Have you ever traveled roughly 2,000 miles in ten days and never left your state?
These Native American boys spread the word – free books!
You would have if you traveled along on the St. Joseph’s Indian School Bookmobile! This is one of my favorite activities of the summer. We travel to 32 communities on reservations in South Dakota giving out books, both new and gently used.
My name is Mary Jane. I am the Outreach/Alumni Coordinator at St. Joseph’s. For the last several summers, I have traveled with the bookmobile giving out free books, meeting new folks as well as former students of St. Joseph’s.
This summer we started our journey heading north to the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. We visited 13 communities.
White Horse, South Dakota, was the smallest community we visited. There, we had 15 children total. When we drove in to town, we were spotted by three Lakota girls out riding their bikes. They followed us and picked up a few friends on the way.
The girls were so happy to see us and to learn that they could pick out their own FREE books and that they got to KEEP them!! As we left, they told us to come back again. They would be waiting! J
In Eagle Butte, South Dakota, we saw the most children – well over 100 in three separate stops.
The girls are so excited to choose their books!
The following week, after reloading the van, we headed south to the Rosebud and Pine Ridge Indian Reservations, visiting 16 communities and distributing 1140 new books and 1710+ used books.
Mission, which is on the Rosebud Indian Reservation, was one of our biggest stops. There were over 50 children at the local Boys & Girls Club. Some were busy planting a garden, but were eager to take a break and pick out their books.
Our smallest stop this trip was in Kyle, South Dakota, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. There we saw six children and two adults. A Native American father brought his two young children to choose their books. He was so excited to be able to have something to read to them! Luckily, we had some books for very small children packed away in a ‘special’ box. We made sure he had a bag of books for him and his two young girls. He was very grateful.
As he got off the bookmobile, he reached out to shake our hands and said, “Keep up the good work. You are doing a wonderful job. Thank you!”
The Lakota children are always happy to see St. Joseph’s Bookmobile!
All along our journey, we distributed boxes of used books, crayons, notebooks, construction paper and some dictionaries to various Boys & Girls Clubs, daycares and others who were in need of these items for their programs.
What’s the best part of this summer adventure? Meeting new people as well as former students and seeing children’s eyes light up when they get to have their books!
We just finished our donor luncheons in Grand Rapids, Michigan and Merrillville, Indiana! Our two Lakota (Sioux) students who told folks about their life at St. Joseph’s were Selena, who just graduated from eighth grade and will enter Chamberlain High School in the fall, and Chandler, who just finished her seventh grade year.
On the shores of Lake Michigan.
When I asked the girls to share about their hopes and dreams for the future, Selena spoke about going into law enforcement to help make life better for the people at home – the Lower Brule Indian Reservation.
Chandler shared that she wanted to go into nursing, possibly as a midwife. Then she added that a dream of hers was to attend college at the University of Notre Dame. On the way from Michigan to Merrillville, we took a slight detour, and went to South Bend!
The university was a lot bigger than she imagined. Rather than scaring her off, this excited her more!
Whether or not Notre Dame becomes her final decision, when our Native American youngsters talk about college, we try to encourage them to think big and then to prepare themselves by working hard.
We took a few pictures by the Golden Dome, and bought some souvenirs in the bookshop.
Our time in Michigan included a visit to the Gerald Ford presidential museum, just a few blocks from our hotel. In the evening, we ate at a fun family center that included a pizza buffet, go-carts and bumper car rides. Selena was the daring racer who lapped everyone else, flying by with the biggest grin on her face!
After our luncheon on Sunday, we headed up to Chicago. My religious community’s formation house is in Chicago, and with students gone for the summer, there was plenty of room to make that our home base. We spent the next day touring the Windy City.
I attended college and graduate school in Chicago, so know and love the city well. It’s always fun to see the sights anew through the eyes of newcomers, and Selena and Chandler were enchanted everywhere they turned. We spent the evening touring the Hyde Park neighborhood, including the University of Chicago and getting our feet wet in Lake Michigan. Even on a hot summer’s day, the water is always icy cold. Then, we picked up some deep dish Chicago pizza and came home to enjoy the feast.
Monday, we made our way around the loop, and up the Magnificent Mile. As we walked past a silver statue, the street performer came to life and jumped up next to Selena, who almost jumped over the Wrigley Building!
