The kids love playing outside in the South Dakota fall weather!
We had lots of fun at our Enrichment Activity on Wednesday!
On a nice early evening here at St. Joseph’s after the elections, Mark and I decided to take the kids outside for some fresh, cool air.
In the first session, we had the Perky and Cyr (fourth and fifth grade) boys involved in some flag games. Mark really had the boys moving and trying to avoid getting their flags (or as we called them, tails) pulled off. We played a game with lions and gazelles. The lions really did a number on the gazelles! Much thanks to Teresa, Odis, Lloyd and Joe for their help.
In the second session, the wind picked up and there was a little nip in the air, but it was perfect football weather! The boys from Fisher and Rooney (sixth, seventh and eighth grades) were out to show their football skills.
We had blue vs. yellow teams. It was close all the way to the end, and the clock ran in with a tie. That was only because Daryl kind of got into Trenton’s way toward a touchdown and they both hit the ground. Many thanks to Dick and Jan for braving the cool South Dakota breeze.
Next week, we have the Dennis and Afra Homes (first, second and third grade girls) at 6:00 pm and the Pinger and Stevens Homes (sixth, seventh and eighth grade girls) for the 7:15 pm time slot.
This morning after mass I saw a group of people wandering around Wisdom Circle looking lost. A group of education students from Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell started two days of observation in our classrooms. I escorted them to the principal’s office, and answered a few questions about our Native American students and programs along the way.
Later, when I checked how they were doing, they were impressed by what they saw in the classrooms. It helps to see the theory you’ve been learning about in college put into practice in a real and practical way.
The Honor Roll and Perfect Attendance awards for the first quarter were announced at the end of the school day. Students sat on the floor of the school gym and those so honored proudly came forward as their name was called to receive a certificate. They also got to choose from some attractive Native American-themed notebooks and bookmarks.
We try not to be guilty of grade inflation, but did have FIVE students who earned all A’s! Those who continue with good grades, and those who can bring up their semester grades to all B’s and A’s will get to attend a fun and special banquet in January. Even without special rewards, our teachers are encouraging each student to work hard at achieving their potential.
What a great learning lesson!
Last night I stopped by Pinger Home (6th– 8th grade girls) for a visit and stayed for supper. The home won a Monopoly game from the Halloween decorating contest and Calista asked if anyone wanted to play. I’m a capitalist baron from way back, and soon was collecting big money from my railroads. There were lots of rules that students didn’t understand, especially having to do with mortgaging property or the 10% tax on the space just past GO, so we turned it into a fun math lesson. The game ended in a four-way tie as we ran out of time and the girls had to go to their Wednesday night enrichment class. Ironically, the theme the 6th-8th grade community is covering this month is money management!!!
Winter months make for a quieter season in our Akta Lakota Museum, so we chose this time to start the demolition of the old bathrooms and about a third of the display space to make room for some new presentations. After checking out the work, I stopped to see how our receptionist was doing in her new space. She was on the phone with a donor so I decided to check out how the new archive and collection storage facility looked now that we’ve moved everything into that area.
As soon as I opened the door the alarms went off with a loud siren! It took Vicki and I a while to figure out how to disarm the system and, by then, we’d attracted plenty of attention. At least we know the security system works!
About two weeks ago we sent out our Christmas appeal, which is the biggest mailing of the year. People have begun generously responding and we had many trays of mail arrive at the post office today. Our departments take turns helping sort mail when we’re busy, and it was Tipi Press staff’s day to sort. When I saw the email appeal for help sorting, I left my desk and joined them.
I enjoyed the chance to chat and catch up with what everyone is doing. While such a job can tedious, when many people pitch in it goes quickly. And I never complain about lots of mail, but give thanks that people care and want to help us make a difference!
Fourth and fifth grade students from Crow Creek grade school, our neighbors to the north, came to our gym for girls’ basketball games. The referees give players that age lots of leeway as they try to learn the basics of the game. They usually let double dribbles slide until it obviously becomes triple dribble. Our St. Joseph’s fourth graders played with enthusiasm, but could only get a couple of balls to drop through the hoop and were never in contention. Our fifth graders were more competitive and led the whole game until the fourth quarter, when the Chieftans rallied to win by 4.
Greetings everyone from Mike and the William Home (4th and 5th grade girls)!
This is my tenth year working in the William Home and it is hard to believe that we are finishing up the first quarter of school this week. As always, St. Joseph’s Indian School’s powwow was very enjoyable and our Lakota kids love showing off their homes, campus and dancing.
The girls are now getting excited for the start of basketball season. We signed up October 18 and our first game is November 5!
If you have followed the William Home activities from last year, you may recall that we set a goal to walk 500 miles (10,00 laps in the gym) as a group. Well, this year the girls have a new plan. We have worked to find the mileage to all the girls’ hometowns and have set up a map to track our walking. Our tour is set to take us 760 miles or 15,200 laps around the gym. So far, we have made it to Fort Thompson and Lower Brule and are headed to Winner, South Dakota next.
