Giving to Lakota children – Page 6 – St. Joseph's Indian School

My high school yearbook

Fall seems to kick off meeting season for the local diocese. I traveled to Mitchell, South Dakota yesterday for a priest meeting with the Vicar for Clergy and to Sioux Falls today for a meeting on vocations. Both were worth the time and distances.

While much has been in the news about priests’ misbehavior, as a group, priests tend to have some of the highest rankings of job satisfaction and there was a good spirit among the group. We shared about other priests who positively impacted our lives and vocations. My pastor, Fr. Letko, served in my home parish for 42 years, so he was the only priest I knew and a real institution. I don’t remember a lot of his homilies, but I remember him driving the school bus, cutting the grass and dropping by to visit people in their homes every once in a while. He was a real part of the community, and that was a strong formative influence on me.

The vocation meeting, was a gathering of the religious communities that work in the diocese gathered, both of men and women. Again, lots of caring people, doing some good work to serve both the church and people in need. We keep praying that we can live lives of faith that inspire others to search for God within the context of religious life.

Read here how Rebecca set a goal to cut enough Campbell’s Soup labels to earn a laptop computer. http://bit.ly/rd2bCi

I did get in some time with the students. I had supper with William Home (4^th-5^th grade girls). They were cutting soup labels when I arrived – saving up for prizes for both the home and themselves individually.

At the office, a couple of our high school girls dropped by to talk. Erin and Danisha are both seniors, and starting to plan for senior pictures. I happened to have my high school yearbook on the bookshelf and opened it up where they both got a good laugh at how I looked many years ago. It lead to lots of stories and sharing.

Jump roping for laughs

Fr. Joe and Fr. Vincent stopped by from Lower Brule, where they are in charge of pastoral work on the two Indian reservations nearest St. Joseph’s Indian School. They are replacing a 30+ year old heating and cooling system and we needed to talk about that project. Since I was pastor there before coming to the school, we also caught up on people and events in the parish.

I was looking forward to hosting them for lunch at our community house, but we had some complications.

To help get ready for our 35th annual powwow, we decided to trench in a water line to the pavilion. That will help make clean up for the supper and concession stand a lot easier. They had to shut off the water to our house in order to do that, and I had set some pots of water aside. But in digging there was an older electrical connection that wasn’t correct on our underground maps, and power got knocked out too. Besides all the computers going down for a while, we got things up and running in short order, and it didn’t interrupt the school day. But with no water or electricity, going home for lunch wasn’t happening, I treated Fr. Joe and Fr. Vincent to a café in downtown Chamberlain instead.

The American Indian children love playing outside! — The Lakota (Sioux) children love playing outside!

Going by the Benedictine Homes after school, I saw some of our youngest girls twirling a long jump rope. I was in a playful mood, so I jumped in and joined them. I used to jump rope a lot when I was training for basketball. I lasted a long time, which is another sign the nerves in my foot are continuing to heal and grow stronger. And I got some smiles and laughs out of the little ones to see me joining their games.

A great Labor Day weekend

The campus was unusually quiet over the weekend. Many of the students got checked out by their families to enjoy some activities over the long holiday weekend. On Sunday, we had a much smaller than usual crowd for mass as well. Several of the homes were gone on day trips – some made a run to the South Dakota State Fair in Huron. Others went to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to take in the LifeLight Christian Music Festival.

On Sunday our SCJ community hosted four overseas visitors. Three priests from Indonesia and one from Venezuela have been studying English this summer before they return to Rome for advanced degrees in Formation and Spirituality. They decided to take advantage of the long weekend and explore the South Dakota prairies.

Although today there were no classes, the campus sprang back to life as students poured back onto campus. A treat for Labor Day was a trip to downtown Chamberlain to the movies. It’s about a mile away and most of the homes walked down. We practically filled up the theater with just our St. Joseph’s kids. While “Smurfs 3D” is not exactly a cinematic masterpiece, I was chaperoning 1^st – 3^rd grade girls and their laughter and glee made the movie going experience unforgettable for me.

