Giving to Lakota children – Page 3 – St. Joseph's Indian School

A word from Fr. Anthony

Greetings once again from St. Joseph’s Indian School in Chamberlain, South Dakota. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Fr. Steve Huffstetter, SCJ was on the road again having the chance to visit family in Florida to take part in a Baptism. While he was able to enjoy some personal time, it gives me the opportunity once again to share with you what happened over this past weekend.

We saw a lot of red on campus as St. Joseph’s Indian School’s annual Fall Sobriety “Red Ribbon Week” kicked off. It is a program to help our American Indian students realize there are a variety of ways to get high on life that do not require turning toward drugs or drinking. The students wore shirts carrying the saying, ‘My extreme commitment is living drug free’. On Friday night, the rec center rang with oh’s, ah’s and shouts of laughter as several large inflatables were erected for the students to jump on, climb over and slide down. There will be several special theme days this week: on ‘Drugs turn you inside out’ day the students are urged to wear their clothes inside out; on ‘Being drug free is no sweat’ they can wear sweat clothes to class; and on ‘Team up against drugs’ they are urged to wear a sport’s jersey.

Friday also was the end of the First Quarter at Chamberlain High School. The mid-term grades hinted there might be a new name on the trophy our high school homes contend for. The Hogebach Home has been the defending champion, but it looks like Sheehy Home might beat them out by a narrow percentage. We’ll have to see if the grades hold up. Several students were working hard to achieve 4.0 grade points. It seems to highlight a renewed interest in academics.

The members of the football team received some exciting news that they qualified for the South Dakota state play-offs. Though they had a tough season, they played tough teams which enabled them to have enough power points to qualify. We have four young men on the team, one of our young ladies is a member of the cheerleader squad and another student is the Cub mascot. They will be playing Little Wound on Tuesday.

The high school also qualified several for the cross-country championships which were held this past weekend in Sioux Falls. The girls’ team came in 5^th out of sixteen teams. Two of the teams have St. Joseph ties. Talia, who moved up from JV to Varsity, and the daughter of one of our staff were part of the team. They have a strong tradition of cross-country at CHS which ought to continue since several key members of the team return again next year.

On Sunday, the inter-city boys’ basketball season kicked off. This program is geared to offer an activity for the 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grade young men of St. Joseph’s and the Chamberlain area to play basketball and get to know each other while the girls’ season is underway. Then when the boys have their season, after Christmas, the girls will have the chance to take part in the inter-city program for them. This is the first year that 6^th graders are able to take part and, as they may not get a lot of playing time, the rec center staff decided that at half time sixth graders will have a five-minute quarter just to themselves.

With Halloween on the horizon, our youth are looking forward to the activities for that. There will be trick-or-treating here on campus and the high school students have a dance, movies and games at the high school. The students here on campus will have a grand march in the rec center with prizes given for best costumes.

Have a great week. May the Great Spirit continue to bless you and yours. We are always grateful for your generosity and keep you and your intentions in our prayers. Until next time.

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

St. Joseph’s Indian School

Changes to serve more students

Walking down the hill to church, the weather was still frigid. We had the first hard frost of the season and the grass crunched underfoot. I know this is just the first of plenty more to come, but know there is still plenty of time for lovely fall days.

In the development office, Marcia’ turned 50today, and her co-workers decorated her office well. At mid-day break, we had carrot cake awaiting, and Marcia came in wearing oversize silver glittery glasses in the shape of 5 and 0.

Our home remodeling project is moving along well. Next year, all of our homes will be back in play, and we will be able to serve more students. What we are starting to do now is evaluate how best to make use of the beds we will have. Which age group would best be served by expansion? Should we keep an equal number of boys and girls homes or change the mix? Should we change the mix of ages any? We will start to have discussion sessions with staff to come up with good and workable ideas.

Lots of giggles

When I arrived back in the office, I had several baskets of treats for Bosses’ Day awaiting me. While I try my best to affirm the staff at St. Joseph’s Indian School for their work and dedication, I receive far more affirmation than I ever give out.

While walking through the school to catch up on the news and see what our Lakota (Sioux) youngsters were up to, I met new Robin, our new Special Ed teacher. Robin isn’t exactly new, since she worked here at St. Joseph’s several years ago and we’re happy to have her return.