They laughed and got their picture taken with him. Lunch was at Ed Debevic’s. At first, the girls didn’t know what to make of the intentionally rude waiters. But they laughed and enjoyed the outing, especially when our server sang and danced on the table. We made our way to Lincoln Park Zoo. Our staff members were surprised that such a nice a zoo could be free, and enjoyed the lovely scenery and animal antics.
Selena and Chandler were startled by a street performer.
Besides the girls’ first plane ride on the trip out, they also experienced their first city bus and subway/el rides, and then took a spin on the Navy Pier Ferris Wheel for a great view of the city. The best view we had was standing by Buckingham Fountain in the evening, with patriotic music playing, the mist shooting high into the night, and the city lit up all around us.
These were my last two donor luncheons. Most folks have gotten word via email that I will be moving on at the end of the month, so the days were nostalgic and bittersweet. I got so many hugs and congratulations, and cherished the people who care so much about St. Joseph’s Indian School and want to make sure the good work continues. With our committed, passionate staff, I assured them that it would. There are no doubt greater and more exciting things to come after I’ve completed my time there.
I have truly loved and enjoyed the chance to meet the people across the country who make the work we do at St. Joseph’s Indian School possible. So many folks make great sacrifices that allow us to run our programs. So many people have never gotten the opportunity to visit up close and personal, so it is a joy to let them meet the students and find out more about all we’re doing.
Besides being a blessing to the school, our donors have been a blessing to me personally.
Many folks have been praying for my health. A week ago, I was back at Mayo Clinic for my 6-month check in with the oncologists. I’m happy to report a continuing clean bill of health. After running the comprehensive battery of tests, the doctor told me that I can now wait a full year before needing to come back – thanks be to God!
The girls get their first glimpse of Chicago-style deep-dish pizza!
Last week in Wisconsin was both affirming and emotional. My religious order, the Priests of the Sacred Heart, held our election assembly for new leadership, and my brothers in the community asked me to become the next Provincial Superior.
I was honored to be chosen, though know the position also carries a lot of responsibilities. The hard emotional part for me is that this means finishing up my time at St. Joseph’s Indian School as Director. By August, I will be leaving South Dakota and no longer involved in the day-to-day running of the school. I will become a member of the Board of Directors, however, which will give me good reason to come back to visit a couple times each year and help set direction in a broad way.
So many of our staff were praying I would NOT be elected, but religious life calls for openness to the Spirit. When I first came to St. Joseph’s eight and a half years ago, I was sad to leave parish work on the Lower Brule and Crow Creek Indian Reservations. But I trusted, and my time at St. Joseph’s has been such an amazing blessing in surprising and unexpected ways.
I will enter into the new role with the same faith and trust and enthusiasm.
One of my main responsibilities will be personnel. My first difficult task will be to call forth good leadership to follow here at St. Joseph’s. We don’t have a successor named yet, and it will take some time to get the right people in place. In the interim, I know staff here have a clear sense of our mission and purpose, and lots of work and vision still to be done with our strategic plan. They will press on in the right direction regardless.
Today at mass, I saw the Native American students who are in the summer High School Prep Program, and I got teary-eyed thinking about the day I will have to say goodbye to them. A couple of them were first graders when I arrived, and we have so many memories together.
Every year we say goodbye to our students as they move on, hopefully prepared to make their way in the world. It will be so different with me doing the leaving… But, the Lakota people don’t really say goodbye. They say doksa, which means until we see each other again. During the time between, they will be kept close in my heart and prayers.
I will also miss the incredible interaction with our donors. A few stopped by the Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center today, tickled to finally see campus and get a better idea of what we do at St. Joseph’s. We have a wide and generous circle of friends that make what we do possible. Their interest, support and prayers inspire all of us to work hard to make the difference we believe we are making.
Sunday, five of our St. Joseph’s students and 65 of their Chamberlain High School classmates celebrated graduation as the Class of 2013. It seemed the whole community was packed into the armory.
Five St. Joseph’s students graduated with the Chamberlain High School Class of 2013.
The school choir and band performed some nice selections. The main event, however, was simply these youth proudly walking up the aisle accompanied by flashing cameras and rolling camcorders to mark this transitional time in their lives. We pray and hope for a wonderful future where their gifts and abilities can help meet the world’s needs.
We had some controversy with this year’s graduation. Chris, one of our St. Joseph’s seniors presented a petition to the school board to add a Lakota Honor song to the graduation ceremony to add a cultural element and to honor all the graduates.
