Chamberlain – Page 7 – St. Joseph's Indian School

Working in the summer break home at St. Joseph’s Indian School

Greetings! My name is Bette. My husband Mike and I have recently moved to South Dakota to work as houseparents for St. Joseph’s Indian School. It has been a joy working

Bette and her husband Mike recently moved to Chamberlain to be houseparents at St. Joseph’s Indian School. — Bette and one of the summer students at the local library.

here in the summer break home. The students attend school for a few hours each morning and then our afternoons are filled with many fun activities.

We have students in our break home who will be in the second grade through ninth grade next year. Some of the younger students have enjoyed weaving potholders and some of the older students have learned how to make knitted hats using a round loom. Everyone has enjoyed making muffins and sugar cookies from scratch.

One student recently celebrated a birthday, so we had the joy of giving her a party complete with cupcakes and candles and party games. We also made homemade ice cream by shaking cream, sugar and vanilla in a baggie surrounded by ice.

We love celebrating summer birthdays! — Happy birthday Aralyn!

Some of the students guessed we were making cheese, but we kept it a secret to the end. We shook the bags for about 10 minutes – there were a lot of sore arms, but it was worth it when they got to taste the final results!

In the past few weeks, we have gone to the movies, had a picnic, gone bowling and, of course, out to Dairy Queen and McDonald’s for ice cream on a warm day. There are a lot of activities planned for the Fourth of July including a parade, car show and rodeo here in town. Next week, there will be a special party to celebrate the last day of school (I know the students will feel sad and need some cheering up – ha ha!).

The students have also attended our local library’s summer reading program. This year they have a super hero theme. One student was overheard saying this was “way cool”

as he designed his very own super hero shield and decorated it with stickers. They got to perform superhero dances, listen to stories and make special masks as well.

One very busy spot has been our Chamberlain Community Pool. It received a face lift this spring with the addition of a 100 foot curvy slide and a water basketball hoop. It has kept our kids very happy on warm days!

There is a playground right next to the pool, so the students have the best of both worlds. When we are not at the pool, students can often be found riding their bikes around campus or using a scooter or two.

Students created 200 luminary bags for the Relay for Life. — Students worked hard to design luminary bags for the local Relay for Life.

Our students truly have warm, giving hearts and have embraced the idea of helping with our local Relay for Life this year. We are assisting with the decoration of the paper bag luminaires that will light the pathway during the Relay.

The students listened to a story that was written by a young child diagnosed with cancer to gain a better understanding as well as increased empathy for those undergoing treatment.

Mike and I have been proud of the amount of care and attention that each bag has received. The kids really want to do a great job in making these special for the recipients. We have about 200 bags to decorate and are almost finished.

Thank you for allowing me to share some of the activities that have gone on here in the summer! The summer break home has been an eventful place filled with wonderful memories of a summer spent with beautiful kids.

Bette

Houseparent

Cleaning up after the storm at St. Joseph’s

Good day from St. Joseph’s Indian School!

Fr. Anthony, St. Joseph's Chaplain — Fr. Anthony, St. Joseph’s Chaplain

After all the wild weather last weekend, things have calmed down a bit. Branches keep coming down here and there around campus, but the majority of damage has been cleaned up by our grounds crew along with help of other St. Joseph’s maintenance staff. It was really a team effort as electric saws, manual trimmers and hand-powered rakes were used to repair what Mother Nature tore apart. There was some minor structural damage, but nothing of a serious nature. We are grateful, but it is a shame that so many trees were damaged or lost completely. Several tree stumps still need to be removed and there will be

a lot of replanting to come. We received word from our fellow SCJs (Priests of the Sacred Heart) on the Lower Brule Indian Reservation that they too had high winds which brought down some trees. Thankfully, no buildings or cars were hit and everyone is safe.

Several trees were lost, but we’re thankful that no one was injured in last week’s storms. — Several trees were damaged or destroyed completely in last week’s storms.