As each child came into the theater, they got a pop and popcorn. Rose is a new third grader this year, and she remarked, “Did St. Joseph’s pay for all this? That’s really nice of you!” I appreciated her gratitude and explained to her that I didn’t deserve the thanks as much as the many folks who send donations in so our students can have some fun once in a while, in addition to being able to run all the good school and home programs we have.

We ended the day with a cookout in Wisdom Circle before the students had to go inside for showers, homework time and to get ready to start another full school week.

A successful car wash for the Lakota youth

The high school girls are making a trip to an Arts Fair in Sioux Falls, South Dakota next week. Since Chamberlain High School had an early dismissal for the holiday weekend, they decided to have a car wash. It was timely for me, since I had lots of bugs all over the grill and windshield. They did a thorough job cleaning the inside too. They were scheduled to be open for business from 1:30 – 4:00 but with lots of interest and volume, they were in the parking lot until 5:30, and made a nice pile of change to spend on the trip.

After school, I walked by the Fisher field, where students were playing different games. I joined a group that was passing and punting footballs, and found it relaxing just to be out there with the crew, tossing back and forth and batting the breeze. My enjoyment of sports has always proven to be a nice ice breaker with the students. Daniel, one of our new houseparents, was grilling burgers, so the juicy odors led me over to Speyer Home (6^th-8^th grade boys) to join them for supper.

A day at St. Joseph’s Indian School

Today I spent time touring campus. The loading dock by the Development Office needs some major concrete and drainage work done. The building is 20 years old. While the work on the homes makes the campus look new and different, there is a lot of infrastructure work just to maintain the campus that our crew has to stay on top of.

I ate super with the Raphael Home (1^st-3^rd grade boys). They were full of energy after getting back from a hike around campus. You’d think it would calm them down, but still they were excited and had lots of stories to share. Being a guest, I had lots of requests of youngsters who wanted to sit next to me. Alas, there are only two chairs on either side, so I can only say yes to the first two to ask.

Afterward, I listened to and helped the readers along. The first graders had an 8 page book, with about a dozen words repeated in every possible combination. “I am Sam. Matt sat on a mat.” I remember having to start at that level too, once upon a time.

Becky and Chantel inventoried the safe and found some older coins that had been donated and stored for safe keeping. We decided to get them appraised and found that we could earn about $12,000 by selling them, so that was a nice day’s work.

Erica is a freshman in high school and I walked by a meeting with her family service counselor Julie. “Did you ever hear of a high school student who missed the rules so soon – after just one week?” Erica was telling Julie what she missed was the group structure of the junior high homes, where everything including homework time was done in common. In high school you have to organize your own time – an important task we all must learn.

Hurricane Irene affects St. Joseph’s Indian School

Good afternoon!

The first item I want to share is that Fr. Steve, the students and staff of St. Joseph’s that went to New York City for donor luncheons are safe, but stuck. Father called yesterday afternoon to say that they were able to have the luncheon on Saturday, but only seven Benefactors were able to attend due to the approach of Hurricane Irene since public transportation was shut down. I’m sure Fr. Steve will have more to blog at his next opportunity, but he wanted everyone to know they were safe. Due to the backlog of air travelers, he felt that they might have to stay an extra day or two before being able to fly back to South Dakota.

As mentioned in my last memo, the local Chamberlain School system opened last week and the high school kicked off their volleyball, football and soccer season. The Cubs pulled off a big upset in knocking off Hot Springs 16-14 in football. Four of our students are on the team, one is a cheerleader and even the mascot is a St. Joseph’s Indian School student. The soccer and volleyball teams did not fare as well. The soccer team is 0-3, but got a nice word of affirmation from the referee at their last game since he was impressed at the progress they have made since this is only their second year. The volleyball team won the JV game 2-0. Two St. Joseph students are on that team while one is on the varsity which gave a good effort but also had opening game jitters that helped contribute to losing the match 0-3.

I also mentioned that a variety of meetings have been underway here on campus and that was highlighted by various reports being generated regarding our strategic planning as we dream dreams for the future and how we can continue moving St. Joseph’s forward over the next several years.