In first grade I met Glenn, our newest student. She was still a little shy and overwhelmed, but giving it her best try. When there are openings here because students are able to move back with their families, we look to our waiting to see who else in need we can be able to serve.

I ate supper in the Crane Home (high school girls) and was pleased to see that besides stories, they were full of lots of giggles. The house had that comfortable feeling when students are cooperating and helping one another. There is drama and conflict to be sure, but we always work towards creating more of the happy kind of memories.

The darkness of the prairie

Before Mike and I flew back to South Dakota, we had time to tour Arlington National Cemetery. We stopped as a funeral Procession passed us by, the casket resting on a horse-drawn caisson. We were told across the country WWII veterans are dying at a rate of about 1500 each day. Veterans killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan are also coming here for their final resting place. So much history starting with Civil War dead! The sailors who perished on the Maine during the Spanish-American War. Nurses killed in action. Civil Rights pioneer Medgar Evers. Korea and Viet Nam vets. Supreme court justices. The graves of the three Kennedy brothers. The astronauts from the Space Shuttle Challenger. We paid our respects at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and watched the ritual changing of the guard. We climbed to Robert E. Lee’s Arlington House, which overlooks the Potomac and the whole District of Columbia.

In a matter of hours we are transported back into a different world. After our 15 seat plane from Denver to Pierre lands at the airport we drive 90 miles home. There are no bright lights, no sky scrapers, and fewer than a handful of cars and the darkness of the prairie. But there is more that unites us than divides us.

Whether it’s a huge national cemetery, or a hill far away on a lonely reservation, cemeteries always move me to deeper prayer, reflection, and admiration of people who went before us.

Benefit from their generosity

While I was in the office working on Sunday’s homily, I got a phone call from the Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center. A couple from Houston, Mike and Carolyn, had brought up a truck load of clothes to share with us and wanted to meet me and say hello. I was in sweat pants and an old t-shirt, but that actually worked to my advantage as we went to the storage building and unloaded. I took Mike and Carolyn on a tour of campus.

The William Home (4^th-5^th grade girls) were most gracious about showing us the home and talking about their routine. They also volunteered to try on some of the sweatshirts and a coat so the good folks back in Texas who gathered it all up could see the kids who will benefit from their generosity.

Hidden America – Children of the Plains

A day of some sadness with a funeral and a wake to go to today.

Fr. Brian was a 46-year-old priest who pastored in Fort Pierre, South Dakota until an inoperable brain tumor was discovered about four months ago. He had been in the hospital and hospice care since then, and died earlier this week. During the homily, Fr. Michel acknowledged so many people were saddened that a young priest who touched so many people’s hearts should die so young and so quickly. But God’s ways are not our ways. What is most important not the length of our lives, but what we do with the time God gives us. Going to a priest’s funeral makes me more deeply reflect on my own priesthood and ask how I can be a better and holier servant of God.

The moment I was most moved to tears came at the beginning of mass, with about 40 priests lining the center aisle to greet the body. Fr. Brian’s niece and nephew sang a gospel song, “I will Rise”. I couldn’t help but think of my own cancer, which is still in remission. I had a sense of, this could have been me. But it led to a deepening of the psalmist’s attitude – “What return can I make to the Lord, for all the good God has done for me in seeing me through?”

One of our secretaries suffered a family tragedy when her college aged son died. This evening at the wake the church and hall were packed as tightly as possible, with a tremendous outpouring of care and support from the community.

Tonight ABC news 20/20 program with Diane Sawyer ran a special on Hidden America – Children of the Plains. South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation was the location for the reports. The images and stories were powerful and well done. The journalists were realistic about the tough living conditions on the Indian reservation. And they also showed some of the hope and promise in young people trying to break cycles of poverty and alcoholism. Those are much the critical issues we at St. Joseph’s Indian School try to address.

I value the wisdom shared

We had an all day Board of Directors meeting. The longest segment of discussion revolved around the new strategic plan that we have been working on. With the added input and approval of the Board we should be ready to begin in early 2012. We went through the annual audit; we were glad to hear there were no major problems or findings. We reviewed the plans for the museum expansion and alumni center, and heard reports from our outreach programs on the Indian reservations.