You can tell the travel season is well underway by looking at the number of cars, tour buses, campers and RV’s in the parking lot at the Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center. I can see the parking lot from my office window and it is interesting to see visitors from all over the country stopping in to learn about the Lakota (Sioux) culture and walk through the new alumni and historical center that gives a brief overlook of St. Joseph’s history. If you would like to about others’ experiences to help you decide if your travel plans include a visit to St. Joseph’s Indian School, you can check us out on TripAdvisor.

The pool in our rec center is undergoing some repair. It is such a blessing and provides so many good things for our students. It is good exercise during the long South Dakota winter, helps fight childhood obesity, enables water safety and swimming lessons

St. Joseph’s pool provides exercise and lots of fun for the Lakota children. — The pool is such a blessing to St. Joseph’s students, and does so many good things for them!

to be conducted; and provides the opportunity for laughter, fun, friendships and fond memories to be established. The pool is also a benefit we can share with our staff and their families, as well as the local community. Stay tuned for details and updates!

A few weeks ago, the Chamberlain Junior Achievement program held its annual golf tournament hosting 16 teams. Participants helped raise over $3,000 which will go toward the various programs sponsored by Junior Achievement. I’m happy to announce the St. Joseph’s team won the event with an 18 under par score of 54 over 18 holes. Congratulations!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Independence Day weekend. If you are using fireworks, please stay safe and enjoy your local festivities.

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

What do you do all summer at St. Joseph’s?

It is a universal understanding that people who work at schools should get the summers off. Well I am here to tell you this is a myth! Folks I talk to always ask what I do with

Frank W. 7-8th Residential Coordinator — Frank W.
7-8th Residential Coordinator

summers off… and then become perplexed when I tell them that, at St. Joseph’s Indian School, I work all summer.

This is when the questions comes out: What do you do all summer? I usually answer “not much” with a sly smile on my face.

The campus is different type of busy from June to August. Between Rising Eagle Day Camp in June, high school students working summer jobs and going to camps, the summer home for grades 1-8, interviewing potential houseparents and planning programing for the next school year, we tend to keep pretty busy. I think there are more kids on campus during June than during a month during the regular school year!

There are approximately 14 Lakota students in grades 1-8 who stay on campus until mid-July. — Students in St. Joseph’s summer program recently had a field trip to the local airport.

In the organized chaos that is summer, I help supervise the summer home with the other Residential Coordinators. We have approximately 14 Lakota students in grades 1-8 who stay on campus until mid-July. There are several different reasons for students to stay on campus in the summer home, but all come with their parent or guardian’s request and approval. The kids have a great time over the summer with extra trips, daily visits to the Chamberlain pool and community service projects. The hard part is that they have to attend school Monday through Friday, 9am to noon.

For our high school students, a major part of their summer being able to work in various jobs on campus. We have junior houseparents who went through an interview process and earned a spot working in the summer home. Junior houseparents help with supervision of the students, preparing meals, and even some paperwork. Students earn valuable work experience and get to see the other side of the fence of living in a St. Joseph’s home!

Another part of what I do in the summer is work with other administrators to plan for next year. Decisions need to be made about programing, policies and updating rules. This is a really boring process, but it’s important to ensure everything on campus runs smoothly next year.

The last big piece of summer at St. Joseph’s is interviewing and hiring new houseparents. Our Human Resource Department works hard at recruiting, screening and bringing in potential houseparents for interviews. This is a lengthy process, but necessary to ensure we find the right people to care for the children in their campus homes.

St. Joseph’s has junior houseparents who went through an interview process and earned a spot working in the summer home. — RJ, a 2015 graduate, is working with summer school teachers in the mornings and as a junior houseparent in the afternoons.

When summer starts to wind down in July and the summer kids leave for home, campus becomes really creepy quiet! I use the word “creepy” because, without the laughter and noise of the kids, campus just doesn’t feel right. The kids are definitely the heart and soul of our campus life and are duly missed when they are not here.

As staff, we appreciate the down time, but the creepy quiet also reminds us why we are here, and renews our faith and belief in the mission of St. Joseph’s Indian School.

So folks, that is what happens on campus in the summer!