On Saturday, three Benedictine Sisters from Yankton, South Dakota came by for a visit to campus. Sister Doris is the blood sister of Sister William after whom one of our Homes is named. One of the other Sisters had been to visit St. Joseph’s years ago and mentioned how impressed they were with the look of the campus and all the “new” additions they noticed. It is always nice when those who have some history with St. Joseph’s visit and then share their memories of previous visits, especially if it has been awhile.

St. Joseph’s hosted about 15 families who attended a FAST (Families And School Together) Weekend. The program is an outreach of our Family Service Counselors geared to help students and their families deepen relationship and interaction skills while facing the challenges of family life.

Lots of activities for the students this week as the cross-country, volleyball and 7^th/8^th grade football teams are practicing for their upcoming seasons which begin next month. Our 5^th grade Lakota (Sioux) students will also have the chance to check out the opportunity to form a band here at St. Joseph’s as part of a program in conjunction with the Chamberlain School system to help younger students start learning musical instruments, so as to be ready to transition into the high school band. It may be a bit noisy around here for the next several months or so, but we are also looking forward some beautiful music as the year moves along. Another area of practice will be for those preparing to dance for the powwow on September 17^th.

Now that the students are back and the year is underway, I’ll be going into each of the Homes to bless them for the upcoming school year. It is a way to remind our students we want to provide a safe and secure experience for them and the blessing highlights God’s presence so as to enable all within the Home to be supportive and encouraging to each other.

Again, our thanks to all of you for your generosity, prayers and encouragement. May God continue to bless and reward you. Have a great day!

Sincerely,

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

St. Joseph’s Indian School

An update from Fr. Anthony

With Fr. Steve Huffstetter, SCJ on his way to New York City for donor lunches this weekend, I have the chance to serve again as guest blogger. My name is Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ and I am the chaplain here at St. Jospeh’s.

The school year has been underway for about a week and a half. We had the official ‘opening’ on Wednesday afternoon with the Opening of School Liturgy and student picnic. It was also the opening of school for the Chamberlain School system which meant that our high school students were back and ready to go after their orientation and the children of our houseparents were starting their studies for the year as well.

We have a large number of high dchool students this year, as 8^th grade graduates over the last two years have made known their desire to continue in St. Joseph’s program. Several of the students came back early to take part in pre-season athletic activities—soccer, football and volleyball. The soccer is already underway and the football team has their first game Friday night against Hot Springs, SD. The volleyball team has their first game on Saturday against Mobridge/Pollock. To encourage support of the various teams, St. Joseph’s rec department buys several season passes so that our students can attend and lend their voices in cheer for the teams and their players, especially those from St. Joseph’s.

Fr. Steve may have mentioned that St. Joseph’s hosted the 2011 Chamberlain/Oacoma Youth Triathlon which consisted of swimming, running and bike riding. Students could take part individually or as part of a 3-man team. In the 9-10 year old boys, Maleke came in second and in the team category, Moses, Dylan and Bradley came in first and Ramez, Richie and Dustin came in second. In the 11-12 year old category, Angel was first and Cassidy second in the individual girls and Nate, Joseph and Louie won third along with Hialle, Trinity and Justis winning fourth in the team category. It was interesting watching them speed around campus on their bikes and then hit the pool and then run various distances depending on their age group. Many from town and the local area also took part and had some nice compliments regarding the facilities St. Joseph’s had to offer in hosting the event. Your generosity helps make the campus and facilities available to share with the local community. We extend our thanks for your help to enable us to host something positive for the local area.

One drawback from getting the year underway, is the necessity for meetings as we prepare to welcome students and new staff and get ready for upcoming events. We have already had a meeting on the up-coming powwow in September. Though they take up time, they do help us all get on the same page and thus better prepared to be of service to students and staff. I bring this up since I’m on my way to a meeting now. Will touch base with you again on Monday to share what went down over the weekend. May God’s blessings be with you to reward you for your interest in St. Joseph’s Indian School.

Sincerely,

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

I was “Rolling by the River”

The Native American medicine wheel is a sacred symbol used by indigenous Plains tribes.