Disappointingly, the school board turned it down. Community members from town and the nearby reservations held signs of protest across the street, gathered around a drum to respectfully played an Honor Song as their tribute to graduates filing out of the auditorium.
Afterwards, I attended some of the many receptions held all over town. Besides our St. Joseph’s students, several staff had children graduating, and I wanted to offer special congratulations to them.
Coleman’s parents have been houseparents on campus for many years. While Coleman didn’t attend St. Joseph’s Indian School, I watched him grow up with our kids in the Pinger Home. It truly felt like one of our own had reached this milestone.
I also knew some area graduates from the parishes I used to pastor. Kids I knew as first graders have now received diplomas and are preparing to go off and make their mark on the world.
When I come out of morning mass in the winter and walk past Wisdom Circle, the playground is empty. With the warmer weather, however, it has been filled with the laughter of the Lakota children squeezing in some play time before the school day starts.
Spring has finally arrived on the South Dakota Prairie! The flowers and bushes on campus are filled with fragrant and colorful blossoms. We seemingly went from winter to summer, skipping spring altogether, though we know our temperature swings will still be wild for some time to come.
Our Native American students from fifth through eighth grades have a chance to learn to play musical instruments. Yesterday, we gathered in Our Lady of the Sioux chapel to hear the fruits of their practice as they held a recital. Their skills are still pretty basic, but I admired their courage to get in front of their peers and risk hitting the wrong chord or note. We heard six piano solos, four guitars, two flutes, and clarinet and a drum. Some of the songs were very short. I was disappointed one of my old folk favorites, Oh Suzanna, finished before the rousing chorus. But you’ve got to love the kids for trying! Caden and Richie worked hard on their guitar pieces for the music recital.
After that, we held a farewell gathering in the Rec Center for St. Joseph’s Child Services staff who are retiring or moving on to new things. Huge cardboard greeting cards were laid out for everyone to sign, while looking over pictures and remembering. After everyone grabbed some refreshments, each of those staff were called forward, given a gift, and the opportunity to say a few words.
Steve started as a houseparent, but since I’ve been at St. Joseph’s Indian School, has been the lead tutor at our High School Learning Center. With a concerted effort from students and staff, the collective grade point average of St. Joseph’s high school students has gone up almost a full point over the last four years!
Gary and Marty guided high school girls for the past two years, and Anita has mentored our young men for the past four.
Frank and Wanda have been houseparents for 26 years!!! They are retiring to spend more time with their own children and grandchildren. Over the years they’ve parented so many St. Joseph’s kids who consider them family. They were each wrapped in a Lakota star quilt as a sign of honor and appreciation. Many tears and tons of hugs followed. We pray for all those moving on to new adventures.
St. Joseph’s high school students finish classes at the end of this week. Elijah, one of our seniors, had high enough grades to be exempted from his finals and is completely done. This evening, our houseparents organized a back yard end-of-the-year cook out. Hot dogs and hamburgers taste mighty good when shared in the beautiful outdoors with good friends, conversation, and a few games thrown in to boot.
With the help of the local ministerial association, Chamberlain High
School organized their Baccalaureate Ceremony this evening. We hosted the service in our Lady of the Sioux Chapel. Area pastors offered some words of prayer, but all of the readings and music were organized by the students. The evening was uplifting as we prayed for God’s help for all the youth of our community who are transitioning on to the next stages of their education and careers.
Hello again from the William Home’s fourth and fifth grade Lakota girls!
It has been an exciting time recently as we have been packing, cleaning, and preparing for our move back in to the newly renovated William Home. We are in and the girls are so excited!
It is bittersweet for the fifth graders, since they will only get to be in for a short time before summer break begins. Next year, they will move to the older community of sixth, seventh and eighth-grade students on St. Joseph’s campus.
We recently took our annual home trip to Rapid City, South Dakota and visited and indoor water park. These girls can go up and down those stairs on the slides for hours! Oh, the joy of youth…
As we wind down the year at St. Joseph’s Indian School, we would like to thank all of our benefactors who make the work we do with Native American children possible. God bless and have a great summer.
The girls in the newly renovated William Home do their homework at the kitchen counter.
The Chamber of Commerce recently set up a ribbon cutting ceremony at St. Joseph’s Donor Care Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Our boys’ drum group – the Chalk Hills Singers – and girls who serve as support singers rode the bus to help open the building with style and festivity. Their songs and participation made the day special. Our Chalk Hills Singers began with an honor song dedicated to the “common man” for hard work, service and humility.