Thank you for all you do to help the children of St. Joseph’s, and we will keep you updated on where the William Home is on our walk!
At St. Joseph’s, teachers work to incorporate Lakota (Sioux) culture into their lesson plans for the day. Outside of St. Joseph’s Indian School,the state of South Dakota has put out standards for cultural teaching.
In Sandi’s math class, students wrote and solved number sentences using the Lakota language instead of digits.
In Steve’s fourth grade class, students read “A Little Boy and Girl in the Clouds” and “Star Boy” by Paul Goble.
Fifth grade students learned about Winter Counts and constructed their own.
Sarah’s eighth-grade students read The Lakota Way: Stories & Lessons for Living by Joseph Marshall III.
In computer class, Gina worked with students to find a map of South Dakota reservations and discuss where each reservation is and which ones they are from.
Using Sherman Alexie’s essay, “The Joys of Reading and Writing, Superman and Me,” students in Craig’s class worked on identifying important values, philosophy, and beliefs in writing by Native Americans.
In Linea’s reading class, students listened to The Eagle – empathizing Compasion (wah-un-shee-lah-pee) – to care to sympathize and The Story of No Moccasins – empathizing Humility (un-shee-ee-cee-hay-pee) – to be humble, modest, unpretentious.
Third grade students watched a Native American storyteller share the story of why rabbit is the way he is. After sharing and discussing the story, students made an animal poster labeling each part along with the Lakota word.
First grade students read “The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush” by Tomie dePaola. The students created a Native American boy or girl and placed shapes in a pattern on the chest to represent the traditional beadwork and patterns on the leather.
Juliana and Sasha are ready for this weekend’s powwow!
Usually school at St. Joseph’s Indian School doesn’t dismiss until 3:25, but shortly after 3 today a lot of students were streaming to the homes. I stopped a group and found out that they are the powwow dancers, on their way to practice for Saturday’s big event. Their houseparents will still ensure that they have ample time to do homework around the kitchen table later on.
Fr. Tom, our SCJ provincial, is on campus this week for his annual visit to check on all the members of our religious order stationed here in South Dakota. Besides the work of the school, we serve eight parishes in the area. He wants to check on our health (I’m feeling good and cancer is in remission for over 2 years now!) and how we are doing with the work entrusted to us. I sat with him yesterday morning and reflected on all that’s happened in my eight years as director of St. Joseph’s Indian School, and looked ahead to what still needs to be accomplished in the future. I appreciate the chance to reflect on the blessings and challenges of trying to meet new needs while staying true to the mission and vision. Fr. Tom headed St. Joseph’s in the 70’s and 80’s and still has a passionate commitment to seeing the school make a lasting difference.
At the school, one of the 3rd grade boys was in trouble at the dean’s office, and was sitting in the corner on the floor pouting. He looked so unhappy that I just sat down on the floor and started making small talk. The one thing he was looking forward to was a flag football game. We talked sports for a while and his mood lifted considerably. After a while, I had to move along, and simply said,
“I’m sorry you had such a hard day today. I hope it’s better tomorrow.”
Some of our students have issues that none of us fully understand. Those are the ones you hope to reach, but are never sure how.
The students who volunteered for church choir were in the religious education room practicing new mass parts. It will take some time for everyone to catch on, including me as I preside, but it will eventually add a nice touch to our liturgical celebrations.
Greetings once again from the banks of the Missouri River at St. Joseph’s Indian School in Chamberlain, SD. Fr. Steve is in transit coming back from a donor luncheon in the Boston area. He stated there was good attendance and when they were finished the team had a chance to do some whale watching.
Since he is away, I was asked to ghost write his blog. My name is Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ and I am the chaplain here at St. Joseph’s. I had the chance last year to help out when Fr. Steve was away and am happy to be in contact with you again.
The students and staff are starting to settle in as we begin the third week of school for grades 1-8 and second full week for our high school students who started on August 15th.
Several of our high school students are part of the Chamberlain High School Cub’s football team. They had their first game this past Friday night out in Hot Springs, in the Black Hills, and brought home a 7-0 victory. This Labor Day weekend, they will have their first home game against Valentine, Nebraska.
Football is in the air at St. Joesph’s just as many of the pro-teams are in the midst of their training camps. Practice is underway for the Chamberlain/St. Joseph’s youth tackle football fundamental league open to students in the 5th and 6th grades. The young people have some fun while learning the basics and it is a good way for all involved to make new friends. In early September flag football will get underway for those in grades 1-4. There will be footballs being thrown, kicked, fumbled and caught four nights out of the week.
This past Saturday morning, we saw 60+ young people from the local area around Chamberlain come to St. Joseph’s campus to take part in a youth triathlon. Those under six took part in a bike ride and run. The 7-15 age group swam, biked and ran around the campus. Many of our younger students took part in this event. St. Joseph’s is always honored to take part in events that strive to offer fun and safe activities for local young people and their families.
Progress on the Akta Lakota Museum!