What I do is small piece in the bigger puzzle of St. Joseph’s. Our development office, maintenance crew, rec staff and Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center staff work hard all summer doing their part to keep campus running, make repairs and welcome visitors.

We only have seven weeks until new staff training starts. And the kids come back for the new school year just two weeks after that!

Please pray for our staff to receive rest and renewal on their time off and pray for students to have safe and happy summer. As always, thank you for your support! Without your generosity, we could not continue the work we do to help the Lakota (Sioux) children. Thank you!

Frank W.

7-8^th Residential Coordinator

A stormy weekend at St. Joseph’s Indian School

Good afternoon from a noisy St. Joseph’s Indian School! I thought it was going to be a peaceful weekend, but Mother Nature stepped in and changed everyone’s plans. Friday

night, we had wind gusts up to 100 mph as a severe thunderstorm came through. The morning light revealed lots of branches down, several trees snapped in half and even some blown over completely — one toppled just outside my office window! Thankfully, there did not seem to be any structural damage, and all our students and staff were safe. The winds returned once again in the wee hours of Monday morning, which brought down even more trees and branches.

We are very grateful that none of our students or staff were hurt either day. Today, our maintenance crew is busy trimming branches and trees all over campus to clear our streets and sidewalks. We also lost power, which caused a late start for staff this morning. The damage is going to take several days to clean up.

There was lots of damage in Chamberlain with trees being uprooted during both of the storms, tree branches all over and electrical poles broken. One home suffered a tree falling against the house and damaging the porch.

Trees around St. Joseph’s campus were damaged in severe thunderstorms over the weekend. — Two weekend storms uprooted a tree outside my office and caused other damage around St. Joseph’s campus.

The Sunday paper out of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, had a front page article on the impact of the storm in our area. It seemed several trailers and campers were overturned in the Fort Thompson area which resulted in the tragic death of an individual who was a relative of one of our staff’s family. The Red Cross moved in quickly to get a shelter open which provided support and food.

Across the Missouri River from Fort Thompson, Lower Brule also suffered some damage as roofs on the courthouse, Boys & Girls Club and several other buildings were severely damaged. Power was knocked out west of the Missouri River for more than 100 miles, with many people still not having their power restored yet today.

Our prayers are with all those cleaning up and recovering from the storms.

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Thanks to all those who attended our most recent donor luncheon in New York and Brooklyn! Camron (a 2015 eighth grade graduate) and Tayvin (an incoming eighth

While in New York for a donor event, the Lakota students got to take in the sites. — Camron and Tayvin at the American Museum of Natural History.

grader) enjoyed their opportunity to meet so many members of their tiyospaye – extended family. The boys mentioned they were happy to have the chance to visit the 9/11 museum, the American Museum of Natural History and the Statue of Liberty.

It’s always wonderful to meet so many people who care about the Lakota (Sioux) children, but please remember to RSVP so we know you’re coming. The number on Saturday caught our team off guard with more people showing up than had registered for the event.

We hope you can join us for an upcoming luncheon!

San Diego, California in August;
Dallas, Texas in October;
Lauderdale, Florida in January 2016;
Scranton, Pennsylvania in April 2016
Denver, Colorado in June2016.

For additional information or to register, please contact us at 1-800-584-9200.

I hope you all have a wonderful week! I’m heading out now to see how the clean-up is going around campus.

God bless,

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

Swimming, books and day camp at St. Joseph’s Indian School

Good day from St. Joseph’s Indian School!

It’s great to be home from my trip east to attend a graduation and ordination. I also enjoyed time visiting family.

The big excitement that happened here in the Chamberlain community, was the opening of the new pool. The pool re-opened on May 30 and raffle tickets were sold to see who would be first down the slide. It was nice to see the work of the Explorers recognized due to their fundraising help.

St. Joseph’s summer home students have visited the pool several times and have really enjoyed themselves. I asked this past Sunday at Mass how the students had enjoyed the new pool. A second grader said it was great except for the “caffeine” in the water that hurt his eyes. We all looked at him for a moment and then it dawned on us he meant to say ‘chlorine.’

