Our Student Leadership Committee decorated campus with red ribbons during Red Ribbon Week.
St. Joseph’s students and staff observed Red Ribbon Week (RRW) during the fourth week in October. Many of our students have been exposed to drug and alcohol abuse, so RRW is an important opportunity to educate and remind students of the negative effects drug and alcohol use can have on their lives.
RRW is the largest drug prevention campaign in our country. It originated because of DEA Special Agent Enrique Camarena – he was kidnapped, tortured and brutally murdered in 1985 by Mexican drug traffickers in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Camarena was on the trail of Mexico’s biggest marijuana and cocaine traffickers, and was close to busting a multi-billion dollar drug pipeline. The first RRW was held in 1988 so young people and communities could pledge to be drug-free and pay tribute to Camarena.
Grace tries to make a basket on the Extreme Sports Challenge during the inflatable party.
St. Joseph’s Substance Abuse Prevention Committee plans fun and educational RRW activities every year for our students. We started the week off by having an inflatable party at our rec center which is always a big hit for everyone!
On Monday, students and staff dressed to the theme “Follow Your Dreams, Don’t do Drugs!” by wearing pajamas. It was a cozy, comfy way to start the week!
On Wednesday, we wore shirts with Gandhi’s quote
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
We are planning to wear these shirts again during our Spring Sobriety Walk in April. We ‘elected’ to be drug-free on Friday by wearing red, white and blue.
Third grade students enjoy the school day in their pajamas.
All the homes enjoyed competing in drug and alcohol trivia contests over the intercom after school. Prizes were given to the home that called first with the correct answers. The Ambrose Home won the first two contests, but they failed to make a clean sweep when the Raphael Home won the final contest.
We tried something different this year by holding Red Ribbon Relays, which were partially planned and organized by our High School Leadership Committee.
The homes competed against each other in relay races, a potato sack race and a three-legged race, and they used red ribbons as batons. Students painted their faces blue before the races because they pledged to say “NO” to drugs until they are blue in the face!
Everyone enjoyed an ice cream sundae bar after the races, so the evening had a ‘sweet’ ending.
RRW activities are possible because of your generosity. Pilamaya – thank you so much for everything you do to support these amazing children!
My name is Vickie and I am the gift shop supervisor for the Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center.
I have worked for St. Joseph’s Indian School since 1997. My responsibilities include purchasing items for the gift shop, managing the summer staff and giving guided tours of the museum. I have learned much more about the Lakota (Sioux) culture while working here and it is very interesting work. Plus I am able to share the knowledge with our visitors.
We have a beautiful museum with outstanding displays of Native American art and artifacts, so it is always enjoyable to work in the museum.
We have remodeling going on in the museum at this time. When it is finished, our museum will be an even better presentation of the Lakota culture.
I have been working on getting some new items for our online shopping site. Several items we carry are one-of-a-kind, so the selection is constantly changing.
We have some very nice items that would make great Christmas gifts. I invite you to browse our online shopping site. You can place your order online or call us toll-free at 1-800-798-3452; we are available Monday – Friday to answer your questions or take your order over the phone.
Tonight, the Family Service Counselors organized Family Activity Night in preparation for next week’s Thanksgiving break. We will have a few students staying in a break home those days, but the majority of children will return home to celebrate with family for a few days.
The dining hall was filled with students and houseparents, 33 tables in all. Instead of being grouped by grades as they do at lunch, or the home groups that the students are in for supper, tonight the tables were grouped by siblings and cousins. Each group worked on cards and posters to take home to family to brighten their holiday. Through generous donations, we were also able to include some gift cards to grocery stores close to where the families live, especially since we know a lot of the folks can use the help with many mouths to feed.
We had some Christmas ornaments, gold colored with the St. Joseph’s logo. Each child carefully penned their name so their relatives could proudly hang it on their Christmas tree when the time comes. After a shared meal, we got out the bingo cards. You would have thought those who won a bottle of Gatorade or one of the movie tickets had won a huge jackpot. All in good fun.