The new addition to the Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center is making a lot of progress since the groundbreaking at last year’s powwow. (Reminder that this year’s powwow will be September 13-16. Hope you can come.) Most of the new structure’s exterior is done and the remainder of time needed to get it ready will take part inside as the new display area is worked on along with the section on the history of St. Joseph’s Indian School.
One benefactor came through this past weekend on her way to view the Powwow at Pine Ridge. She is coming back to visit St. Joseph’s and make a tour of our campus and facilities. She came all the way from New York state. The students welcomed her at our Sunday liturgy and then many of them and our staff thanked her for the items she brought. We are always grateful for your generosity and keep you in our prayers asking that God will continue to bless and strengthen you.
Hope all of you have a safe, relaxing and enjoyable Labor Day weekend.
Staff continue to ready the campus and themselves for our students’ arrival. Teachers have been in classrooms, hanging posters and setting out books and supplies on each desk, which now have student names on them. Houseparents are setting out bedding and making progress charts and decorating homes with signs of welcome. Orientation week is a combination of group sessions to go over important policies like fire safety or pastoral care support. It is also a time for each person to attend to their own area and make sure they have the materials and resources they will need.
I stopped by the school, and found all the 6th-8th grade teachers in the conference room with Scott, one of our family service counselors. One by one, he was doing a file review of each of the 30 boys that he counsels. He tried to visit each one at their home over the summer, and gave updates on how they have been doing. Many of the teachers know the students well already, and could give the new teachers insights into student issues and behavior. We work hard at communicating with each other so we can have a common, helpful approach and plan for each of our students. Later in the year, parents and guardians will be invited to join the group and discuss the needs and progress of their children.
We have two new pastoral care staff, Clare and Joe, that will be teaching religious education and helping with spiritual efforts on campus. Fr. Anthony, our campus chaplain and I met with them to begin discussion of immediate needs and long term considerations. I look forward to seeing what we can develop for both staff and students.
I drove the two SCJ novices to Fort Thompson for evening mass. The church is on the Crow Creek Indian Reservation, 25 miles north of Chamberlain. This is James’ very first time in South Dakota, and he gazed out the window at the magnificent view of the Mighty Mo (Missouri River) as it swept through the wide valley far below. Both guys took a lot of pictures along the way. I suggested to the staff here, and the parishioners there, that some day one of these two young men might be working side by side with them.
It looks like the temperatures are high throughout the US, and it is no different here in Chamberlain, South Dakota at St. Joseph’s Indian School. Even though the thermostat has topped out over 100 degrees every day this week, our facilities staff are working hard to have the campus ready for students’ arrival on August 12th.
Hi, my name is Mike T. and I am the Executive Director of Child Services. I have been here at St. Joseph’s Indian School for 27 years. Each summer I am amazed what our facilities crew is able to accomplish. From home renovations to street repair; from keeping the grounds looking great to dealing with a variety of summer maintenance requisitions (small jobs that need to be done in offices, homes and classrooms), there is no shortage of work to be finished. And although it is hot, our staff continue to work hard to get the campus ready.
In terms of programs we have one home still open including two high school students living here as they maintain summer employment. Our counseling staff have been on the road visiting our students, making sure they are doing well and getting paperwork for the upcoming school year. Also, our administrators are busy preparing for staff, then students to arrive in August. So, as you can see, even the summer is a busy time here at St. Joseph’s Indian School.
We appreciate all your support that allows us to upgrade our campus and prepare for our students to arrive. All of the above helps us to provide a quality environment and first-rate programming to work with our students who are never far from our thoughts …
Some of the boys here at St. Joseph’s are part of a group called the Explorers.
Over the past few years, this group has raised over $60,000 towards charitable giving in the local communities!
This year’s group has donated money to those battling cancer in and around the community of Chamberlain.
A large amount of the money comes from doing chores like raking leaves for community members who have a hard time getting around … or simply would rather have someone else do it.
The latest thing the Explorers did was go to Pierre, South Dakota and spent the day doing various educational activities in our State Capital.
The day started with a tour of the Capital building. We then went to the State Crime Lab, which the boys really enjoyed because of the shooting range. Obviously, the boys couldn’t do any shooting, but they enjoyed watching the officers shoot.
After the Crime Lab, we went back to the Capital and meet with Governor Dennis Daugaard. The day ended with the Explorers being introduced on both the House and Senate floors of the Capital, where they received standing ovations for their work in the community!
While the day was educational for all the students, I think the highlight of the day for the kids was the buffet at the Pizza Ranch. Below is a picture of the boys enjoying themselves the restaurant.
Houseparent Nate
The boys really enjoying themselves the restaurant after a full day!
Our Lady of the Sioux Chapel hosted the Chamberlain Area Churches Choir as they graced the space by singing an uplifting Christmas Cantata. This is the third year the community has gathered for the event, which gets better attended each year as word spreads. The singing and Christmas story “The Love of God” certainly helped lift my spirits and place me more deeply in the Christmas spirit. Afterwards fellowship and Christmas goodies were shared in our skateroom. My only regret was that our Native American youth weren’t around to be able to share in such a lovely tradition.