St. Joseph’s bookmobile shares free books in reservation communities across South Dakota. — Bookmobile staff were surprised and delighted to have visitors on horseback!

Later, I came across the bookmobile group busily re-stocking the bookmobile to head out to the Crow Creek and Lower Brule Reservations. The bookmobile had just returned from visiting the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservations. Later this month the bookmobile will be making trips to other reservations to the north and east of St. Joseph’s.

This week, children from the Lower Brule Indian Reservation began their two weeks at St. Joseph’s Rising Eagle Day Camp. For the first two weeks of camp, our bus goes to the Crow Creek Reservation to pick up camp participants.

Each day of camp, there were at least 50 younger students and about 20 or so for grades five and higher. Kids spend the day with activities like Lakota studies, arts & crafts and swimming.

We are happy to have Kat, an upcoming sophomore at Notre Dame University as part of the day camp team. She is taking part in a Summer Service Project Internship through her university. During her time at St. Joseph’s, she’ll work with day camp, travel with St. Joseph’s Family Service Counselors as they visit our students and families, help out with the bookmobile trips as well as the first through eighth grade summer home.

The program gives firsthand experience to help Notre Dame graduates have ‘a disciplined sensibility to the poverty and oppression that burdens the lives of many.’ Those who have taken part in this program have completed their time by working in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in various programs offered through the Sioux Falls Diocese or local civic programs helping those in need. We welcome Kat to St. Joseph’s and hope she has a wonderful experience.

Next week, we are excited to welcome visitors from other Catholic elementary schools affiliated with the Priests of the Sacred Heart. The program is called SCJ Schools in

This week, children from the Lower Brule Indian Reservation began their two weeks at day camp. — Rising Eagle Day Camp is in week three on St. Joseph’s campus.

Collaboration. Representatives from schools in Wisconsin, Texas and Mississippi will be coming to St. Joseph’s to discuss issues for the future and also to join in a prayer service with a SCJ high school program in Germany.

I hope everyone has a great week. May God’s blessings continue to be with all of you for your generosity to the Lakota boys and girls attending St. Joseph’s Indian School.

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

News from Fr. Steve, Early Summer Travels

BREAKING NEWS!

Last week Fr. Steve Huffstetter, current Provincial of the Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart and past Director at St. Joseph’s Indian School, was elected to our General Council in Rome!

Fr. Heiner Wilmer, SCJ, the German Provincial, was elected our new Superior General and Fr. Steve – along with the Provincials from Poland, the Congo/Cameroon and Venezuela – were elected to be members of his Council. This election means Fr. Steve will be part of the group leading the Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart for the next six years. In late August, the American Province will have an election for a new Provincial and Council. Please keep Father Steve in your prayers as he answers this new call to service in our Congregation.
I am on the road, but in the process of returning to St. Joseph’s. This past weekend I had the chance to be in Lafayette and Carmel, Indiana to take part in the Deaconate Ordination of a young man I baptized nearly 25 years ago at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Houston, Texas. My introduction at the Sunday

1-Fr. Steve served as St. Joseph’s Director for 10 years before being elected Provincial for the Priests of the Sacred Heart. — Fr. Steve has been elected to the Priests of the Sacred Heart General Council in Rome!

Mass included that I was from St. Joseph’s Indian School in Chamberlain, South Dakota. At the end of the Mass, several people came up and mentioned they have been benefactors for many years.
I am always happy to meet those whose generosity makes our school possible for the Native American youngsters. It is rare you find yourself someplace where no one has heard about our work on the plains of South Dakota. Thank you for your support!
This week and last, children from the Crow Creek Indian Reservation are on St. Joseph’s campus daily to take part in our two-week summer day camp. Several of our staff

Many of St. Joseph’s high school students have summer jobs working for day camp. — Every day in June, children come from their reservation communities to take part in St. Joseph’s day camp.

