Tag: Chamberlain South Dakota

Guest Blogger: Pamela

Hello to everyone out there!

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.

Native American student shopping in a college bookstore.
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.

Four Lakota graduates.
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.

Wishing you all a great summer!

Guest Blogger: Karla

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!

Gotta go … my boss is calling!

Guest Blogger: Gina

Fr. Steve and two Native American students working on the computer.
Who is teaching who?

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.

Monster's at St. Joseph's Indian School.
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.

Authors of their own destiny

Graduation packed our chapel with students, families and our staff. When St. Joseph’s only went up to eighth grade, several traditions were started to make a big deal about this level of graduation. Now, we tell students we hope this is the first of several graduations, but we still celebrate with lots of pomp and circumstance. Twenty-one young men and women proudly walked down the aisle of the chapel, while their houseparents read a brief bio of their home and tribe, favorite memories of St. Joseph and future plans. Most (18 or 19) will stay with us next year and continue in Chamberlain High School.

Marcel Felicia at St. Joseph's Indian School's graduation.
Marcel Felicia congratulating one of the recent graduates.

Marcel Felicia, who graduated in the same place in 1975, was our graduation speaker. He just completed a Master’s degree in Public Health Administration.

He told the Native American students that while there are a lot of chapters of their book of life yet to be written, they are in large part authors of their own destiny.

The next chapters depend on the choices they make, so he urged them to make good and wise ones. Due to generosity of donors, we had scholarship money available to help Marcel further his education. He told me that it had long been a dream, but the scholarship helped make that dream a reality.

A candle burned on the altar, symbolizing our many donors whose generosity makes a good education here possible. We ran an internet campaign where folks could light a candle for their hometown and include an inspirational message of support to our students. When I last checked, something like 3,400 people from across the country had logged in with heartfelt messages of congratulations!

A slide show montage of students’ childhood pictures brought back memories. When I first started at St. Joseph’s this group of youngsters was in the first grade. One student has no childhood pictures from early years, which is sad. We put together happier memories of his school days here.

Native American student saying, "Pilamaya - thank you!"
“Pilamaya – thank you – for making a difference in my life!”

Each student passed out two roses and several cards to family or staff members who have made a big difference in their lives. I’m always touched to see one of our teachers, counselors or houseparents who frequently are the recipient of one of the roses because of their care and guidance.

I enjoyed meeting and celebrating with the students families. Some have been very involved in campus activities, but some I met for the first time. I hope to see all of them throughout the high school years, and especially in another celebration four years from now.

Children’s laughter

Today was the last day of school for Chamberlain High School. Our four high school homes emptied out quickly once the school day was over. Many of the students will be back in a couple of weeks for driver’s ed, transitional living classes or summer work experiences. Kudos to all the staff who work with these students and saw them through to another successful year!

The ten 1st-3rd graders who have made honor roll all year were treated to a movie and supper in Mitchell. I joined Jennie (Student Coordinator) and Celia (Residential Coordinator) to chaperone the students and had a delightful time. The Pirates: Band of Misfits was not exactly a classic that I’ll never forget, but what I will always remember and treasure were the kids’ giggles and laughs at the silly humor. We ate supper at Culver’s, where everyone got to chose from one of 5 children’s meals, and end the outing with a scoop of frozen custard.

Children’s laughter has a magical quality that heals and strengthens the heart.

We have a small bus that was just the right size for our group. The trip takes about a hour each way. Videos entertained for a while, but mostly we started playing guessing games, talking and telling stories. I sat next to first grader, Nevaeh. Spending a couple of hours talking to a seven-year-old grounded me more solidly in the world view of a child. They have more questions than I have answers, but that’s why young minds can soak up so many things so quickly. Hopefully these Native American students will work hard throughout their many years of study, and learn how to enjoy learning.

Eighth grade banner art

Native American kids painting a banner.
A couple of the kids working on their 2012 class banner.

Since 1977, the eighth grade graduates of St. Joseph’s Indian School created a banner. The banner includes the class motto and is an original design created by the class. In 1984, classes began adding their names to the banner. Some classes have full names, but most have included first names only.

The design and motto for the banner are chosen by submissions from members of the class. The 2012 motto reads:

“We are strong as individuals, but as a class we are invincible.”

The design came from the heart of one of the 2012 graduates, Mia, who said this is something she sees as a vision. The flowing satin star, the feathers on the sides and the motto wrapped around it is what she would like to have representing her class in St. Joseph’s recreation center. The recreation center has displayed the banners since 1977.

The kids help with almost all of the construction of the banner. They paint, cut, repaint and cut again as well as glue, sew and rethink their work through this process of forming what will represent them for years to come.

If you ever visit St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus, please come and view the banners in our recreation center.

An incentive to strive harder

Our staff reading group discussed the book “Growing Up in the Care of Strangers.” About a dozen helping professionals, who were once in foster care or group homes, looked back to share their stories in the book, many of which were filled with great tragedy and pain. They provided many insights not only into what children go through, but what can be done to help improve the system. Multiple placements, splitting up of siblings, high turnover in staff – all these make the life of a child in placement stressful and difficult. One common theme that came across over and over was to find ways to give children a voice in addressing their needs.

Through our last strategic plan, and our work with Child Trends to identify ways to measure student growth, we are increasingly working with focus groups of students to hear their concerns, ideas and hopes.