This morning our high school staff hosted a farewell breakfast in the Hogebach Home for Shana, who has directed the High School Program for the past five years. Her husband got a promotion that moved the family to a different part of the state. In her time as director here, she and her staff found ways to increase our student GPA and retention rates, and see more go on to college. We plan to build on those successes and continue developing the programs and ideas she implemented. All the best to you in your new endeavors Shana!
Happy Halloween!
Halloween is one of the most exciting days to be a kid, especially when you get to dress up in costume all day. I toured the school and previewed the attire our Lakota students picked out for this whimsical holiday. Several of the teachers and staff also got into the spirit of the day and wore colorful and creative outfits, including Kathleen our principal, whose face was painted to make her look like a cat. After the initial giggles died down, everyone got down to work, and the quizzes, experiments and reading went on as normal.
There was no study hall as teachers went easy on tonight’s homework, so classes could dismiss a half hour early. Students put the finishing touches on their costumes and grabbed a bag for trick or treating. My office was one of several stops around campus. Those of us who work in central offices coordinate treats with our dining hall so we have some variety, and so the treats are fun but have some nutritional value. I passed out fruit roll ups. I wore a Fred Flintstone outfit, and with reruns of the classics, about half the kids knew who I was. The other half were fascinated by the big feet that came along with the costume.
We have two medical students from the University of South Dakota spending a few days on St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus for a cross cultural experience. We put them to work right away lining up children for the costume contest. We gathered in the Rec Center where the students were split into categories of funniest, scariest and most creative according to each age group of homes. I wasn’t one of the judges this year, but one of my favorites was Bryante, a first grader dressed like Tinkerbelle. The judges agreed too, and she won first place. My favorite staff ensemble was a Little Mermaid trio, with two of our staff as Ursula and King Triton, and their daughter as Ariel.
Several families took part in the festivities, then checked their child out to take them trick or treating in town. A few of the homes, especially with younger kids, also made some rounds in town, since that’s part of the fun and allure of Halloween. At the end of the day, houseparents collect all the candy and treats so our students will snack a little at a time over the next couple of weeks.
Ahhhh, Halloween. It is a great day to flirt with the things that scare us the most, and poke a little fun at the dark side of life. In other words, it’s just another typical day in St. Joseph’s High School Program.
I kicked off my Halloween season with parent teacher conferences at Chamberlain High School last Thursday. I really did not need to be afraid. I sat at a table marked “Giles Home” with a printout of my 10 students. One by one, the CHS teachers came by to talk about students’ progress in their classes. We keep close track of missing assignments and grades, so there weren’t any surprises. I heard the usual feedback that students do well on daily work but struggle on tests. The individual remarks were very heartening though.
“He’s a great kid.”
“He seems very interested in the subject.”
“He contributes a lot to discussions.”
“He has terrific penmanship.”
The Giles Home climbing Harney Peak.
The following day, the Giles Home departed on a long weekend home trip to Rapid City. We started out by climbing Harney Peak, the highest point in the Black Hills. In the snow. Who’s afraid of a 6 hour hike in the snow, right? Who’s afraid of not keeping up with 10 guys with boundless energy and the skill of mountain goats? Who’s afraid of not making it back down before dark and having to use an iPhone for a flashlight?
Nay!
What we had to be afraid of was getting in their way at the chow line at Golden Corral afterwards.
The next day, we took them to Flags and Wheels, where they got to play go-karts, laser tag and bumper cars. This would not be scary, except that houseparents Melissa, Aaron and I are veterans of the high school summer program. We know that these guys are going to be in driver’s ed next year. They demonstrated some serious demolition skills with those bumper cars. Ruthless, I tell you!
Who thinks these boys are ready for drivers ed?!
And of course we had to go to a haunted house at the Rapid City fairgrounds. Caden (Aaron and Melissa’s 8 year old son) set the tone by hugging the big scary monster that greeted us in the parking lot.