and high school students help out. Activities include swimming, arts & crafts, Lakota Studies and more. The campers always enjoy the swimming pool. Starting next week, children from the Lower Brule Indian Reservation will have their turn.
St. Joseph’s kitchen staff is busy this month as they provide lunch and snacks for the campers. St. Joseph’s Indian School is also the site designated in the Chamberlain community for the hot lunch Program offered to any young people in the area. The kitchen crew will be preparing lunch daily for students for approximately six weeks. We enjoy the opportunity to serve and be involved in the local community.
I hope you all have a wonderful week and your summer is enjoyable and relaxing. I am anxious to get home and check in with the students staying on campus for our summer program. The City of Chamberlain renovated the local swimming pool and it’s just opened – I can’t wait to hear what they think about the new slides and swimming area!
Thanks again for all you do for the Lakota boys and girls! We keep you in our prayers.
Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ
Chaplain

Trips, Graduation & the last week of school for the Lakota students

Good day from St. Joseph’s Indian School!

Let me blow on my fingers first so I can type the blog today… brrr! It has been damp, cold and windy in Chamberlain. Despite the unseasonable weather, everyone seems up-beat since this is the last week of the school year.

While St. Joseph’s students in grades 1-8 have a week to go, our high school students have begun summer break. Last week, Chamberlain High School (where our students attend), held their athletic awards banquet. Eleven St. Joseph’s students won varsity letters!

Irene was Rookie of the Year for the girls’ golf team
Danny was the Most Dedicated in boys’ golf
Jacob was the Most Inspirational in track
Adrian was honored as being Captain, MVP and winner of the Hustler award in boys’ basketball.

The last day of school was Friday. Sunday brought the graduation of the Chamberlain High School Class of 2015 with six St. Joseph’s students among the proud graduates. The armory was jammed with family and friends to wish the class well as they stepped into their futures. Congratulations!

Meanwhile, the Explorers group traveled to Minneapolis, Minnesota to take in some baseball. They attended a Friday night game, spent the night and attended an afternoon game the next day before heading home. It seems the Twins need them as good luck charms – the team won both games the boys attended but lost when the Explorers went home, dropping the Sunday game 11-3.

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When students are back, they’ll put together presentations on their cultural trip. — Students camp throughout the seventh grade cultural trip, visiting places like Wind Cave, Bear Butte and Fort Laramie.

Today, St. Joseph’s students are having Field Day activities. Grades 4-6 did their events in the morning and grades 1-3 are doing theirs in the afternoon. When they are not participating in field activities, they will be at the local theater for a movie. All this is sandwiched around a picnic lunch at American Creek Park for everyone. Pray that the rain holds off!

This evening St. Joseph’s seventh graders will return from their annual cultural trip, which took them out to the Badlands, the Wounded Knee Massacre site and Wind Cave. They hiked Bear Butte and then visited the Crazy Horse monument being carved into a mountain in South Dakota’s Black Hills.

From there, it was on to Fort Laramie in Wyoming where a treaty was signed in 1868 between the United States and various bands of Lakota people along with Yanktonai Dakota and Arapaho Nation which guaranteed Lakota ownership of the Black Hills. The discovery of gold led to incursions by miners and defense of their lands by the Native Americans which led to war and the seizing of the Black Hills by the government in 1877.

Next on the list were Greasy Grass, the Native American name for the Little Big Horn battle between the Native Americans and Custer’s 7^th Calvary and Mato Tipila, more commonly known as Devil’s Tower and finally the Vore Buffalo Jump. Tomorrow, when students are back, they’ll put together presentations on what the journey meant to them which they’ll present them to the students and staff on Thursday morning.

This week will end with our eighth grade graduation. We ask you to keep our graduates in your prayers, that they may use the knowledge and skills they have developed here at St. Joseph’s to have a positive impact in the lives of those they’ll cross paths with in the future.

Have a great week! I hope everyone have a safe, relaxing and enjoyable Memorial Day next Monday as we honor and remember those who gave their tomorrows that we might have freedom today.

God bless,

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

Six St. Joseph’s seniors graduated with the Chamberlain High School Class of 2015. — Congratulations class of 2015!