I’m always trying to make sure St. Joseph is headed in the right direction, and asking the right questions. It helps to have others who care about the mission of the school to ask the big questions too, and provide direction and recommendations.

While I finish these meetings feeling a bit worn out, I also value the wisdom shared, which makes the load of administrative leadership easier to carry.

Making the Akta Lakota Museum into a small town treasure

Today, 15 Northern Plains artists submitted their latest creations to our Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center acquisition committee, and the museum picked up several nice new pieces. The things I usually like are not the same ones our more knowledgeable artists recommend, and in the long run, they have done a great job of making our museum into a small treasure in town.

Two fellow SCJs Fr. Jack and Deacon Dave arrived for tomorrow’s Board of Directors meeting. Deacon Dave was my predecessor as director of St. Joseph’s Indian School. When I saw the school secretary at 11:30 mass, I asked her if anything special was happening at school today. “Deacon Dave dropped by to see us, so that made the day pretty special.” People still appreciate all he did to build up St. Joseph’s into the place it is today.

Adrian and Merrill are two 8^th grade boys chosen to represent St. Joseph’s at our next donor luncheon, which will be in Pittsburgh in early December. I practiced with them after school, asking typical questions our donors want to know. They’re excited and a little bit nervous, but that gives them incentive to practice harder. It will be a great chance for them to experience a big city and see what life is like there.

Gifts all around us

I’m back from a Donor Luncheon trip to Palm Desert/ Palm Springs California. Thirty years ago, I entered religious life with a year of Novitiate in the High Desert, about an hour away in Victorville. I remember at first being intimidated by the desert. Once I slowed down to explore and observe the myriad of life in what I thought was a wasteland, I was astounded by the beauty.

There is a lot to learn by going to the quiet.

This part of the Desert though, is well-developed and filled with hustle and bustle. Two high school girls, Erin and Danisha, represented St. Joseph’s Indian School at the luncheons. Both work part-time jobs after school and have been saving up their money to check out the clothing stores hoping to find different and unique items compared to what is available locally in Chamberlain, South Dakota. Shopping, especially clothes shopping (it seldom takes me long to find my basic black !) requires lots of patience on my part, but I know it brings joy to them. I walked around and got my exercise, and had time to visit with Cheryl, the girls’ houseparent and trip chaperone. She told of her interaction with the students’ families. As she’s built up a trusting relationship the girls have shared with her many of the difficult circumstances that brought them to St. Joseph’s Indian School in the first place.

We were joined by about 70 donors on Saturday and 45 on Sunday. With some students, I worry they will get stage fright and be afraid to speak up. Erin and Danisha are both seniors and over the years have developed the self-confidence that made it easy for them to talk to our gathered friends and answer their questions. That bodes well for their future as they prepare to move on from St. Joseph’s in a few months. Both are applying for college.

Danisha’s family sew beautiful Star Quilts, and wanted to honor those folks whose generosity has made her education possible. Danisha brought along a beautiful quilt and at the end of the Saturday luncheon, she drew a name from those in attendance. Lucille was the lucky winner, and we couldn’t have picked someone for whom it meant so much.

Lucille herself taught for 50 years, and felt so honored that her excitement moved me to tears.

We drove by two of the huge Indian Casinos of the area. One of our donors is a member of the Morongo Tribe. They have shared their resources by taking materials to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation here in South Dakota to help those in need. While many of the Sioux tribes in South Dakota have tried casinos, the low population to draw from on the prairie has most of them struggling and not the massive operations like we saw in California.

Today I spent catching up on mail and messages. The bulldozers moved in and started the groundwork for our Akta Lakota Museum expansion. It will block off traffic flow for a while, but we look forward to the end results.

Two girls who have been here for 3 ½ years are transferring to another school. Their mom has moved and is in a better position to have them come back to live with her. Our goal isn’t to keep students here as long as possible, but prepare them for life when they and their families are ready to move on. We easily get attached to students and miss anyone when they leave. When students transfer like this in the middle of the year, we look to our waiting list and offer the spot to another child.