Aww, shucks, how scary could the Terror in the Dark house be? Despite this rather benign first impression, two guys didn’t even make it past the second room before surrendering, “I’m out!!” The rest of the rooms were a blur of blood-curdling shrieks, menacing monsters and guys clinging to each other for dear life. I was NOT the only one screaming like a girl. Yes, some days it is good to be terrorized by things that can’t actually hurt you. Especially if you have good friends nearby to grab onto, and four reliable houseparents to make sure you get home safely.
Honestly, there are things that scare me a lot more than icy mountains, funhouse cars and latex monster masks. Failing at things, for example. I hate failing at things. I go to insane lengths to make sure that projects and plans go off without a hitch. So why am I so twitchy about Halloween this year? Because I have handed the reins over to the high schoolers.
This is the first year of doing a high school Student Leaders Group. As part of our mission to prepare the students for life after high school, we are turning over some tasks and responsibilities to the students themselves. We have formed a leadership group with delegates from each of the homes. I act as an advisor, but I’m not actually “in charge” of anything. Right now, they are trying to pull off a Halloween party.
Leadership Group has had a rocky start. The first activity they planned was a dodgeball game. It did not happen.
The second task they chose was to write a persuasive letter to the HS director in order to change a rule that they didn’t like. That took some coaching on my part.
“No, saying ‘the rule is stupid’ is not sufficient.”
One of the delegates turned in a thoughtful, clear and rational reason that the rule could be changed. Oh yeah!
No one else finished theirs though. Augh!
The last activity they planned, the Red Ribbon Relay Race (say that 10x fast!) was beset with commitment issues. The leaders who came through worked very hard but ran into unforeseeable difficulties. Can anyone really divide a bunch of half-frozen kids into small groups and convince them to run around in a circle? Note to self: get a bigger megaphone.
It is the day of Halloween and we are still working on a plan for the party. This is where that fear of failure raises its ugly head. I have to resist the urge to take over and tell people what to do, or worse, do it myself. Because the point of all of this is not to have an event go perfectly. The purpose is for the students to make a plan, make adjustments, make concessions, make mistakes, make corrections and make the best of it. My purpose is not to decide for them what is possible. The purpose is for them to figure out what they are capable of doing.
We ended our planning session on a positive note. Each delegate has a list of things s/he is responsible for. They have a best-case plan and a back up plan in case that doesn’t work out. A lot of this means them asking for what they want, and deciding what to do if they can’t have it. They have done an impressive job foreseeing obstacles and brainstorming solutions.
This means that they are moving away from accepting “No, that can’t be done,” and moving towards finding ways that it can be done. Anyone who works with teens knows that this can be scary and exhilarating.
What if the kids start thinking for themselves and *gasp* start asking questions? What kind of a monster have we awakened?! Hopefully, some sort of quasi-adult, thoughtful monster. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
St. Joseph’s Indian School’s choir continues to add spirit to our prayer by their voices. After mass, the director thanked them for their efforts. One student remarked,
“You’re welcome. I like singing and it sure makes mass go by a lot faster!”
Like most things, when you are involved as an active participant, time does pass differently. When people are engaged and lose track of time that’s a good sign.
Last Sunday, our boys’ Intercity Basketball League held practice games. Today was the official start of league play as 6th – 8th grade boys from Chamberlain played alongside our St. Joseph’s students. The difference between 6th graders and 8th is noticeable at that age. A 4’9” sixth grader trying to guard a 5’ 10” eighth grader has great odds to overcome. But everyone hustled and kept trying. All the participants got plenty of playing time. Hopefully all will continue to improve their game, and more importantly, build friendships.
I made the annual Halloween pilgrimage to the Perky Home (4th-5th grade boys). In the basement, our houseparent Wendy has collected several hundred Halloween costumes over the years – store bought and homemade, scary, funny and whimsical. When I arrived, the Raphael boys (1st – 3rd graders) had just finished picking out what they will wear, and excitedly showed their costumes off. I found some Fred Flintstone clothes on the rack that I’ll try while passing out treats on Wednesday.
Yabba Dabba Doo!
Over the weekend many of the homes finished up their efforts to win the decoration contest for each age group.
As we were driving back onto St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus from Denver Monday afternoon, we saw a girl in pajamas going into the Benedictine Homes. Laura remarked that she must have spent the day at the health care center. Then we saw the rest of the procession from school … also wearing pajamas!