Crazy weather, honoring graduates at St. Joseph’s Indian School

What a mess!!! Mother Nature needs to be reminded this is spring. On Sunday, South Dakota experienced a tornado to the east that damaged the town of Delmont and

blizzards to the west which dumped over 12” of snow in the Black Hills. This unexpected blizzard trapped three of St. Joseph’s homes who were on their end-of-the-year family trip. Here in Chamberlain we had rain, wind and blustery weather which had everyone searching for packed-away sweaters.

The bad weather also played havoc with a soccer tournament over in Mitchell in which the boys from Ambrose Home and the local Chamberlain community were taking part. The team had won their first two games and spent the night in Mitchell to see if they could continue their success on Sunday. The tornado put an end to that and caused them to take shelter in a basement for nearly an hour before the all clear was given. They are not sure if the game will be re-scheduled, but they’ll have something to talk about for a while!

The rain also forced the Chamberlain High School girls’ golf team to miss out on advancing to regional play in their quest to move on to the state golf meet. The meet will probably be made up and we wish St. Joseph’s student Irene success as she carries the colors for Chamberlain High School and St. Joseph’s.

Artist in Residence Jenny Menzel spent last week with St. Joseph’s seventh and eighth grade students, teaching them to design and produce invitation cards and thank you notes. Tipi Press Printing, our print shop, will be helping the students get them printed.

St. Joseph’s is proud to have six Lakota students graduating from high school. — Last Wednesday, we had a prayer service honoring our six high school graduates.

This past Wednesday, we had a prayer service honoring our six high school graduates. During the ceremony a video was shown in which our graduates gave advice to our younger students, shared what they see their future holding and what schools they’ll be attending in the fall. Tonight, the Baccalaureate service will be held at St. James Catholic Church for all of the Chamberlain High School 2015 graduating class. Friday will be their last day of school and graduation is scheduled for Sunday.

Chamberlain High School recently held a ceremony honoring the academic achievements of various class members and awarded scholarships. Angela, a St. Joseph’s student, was named a Regent’s Scholar and won the Ruth Potter Memorial/Dakota Indian Foundation Scholarship. Congratulations Angela!

On Mother’s Day we remembered our moms at Mass and then passed out flowers to all the mothers. It was also a Mass to honor our eighth grade graduates. Those attending were asked to take part in the blessing offered for the moms and the graduates.

I hope you have a wonderful week. You are remembered in our prayers as we ask God’s blessings on you for your generosity and interest in the welfare and education of the Lakota boys and girls attending St. Joseph’s Indian School.

God bless,

Fr. Anthony

St. Joseph’s students: Impacting the community

Good day from St. Joseph’s Indian School!

Our Lakota students have been busy lately, working hard to make their communities better places!

This past weekend, Chamberlain High School hosted its annual powwow. The Native American Club – including many of St. Joseph’s high school students – worked behind the scenes to get things ready. Lots of St. Joseph’s staff and younger students also contributed their time and effort to set up, take part in the dancing and drum groups, help out with the food, judging and just be present to participate in this aspect of their culture and heritage. One of our seventh grade students, Iyung, was crowned Junior Miss Chamberlain High School. The powwow was held at the Chamberlain Community Center.

Also on Saturday, the Explorers group held a car wash to raise funds to help cover the cost of improvements to the community swimming pool. The boys washed and vacuumed 105 cars in only six hours!

St. Joseph’s boys are members of Explorers and participate in a variety of helpful projects in the community. — The Explorers washed and vacuumed 105 cars to raise money for the community pool.

The high school boys in the Sheehy Home helped out with a community-wide clean up recently. They worked around town wherever they were needed. They did such a good job, Chamberlain’s City Engineer made a point of letting the school know how impressed he and others were with the boys’ hard work.

We are honored to have our students represent our school recognized in such diverse ways and be recognized for their hard work. It reflects how our students share in the value of helping others since they are helped by the commitment of St. Joseph’s many donors.