Our principal Kathleen is in the midst of teacher evaluations, and this year is trying a new technique – actually videotaping lessons. This allows her to show the teachers how they present themselves and the materials in an even more concrete way. Because she also videotapes the class and how the students are responding, the teacher can observe student attentiveness and notice anyone who is having difficulty keeping to task.

I think it is a gift to see ourselves from others’ perspectives, and we can learn a lot from that.

At day’s end, I watched the our 7^th and 8^th grade girls’ volleyball teams defeat our upstream neighbors the Crow Creek Chieftains. Many of our students are from the Crow Creek Reservation. Instead of an intense rivalry, play on the court was friendly. In the 8^th grade game, Martina started the second game with the serve. Before she relinquished it back to Crow Creek, the score was already 18 – 0! Awesome job Braves!

Greetings from Fr. Anthony

Greetings once again from St. Joseph’s Indian School in Chamberlain, South Dakota. As Fr. Steve Huffstetter, SCJ is away for a donor lunch in southern California, I have the opportunity to share with you what has been happening over this past weekend. One piece of good news is that we had some much-needed rain which helped keep the dust down that has been blowing around recently.

I just returned from a prayer service that kicked off our celebration of Native American Day here in South Dakota. While the rest of the country celebrates Columbus Day, South Dakota, as part of a process of reconciliation, started by the late Governor George S. Mickelson, honors the heritage and culture of the Native Americans here in the state. Several of our students will be traveling to Kimball, South Dakota to do some powwow dancing for them and explaining various aspects of the Lakota (Sioux) culture and tradition.

Our American Indian youth love volleyball! — Our Lakota (Sioux) youth love volleyball!

This past Thursday, we saw our 7^th & 8^th grade volleyball teams have their first home game against Kimball. The 7^th grade swept the Kiotes and the 8^th grade won their match 2 games to 1. There were several rallies and good service streaks. Most of the teams games have been away, so as the month progresses we’ll be having more home matches.

On Friday, Peggy Thomas’ 4^th graders had a ‘book share’ in which they read stories they had written based off of a basic three paragraph start which they then could take in any direction. They invited staff and other classes to come and listen to the stories and then discuss the stories and look at the pictures they had made to illustrate their story.

Two German exchange students and an advisor made it to St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus late Friday night. They were suppose to be here on Thursday but a delayed flight caused them to miss a key connection which resulted in their coming a day late. Father Steve and the group going to California had hoped to meet them as they arrived, to have supper prior to the departure of those going West, but the delay negated that. They did not get much chance to rest up since they went out to the Black Hills with the students of Hogebach Home to see the sights. They will be with us for about a week and a half and will attend Chamberlain High School with our students for a few days and get to know our program and then make a presentation of their school and the activities they are involved in Germany. St. Joseph’s sends over some of our students in late May and early June.

The youth at St. Joseph's Indian School had a blast learning about science and space!

Our 5^th graders took part in a program call Starbase which is a program to encourage interest in science and space. They had daily activities here on campus and then went to Ellsworth Air Force Base in Rapid City, South Dakota for a tour and some additional activities on base.

Several of our students are involved in the Explorers Club which meets weekly. One of our students, Isaiah, was elected sergeant-at-arms for the club. They have only been meeting for a few weeks with other students from the Chamberlain area and will begin to focus on what activities they can be involved with to help the local community.

On Sunday the SCJs who serve here in Chamberlain, at St. James Parish and St. Joseph’s, joined with those SCJs who serve the Indian reservations of Crow Creek and Lower Brule for a community meeting. It is our chance to get together each month and share what’s been happening and how each of us is doing. It is an important aspect of community to be present to each other as a sign of support and encouragement. We also have a chance to share a meal together and share some social time.

The rec department just sent out the schedule for the up-coming basketball season and the Inter-City league, which is a program to offer the opportunity for our students to get to know local Chamberlain students by playing together so that when they reach high school they will already know each other a bit. I help out with officiating and the schedules reminds me I have to get in shape to run up and down the court. The spirit is willing, but the knees can be weak.

Hope all of you have a wonderful week ahead. Know that we continue to keep you in our prayers thanking the Great Spirit for your generosity. May God continue to bless you all.

Sincerely,

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

St. Joseph’s Indian School

Chamberlain, South Dakota