South Dakota Public Radio taped the song as part of an upcoming story. St. Joseph’s high school students and others from the community have petitioned the Chamberlain school board to include a Lakota (Sioux) honor song to pay tribute to all the graduates at Chamberlain High School graduation. The board votes next week.
At the ribbon cutting, I welcomed visitors and thanked all those who worked hard to renovate and open the office. St. Joseph’s Indian School is proud to have worked so well over the years with the Chamberlain community, and now we’re excited to be part of the Sioux Falls community also. Some great, highly qualified staff have already joined our team from the area. Lisa, who was a houseparent for almost 10 years and just moved over to the Donor Care Center, was a bit of a star our Native American students gravitated toward her to catch up on how she’s doing.
After a scrumptious potluck lunch, our students used sage to smudge and bless the building and staff. Fr. Anthony liberally sprinkled holy water throughout the facility. We ended with a circle of handshakes, allowing our students to say thanks for the work these staff do to make their education possible.
Afterwards, I got to play tourist and see familiar sights through the eyes of a first-time visitor. Fr. Jose hails from Portugal. Besides his late night flight into South Dakota a month ago, this was his first chance to see the Sioux Falls area. He was impressed with Sioux Falls’ replica of Michelangelo’s David statue, though he has seen the original with his own eyes. We spent time at Falls Park, from which the city gets its name.
We also made a couple stops on the way home.
The small town of Alexandria, South Dakota, has a Fatima Family Shrine. Since Fatima is so important in his native Portugal, we paid a visit. And of course we had to stop in Mitchell and take in the “World’s only Corn Palace.”
Fr. Anthony and Fr. Jose at Falls Park in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
‘Twas the day of the dance, when all across campus
Students were primping in anticipation
The hairstyles and clothes were donned with care
In hopes of meeting that someone special there
Last year, St. Joseph’s Indian School started the tradition of hosting a dance for our sixth, seventh and eighth grade Lakota students. We invite the Chamberlain public school students to campus to join with our students at the dance, which helps build community among them.
As part of St. Joseph’s strategic plan, we are being challenged to provide more opportunities to build relationships between our students and students from the local public school. We believe this will help them in many ways but specifically, once they reach high school, better relationships will make that transition smoother. Hosting community dances like this is a great way to help youth get to know one another. It also gives the students a chance to use their social skills and practice mastery in that area.
The Lakota students had a great time dancing the night away!
Watching the process during the dance is fun for me and very similar, I think, to everyone’s experience at junior high dances. At first, all the students stand to the side looking at each other shyly. They all seem to be hesitant to get out on the floor and strut their stuff.
Chris, a St. Joseph’s senior, and Andrea, a St. Joseph’s alumnae, served as DJ’s for the junior high dance.
After a couple of songs, however, a few of the girls get brave and start dancing. Before long, more and more are joining in on the floor. By the end of the night, everyone has gotten on the floor at least once. The students’ process of slowly warming up and finally dancing demonstrates growth in the area of independence.
As usual, when the lights came on at the end, there was a collective moan from the crowd wanting more music and more dancing!
Chris, one of our high school seniors, and alumnae Andrea provided the DJ service for the dance. They did a great job getting the students on the floor dancing and involved.
The admission fee to the dance was $2 or two cans of food at the door. We were able to collect 156 food items for the local food pantry and around $30 at the door to donate to a local charity. This speaks to the Lakota (Sioux) value of generosity and helping our community when we can.
All these lessons are very important and piece of what we try to teach our students every day at St. Joseph’s Indian School. These experiences give the students an opportunity to learn firsthand lessons that we hope stay with them for life.
Without your support and prayers, none of this would possible. Thanks to all that support our work. We couldn’t do it with you!
An unpredictable South Dakota spring brought lots of snow, but mild temperatures.
As St. Joseph’s Indian School starts to wind down for the year, several factors have come in to play this spring. It is unbelievable the amount of snow we have received in South Dakota for the month of April!! St. Joseph’s even missed a day of school due to the weather – that rarely happens since our Lakota students live on campus. The students truly enjoyed being outside to play in the snow as the temperature was in the low 30’s, which is relatively warm.
St. Joseph’s track team has been diligently practicing, either in the Recreation Center because of snow or outside when the weather is clear. Needless to say, with all the snow, our track meets have been canceled so far. We are hoping that the next one on Monday will take place as the temperatures are suppose to be in the 70s. Hurrah for the Glorious South Dakota Sunshine!!