Another example of how your generosity bears fruit is seen in the good news from Mary Jane, our Director of Alumni. She sent out word that five St. Joseph’s alumni would be graduating from college between now and August:

LaSheena will graduate from United Tribes in Bismarck, ND with a two year degree in Business Management;
Janice will graduate from National American University in Rapid City, SD with her AA Paralegal degree and plans on attending law school;
Charity and Daisy will both graduate from Sinte Gleska University at Lower Brule, SD with AA Early Childhood degrees and plan on working toward teaching certification;
Steve will graduate from Sinte Gleska University in Mission, SD with his BA in counseling with an emphasis on Drug and Alcohol Counseling.

Six other Native American students are being helped through St. Joseph’s scholarship program:

Faith from Lower Brule, South Dakota, will be graduating from Duke University with her Masters of Arts/Public Safety;
Christopher from Springfield, South Dakota, is graduating from the University of Minnesota-Morris with a BA in Business Management;
Sandy from Lower Brule, South Dakota, is graduating with her AA in Business Management from Sinte Gleska University in Lower Brule;
Kebra from Omaha, Nebraska, is also graduating from the University of Minnesota-Morris with her BA in Psychology;
Tamara from Alliance, Nebraska, is graduating from Oglala Lakota College with a nursing degree.

Thanks to your support, prayers and encouragement these 11 graduates will use their newly acquired skills to help others! Read more about St. Joseph’s alumni at www.stjo.org/success.

I hope you have great week!

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

Lakota students celebrate 20th Annual Sobriety Walk

Good day from St. Joseph’s Indian School!

It has been an interesting and eventful week at St. Joseph’s. Weather is getting warmer, but we do need rain. We did our 20^th Annual Sobriety Walk this past Friday. The students gathered in front of the rec center and then headed out for their walk into the community. There was a small group of students that had enough energy to run the distance.

Everyone has supper together in the dining hall and then the older grades attended the presentation on avoiding alcohol and drugs. Everyone had a great time!

St. Joseph’s holds three sobriety celebrations each year. — St. Joseph’s Sobriety Walk was held last Friday.

On Monday, the eighth graders shadowed our high school students at Chamberlain High School to get a feel of what school is going to be like for them next year. They follow our current students around to learn the layout of the high school and meet some of the teachers and staff.

Last Monday evening, members of Dave’s Government class attended the local Chamberlain City Commissioners meeting. It was a good opportunity to see local government in action and ask questions about what motivates the commissioners to serve.

Some of the students’ questions included:

What are some of the key issues the city is facing now and in the future?
What are the requirements for running for a seat on the city council?
Has there ever been a woman commissioner?
Can a Native American or other minority run?

They learned that there has been a female commissioner in the past and anyone can run for a seat as long as they live within the city limits, are at least 18 years old and do not have a felony on their record.

St. Joseph’s students and staff just completed a month-long food drive. The food was gathered up today and taken to the local women’s shelter. St. Joseph’s students had the opportunity to make a donation with their home, or to make a purchase on their own for the food drive.

The Lakota (Sioux) children are so grateful to be able to help others and give back to the community! It is an important way for the students to show their appreciation for your generosity to each of them, and to recognize the need to help others.

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In high school sports, junior Adrian was selected to the Big Dakota All

Adrian, a St. Joseph’s junior, has earned top basketball honors. — Adrian earned a spot on the Big Dakota All Conference basketball team as well as the SESD All Conference team.

Conference basketball team as well as the SESD All Conference team. We look forward to a great year next year and a possible trip to cheer him and the Cubs on at the State Boys Basketball Tournament!

Sophomore Danny recently won the Lakota National Invitation (LNI) golf tournament!

Sophomore Danny recently went to Pierre, South Dakota last week to participate in the Lakota National Invitation (LNI) golf tournament with 20-30 other golfers. We are happy to announce that he won! Chris, one of our staff and the Chamberlain High School golf coach, shared that Danny had a tough putt on his last shot, but sank it with no trouble.

Congratulations Adrian and Danny!

Have a great week. Be assured of our prayers for your generosity which enables the Lakota boys and girls to take part in all these activities. Also, please join us in keeping the people of Nepal in prayer as they recover from the recent earthquake.

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain