviser, for organizing such a thoughtful service project as our students learn the important values of generosity and service.

 

The first day of classes at St. Joseph’s

The first day of classes! I enjoyed looking out my office window and seeing the playground, full of laughter and playfulness again.

I waited until later in the day to make rounds of the classrooms. The teachers need some time to get students settled and organized. The first graders especially will take some time to feel at home here and get used to the routine. As I walked into each classroom, I had our returning students help me meet and greet our new kids. I welcomed them and worked on remembering a few more names. We still have a few students who haven’t arrived, but know they’re on their way. By the end of the week when our high school students return, we should have everyone in place.

For supper I joined the girls of Stevens Home (6th-8th grade). They are enjoying the brightness and spaciousness of our newest remodeling job. The five 8th grade girls remember living in the home two years ago before the upgrades, and proudly showed off what they had done with the new spaces. While few of the students particularly enjoy cleaning, the houseparents, Frank and Wanda, told me the students have a little more pride and put in a little extra elbow grease to keep things looking nice.

After school the houseparents took the girls to Central Receiving, where all the new clothing that generous donors have dropped off or mailed in has been sized and sorted. They got to “shop” for a half hour, and were showing off their fashion finds. They were especially pleased to find a nice, dressy outfit or two for “church clothes”.

As I walked back to my office, I saw groups of the younger children playing in Wisdom Circle. I noticed that a good-sized group of Dennis Home (1st-3rd grade girls) were seated at the picnic table. Three were on the bench, and four others were sitting on the table, hovering above them and combing their hair.

A fair number of kids have returned from summer with head lice. It’s so commonplace here that it isn’t embarrassing, but a back-to-school routine that we have to plan for. Their housemates were gently and carefully combing and pulling nits out of hair. It seemed to build a sense of care and community among the girls, and they were enjoying the great outdoors, talking and getting to know the new students.

Growing youth at St. Joseph’s Indian School

As I’m coming back from morning mass I usually see the bus waiting to pick up our high school students. Today I noticed a big crowd of students waiting for the bus. When I got closer I saw that half of the crowd was eighth graders, who will spend the day shadowing a high school student mentor. They are beginning their preparation for the transition into the public high school next fall. The eighth graders brought excitement and eager anticipation to the group, which is usually more sleepy and lethargic when it comes to going to school in the mornings. Once the eighth graders make the trek a few times, I think they’ll fall back into the half-asleep mode.

At the end of the day I ate supper with the Rooney Home (6th– 8th grade boys). They have five eighth graders who spent the day at Chamberlain High School. Michael liked the fact that unlike St. Joseph’s school with three floors, the high school is all on one level, just a lot more spread out. Kyle remarked that the math class seemed pretty tough, but then again he may surprise himself with what he is able to do a year from now if he takes his studies seriously.

The Rooney boys are in the 12 – 14 year old range, a time when they put away food like they haven’t eaten in days, and hit some big growth spurts. Jan, one of the houseparents, showed me a chart they keep chronicling the boys’ heights. Everyone in the home has added at least a couple of inches since August. Since last May, Merrill shot up from 5’0” to 5’8” – eight inches! That has meant lots of trips to Central Receiving to find more clothes that will fit. Thankfully, donors keep us pretty well stocked with the basics that the children need. Find St. Joseph’s Indian School’s needs list here.