Last week, I was involved with the Mr. Relay For Life Pageant that St. Joseph’s Relay For Life hosted at the Oacoma Community Center. The pageant was a spin-off of the Miss American Pageant, but with gentlemen of the community participating as contestants.
It was awesome to see the wonderful turnout from the community to support us in our endeavor to raise money for the fight against cancer! Of course, it really helped that our gentleman were such great sports with their choice of evening wear, talent and interview questions for the night’s competition. It was an evening enjoyed by many family and community members.
I would like to thank all of St. Joseph’s donors for your support and donations throughout the school year. You are a blessing to our school and the Native American students.
“Wealth and honor come from you O’Lord; you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.
–Chronicles 29:12–
A mild April day is perfect for making a snow dinosaur!
Fr. Steve is away on a Donor Luncheon to the Santa Barbara, California area, which gives me another chance to share with you what’s been happening here at St. Joseph’s. Initially it seemed like a quiet weekend, but, upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a normal hectic pace with activities happening all over the place!
As you may be aware, last week was Catholic Schools Week around the country. Fr. Steve and I helped with the spelling bee contest for each of the classes in the elementary program. There was a lot of reflection on ‘i before e, except after c,’ and the Lakota students did a great job!
Three of our students will be taking part in the contest that crowns a national champion in Washington, D.C. and the others will take part in a state-wide contest later this month in Mitchell, South Dakota.
The fourth and fifth grades sponsored a Catholic School’s Week food drive to gather items to benefit a local domestic violence shelter and St. James’ parish, which is the local Catholic Church in Chamberlain and is also staffed by an SCJ (Priest of the Sacred Heart).
Afra Home (first, second and third grade girls) went to Lower Brule, South Dakota as part of their social outreach program. They attended Mass and then served the community with cookies and juice. Each student home does some sort of outreach activity for an entity in the local area. As many of our Native American students come from the Crow Creek and Lower Brule Indian Reservations, they like to go back and do something for the elders and their families at home.
On Friday, one of our eighth-grade students, Cassidy, went with the Chamberlain High School gymnastic team to a meet in Wall, South Dakota – home of the famous Wall Drug Store! Chamberlain has a very good team and Cassidy has been part of the JV squad for the past two years. They are looking forward to qualifying for the state competition.
If you recall, I had mentioned that Chamberlain High School had taken part in the state-wide one act play competition. Each team must set the stage, perform and take down their set in 45 minutes or less. This year, they did a play by Mark Twain that dealt with trying to improve prices for an artist’s work by putting out the word he was dead. They performed the play at the regional competition in Pierre, South Dakota, and qualified for the state finals.
Their time slot was 8:00 AM this past Saturday morning. One cast member said it took several alarm clocks to make sure he got up in time! Despite the early time, they gave it their all and won a superior rating. One of the leads, Chris, a St. Joseph’s senior, was singled out for extensive praise by the judges.
Sunday was the feast of St. Blasé, and we had the traditional blessing of the throats for the students and staff at our Sunday morning Mass. In giving the blessing, we ask St. Blasé to intercede and protect those who receive the blessing from any aliment of the throat or other illness.
It was probably good that we did that since there was a lot of screaming and hollering during the Super Bowl later that day. One of our high school homes hosted a Super Bowl party for the other high school homes, and also invited the eighth graders to attend. They split the fans of the two teams so each could cheer watching their own TV. There was a lot of good-natured ribbing back and forth and things really got excited and loud when the 49’ers made their late run to try and catch the Ravens. All sorts of crazy contests—like number of M&Ms in a jar and gag prizes for whenever something special happened in the game – added to the fun.
Saturday gave our fourth, fifth and sixth grade boys’ basketball teams a chance to play their counterparts from Chamberlain. We play each other twice per season, with each side providing the officials for one of the games. This time they were from Chamberlain, which may explain why the swept all three games. The games were close and a good crowd attended.
The weather was crazy as well. On Thursday many areas of the State called off school because the weather was in the minus 30 degree range! Yet, by Sunday, we were back up to the mid 40’s with lots of melting.
I hope you all have a great week ahead and that our loving God will continue to bless and protect you now and always! We are grateful for your interest in and concern for St. Joseph’s and the programs we offer for the Lakota (Sioux) children. Pilamaya – thank you!