It was the kick off to Red Ribbon Week – our annual celebration with the message that drugs get in the way of dreams and success, and there are so many fun and healthy alternatives. Monday the students were encouraged to wear pajamas to school – follow your dreams . . . don’t do drugs.
Tuesday, bright red ribbons tied around many trees on campus got everyone’s attention.
“I will say no to drugs until I’m blue in the face!”
On Wednesday, the entire school had matching shirts, with the inspiring Gandhi quote, “Be the Change You Wish to See in the World.” In the evening the homes gathered for Red Ribbon Relays. The potato sack races were run (or hopped) with plastic garbage bags around Wisdom Circle. The problem with those was that scraping against the pavement started to wear holes in the bags, and by the last leg the kids could put their legs through the holes and run! Playing on the theme of “I will say no to drugs until I’m blue in the face” kids painted their faces blue – some completely like Blue Man Group, others with mustaches or creative artwork, but each unique.
Friday played on the theme of patriotism and the upcoming election – “ I elect to be drug free, by wearing red white and blue.”
This week staff reading group discussed a book of poetry called “Walking the Earth, Touching the Sky.” The collection was published by the students at Red Cloud Indian School. Everyone appreciated the beautiful artwork, the cultural information, and found several lines to be profound and thought provoking.
Robyn, one of our Family Service Counselors, shared that with her book on her office end table, students would frequently pick it up and start leafing through it themselves. They were impressed by how peers articulated in words what they too felt. That led them to open up and talk more about their experiences of grief, hurt, and being misunderstood, so that was an immediate benefit of discussing the book. Besides the difficult times some poetry expressed the beauty of nature around us, and the strength of God and spirituality.
Volleyball season wrapped up for the year with a fun match Tuesday night between the eighth grade girls and our staff. The adults got to be kids again, with wild costumes and Halloween makeup. I noticed that whenever our staff started pulling too far ahead, their serve suspiciously failed them and control of the ball went back to the students. We laughed at the trick shots and fun antics to give the kids more chances, but after two overtime games with many ties and rallies the staff prevailed.
I was showing a visitor from Germany around St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus. When she heard how far away our visitor had come from, one of our first graders asked, “Have you ever been to White Lake?” (a small town of about 400 a few miles from Chamberlain).
“That’s where I was in foster care before I came to St. Joseph’s.”
Our visitor remarked that there is such a contradiction between how so many of the children seem normal and well adjusted, yet realizing that it is often sad circumstance that brought them here. The younger students talk more freely about life’s difficulties than our older ones, but we encourage all to work through life’s hardships.
I stopped at the museum to wish Vickie a happy birthday. Perhaps a third of our museum has been put into storage preparing for the next phase of work, and the space looks so empty. But in a few months we’ll be having some great new updates. We are still open and have a good number of visitors from hunters in the area for pheasant season.
Tonight we held FAST (Families and Students together) graduation. FAST has helped strengthen ties between St. Joseph and the families, and hopefully strengthened the relationship between students and their parents/guardians. One parent shared,
“This program brought me and my kids closer than ever.”
St. Joseph’s recently purchased a building in downtown Chamberlain!
The new building will allow us to convert the existing Receiving building into a “one stop” disbursement center for non-food items used by St. Joseph’s students and staff, which is the biggest benefit the building will provide. This one-stop shop will include clothing for the students, household goods, personal care items, gifts, linen and all the supplies currently found in Central Storage.
At this time, these items are stored in several locations on St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus. With the added space and efficiency, the building used by Central Storage, the current thrift store and storage areas below Our Lady of the Sioux Chapel can be available for other uses.
At this time we are out of storage room, and have little space for storage items that are seasonal or need to be saved for specific outreach programs, like the Bookmobile van, which distributes books to Indian reservation communities each summer.
Items that are taken to missions on the Indian reservation are currently stored in the van or trailer until a full load is ready to go. This means the van and trailer are not available for other use between mission trips. With the new building, the boxes can be kept inside until a load is ready to go, then the van and trailer can be taken to the store, loaded and taken to the designated reservation or mission. We are also hoping that this will allow for more mission runs and for more efficient processing of donations.