Reading some of the heart wrenching biographies gave us all an added incentive to strive even harder to accomplish that.

Guest blogger: Pam S

Three Native American girls working together as a team!
The two girls standing had to verbally guide their third teammate to get the lampshade on her head. Great job girls!

St Joseph’s Indian School pushed the 6th-8th graders to face their biggest fears!

On May 14th, students broke up into their class sections and participated in the first annual Fear Factor Challenge Day.

Classes started the day with a lot of spirit as they were dressed in their team colors and designed their class flags.

The contestants signed up for certain challenges but really had no clue on what they were signing up for!  Some of the challenges involved strength, speed, strategy, smarts and let’s not forget courage!  The gross food challenges made the day a hit!

Students proved that fear is not a factor for them.

 

Fear Factor at St. Joseph's Indian School.
The team that spelt out the most words, with the most letters won! Alphabet soup anyone?

Busy weekend for Fr. Steve

One of Chamberlain’s most beloved landmarks is the bridge that spans the Missouri River from Chamberlain to Oacoma. Yesterday afternoon, a group of local bridge builders came home to a hero’s welcome. After one full year of deployment in Afghanistan, the 200th Engineer Company of the National Guard based here in Chamberlain returned. Many of our students lined the streets to offer their appreciation as fire trucks with sirens blaring, motorcycles and police cars  escorted the troops  on a parade through town. Afterwards prayers and words of appreciation were offered at a program in the armory. Several of our staff had joyful reunions with family members we have prayed for since they’ve been gone. The unit built five bridges in their time overseas. Sadly, one member, SPC Jared Roe, lost his life in a construction accident, and he was remembered again with a time of silence.

Today at mass we honored many groups of people. Our Distinguished Alumni Award was presented to two men, Casmir LeBeau and Orville Webb, who were two of the original group of 47 students who started St. Joseph’s in 1927!

Orville’s son Bud came in his place, but 95 year old Casmir stood up to receive his award and talked about the old days with our students, eliciting both laughter and wonder. He has been one of our St. Joseph’s historians, gathering and preserving many memories from those early days. After serving in the Coast Guard in WWII, Casmir worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs until his retirement. What amazed me was the small staff the school began with – two priests, three dorm supervisors, two teachers and a maintenance man.

Fittingly on Mother’s Day we honored all the mothers, and women who work as houseparents with a flower and a prayer of blessing.

We honored our eighth graders who will graduate in two weeks. Their just-completed class banner for 2012 advises “We are strong as individuals, but as a class we are invincible.” There is great power in community and working together, and I hope they keep that attitude throughout life.

And we honored our four high school graduates, all of whom have been at St. Joseph’s for many years. We’ve seen D’Kera (12 years) Danisha and Nick (11 years) and Erin (8 years) grow into fine young adults with lots of gifts to offer the world that needs so much. They will walk up the aisle next Sunday at the Chamberlain High School to receive their diplomas. All plan to attend college next year.

After a tasty dinner prepared in our dining hall, we viewed a slide show and video message from each student that helped us remember their years here. Family and staff members who wanted to share a reflection or memory were invited to do so, and there were a lot of emotional moments as our students prepare to move on. But that is our goal, to get young people ready to leave us, and move on to what the future can hold for them.

Only two weeks away

As I reflect back upon the 2011-2012 school year, it is difficult for me to believe the end of the school year is only two weeks away.  It does not seem as though we have already gone through 38 weeks of school!

I know many of the students are counting down the days until their summer vacation arrives however, as a classroom teacher, I get a little down around this time of year.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy my summer vacation just as much as the students, but I also miss the kids and wonder how they are all doing at their homes.  I sometimes come out to St. Joseph’s campus during the summer and think to myself,

“Wow, it sure is boring here without all the students running around and chatting.”

Eighth-grade graduation is upon us. Some of our students will be attending our high school program, while other students have made alternative plans for their future.  It is a time of excitement and pride, but also anxiety for both staff and students.  As staff, we have known some of these students since they were in first grade.  We have developed relationships, shared stories, shared laughter, had disagreements over rules or assignments, and sometimes even listened through our students’ tears.

Regardless of what our students have gone through in their lives, they can look back on their time at St. Joseph’s and realize they have grown, whether it be physically, emotionally, or simply that they are graduating from eighth grade.  They have had many accomplishments; they have formed many bonds, both with adults and their classmates that will continue no matter where they choose to go in their lives.  They should be proud of themselves, for they have made it.  It may have been difficult, but they have fulfilled the requirements for their first eight years of schooling.

On May 25, there will be a chapel full of people watching as each student is handed their diploma and shares their favorite memories of being a student at St. Joseph’s.  As I look forward to that day, I can’t help but smile.  For I, too, have a feeling of accomplishment.  I was given the wonderful opportunity of being a part of these students’ lives and I have helped them grow.  I can only hope I’ve done my best because more than anything these children deserve the absolute best, as they are our future.  The smiles on the graduates faces as they receive their diplomas is my motivation to continue on with my work here at St. Joseph’s, as I can see by both the piece of paper in their hands and the twinkles in their eyes that I have made a difference.

This difference would not be possible without the donations from our many generous benefactors.  I want to take the time to thank you for your generosity and kindness over the 2011-2012 school year.  Without you, none of this would be possible.

Sincerely,
Sarah