To keep costs down, maintenance staff from St. Joseph’s spent time doing demolition inside and outside of the new building in preparation for a contractor doing the majority of the remodel work. A general contractor will do the largest part of the project but, again to keep costs down, St. Joseph’s staff will do all of the electrical work and will co-ordinate with several local contractors on HVAC and plumbing.
Last night, our sixth, seventh and eighth grade girls volleyball teams wrapped up the season tonight with home games against the Pierre Indian Learning Center. Every game went back and forth, with some good rallies. Each match went the full three games. The most exciting for me was seventh grade. Down one game to none, and faced with two match points in the second game, our St. Joseph’s girls rallied to take the game 26-24, then went on to win the rubber match as well. Sixth graders were victorious. Eighth grade lost a very close match, and I was impressed by their hustle and how they’ve improved over the course of the season.
This morning started with one of our staff appreciation breakfasts – omelets and fixings in the dining hall. When we got into the serving line I was delighted to see that several members of our student leadership group were staffing the chow line, with a little supervision from our kitchen staff. I have to tell you, the line moved quickly as our kids were so dexterous with their hands and speedily got the food onto the trays. Staff from the business office and maintenance, who don’t always get as much direct interaction with the children, especially enjoyed the dining room full of camaraderie.
Today our German exchange students gave a power point presentation to two groups of our Lakota students. They showed pictures of their families, home towns and school, along with pictures of activities they are involved in. The younger kids don’t have a clear concept of what other countries are like. They wondered if they had McDonalds or text messaging in Germany. Our older students asked broader questions, intrigued by the possibility that they may someday get the opportunity to visit our sister school in Handrup.
When Fabian and Theresa said they were dance partners, our high school students encouraged them to show a couple of moves. There was limited space on the stage, but they did a few waltz twirls and swing exchanges. Maybe before they return home they’ll learn a few powwow steps!
Hi! My name is Dianne and this is my first time blogging! I thought I’d start by letting you know a little bit about myself. I have been Administrative Assistant here at St. Joseph’s going on 36 years. I love my job, love the kids, and love what St. Joseph’s stands for.
My job in the office is always very busy—students come to me when they don’t feel well and I determine if they need a cough drop, an ice bag (quite a popular seller here!), if they need to go to the Health Center, or just some tender loving care. We see many students for other reasons like “I can’t find my planner,” “I lost my glasses,” “Which class am I supposed to be in now,” “I’m lost,” etc. !
We have several new students and this way I get to know them personally. Actually, the kids are my favorite part of my job! They come from many different places, but seem to find their place in the world here, make friends, and do quite well! The little first graders are so darn cute—they steal your heart away.
Two monsters at an Academic Awards Banquet!
Today we have many different things going on in the school—we just finished our first quarter of school so I am busy getting report cards out and figuring out who is on the A and B honor roll. We will have an awards assembly and present them with their certificate and a prize. If students are on the honor roll two quarters in a row, they get to attend the Academic Banquet. I have helped with the banquet several years now—we always have a theme with fun decorations, serve a meal and give door prizes and awards. Some of our themes have been The 50’s—Rock and Roll, Tie Dyed—70’s, Monsters, Candy Land, Disco and many, many more.
We are now on Infinite Campus, a statewide program, so the job of grades and report cards has been made easier for all. Also, the students’ parents and/or guardians can check their progress at home. It has been a challenge for us all to acclimate ourselves to doing things a different way, but will be well worth it in the long run.
I keep track of attendance and also of activities on campus which I include on the weekly FYI. I enjoy putting this together and adding clip art and pictures of our students along with the activities. I have been including powwow pictures for some time now as they are enjoyable to look at and very colorful also!
Our school is always a very busy place like all schools—our Native American students live here on campus and go to school also. This gives us a good chance to really get to know them well. I still see kids who went to school here years ago—many of them have their own kids enrolled here! I think this speaks very highly of what we do here.