We took pictures of all the students and child services staff at St. Joseph’s Indian School in front of the school today. First we formed a medicine wheel, with staff wearing our blue jackets forming the frame and the students wearing t-shirts in the four traditional colors (yellow, red, black and white) to fill in the circle. The maintenance crew got out the bucket they use to work in the treetops or upper reaches of the building, and Emily our school photographer climbed aboard and snapped away. We also got a more conventional shot over by the bleachers. I enjoy looking back at old group photos and remembering the lives that touched mine, and I’m sure others will appreciate it now and many years down the road.

After school, I visited the Matthias Home (6^th-8^th grade girls). They are one of the homes living in transitional quarters while the former Matthias Home is undergoing renovations. Instead of two to a room, some of the rooms that are normally offices in the Sacred Hoop Center* now have four beds. We always hope that makes for more togetherness and not more drama. But the Matthias Home has a great spirit so far.

Some of the students were playing a dancing game on the Wii and asked me to hop in and try. About the only song I’d ever even heard of was Ike and Tina Turner’s Proud Mary, so with the Mighty Missouri in the background, I was indeed Rolling by the River and trying not to look too foolish. A good time was had by all.

I’ll be traveling for donor luncheons and some other meetings over the next week. Fr. Anthony said he’d give a couple of updates while I’m gone. I’m sure I’ll have a few adventures to tell about along the way.

An old all staff photograph of St. Joseph's Indian School.

*The Sacred Hoop Tiyospaye Center is a space for our Lakota (Sioux) students and their families to spend time together. Through the center, we provide short-term family visit accommodations, a variety of counseling services and an alumni program.

Sports are underway at St. Joseph’s Indian School

I can tell that school at St. Joseph’s Indian School is back I full swing by the amount of meetings I was in and out of today. I appreciate reports and updates of all that’s going on around campus. We’re constantly evaluating our results to make our programs better match our students’ needs.

Angelia and Ashley will represent St. Joseph’s at donor luncheons in New York in a few days, and they met with me to go over some of what they want to share with our attendees. I don’t know who is more excited – they or our chaperones. Going from life on the South Dakota prairie and getting to experience such a world renown place is something to look forward to indeed.

I stopped in to see the Hogebach (high school girls) students. Hogebach students tend to be one of the homes most involved in outside activities, jobs and sports. Since classes don’t actually start until Wednesday, all the girls were home at the same time, which rarely happens. Talia was helping in the kitchen and was twirling pizza dough and tossing it into the air as I came in. She was more steady with the rolling-pin than the tossing, but the end result was a tasty taco pizza. Afterward, they went to the Missouri River for a bonfire and time for bonding.

7th and 8th graders football practice at St. Joseph's Indian School.

Sports practices are under way. The coaches can quickly see which students kept active over the summer and which ones watched too much TV instead. After school I saw the cross-country runners taking laps around campus. We generally have a few really graceful and competitive runners. I admire all those who are trying out and striving for personal bests. Tonight the lights are on over by the football field as our 7^th and 8^th graders practice. They wait until the evening, after supper and homework are done. The girls volleyball team is in the gym, practicing serves and sets and getting into game shape.

Excitement at St. Joseph’s Indian School

We had our first Sunday mass of the year. Often, I tell stories when I preach to young people, to help them imagine and connect with the gospel message. Today, it was more about teaching and basic catechesis. We have 42 new students and for some of them, mass was a brand new experience. I took my time with extra explanations and tried to make everyone feel at home and welcome. We had a smaller crowd than normal, since many of the kids from Fort Thompson went back home this weekend for the Crow Creek Powwow. Also, our high school students didn’t return to campus until this evening.

A few folks from last night’s wedding visited us for mass. Georgia went to school here in the late 50’s, and the students were impressed to learn she is a Tribal Judge. I try to hold up alumni like that and urge our kids to aim high in the education and their dreams.

I stopped in at Crane Home (HS underclass girls) and welcomed everyone back. Besides getting bigger rooms than jr. high students, the high school students also have more freedoms and privileges – but also more responsibility as they have to learn to live more independently and get ready for what awaits them in the world beyond St. Joseph’s campus. There’s a good spirit and lots of excitement – if not about starting school, at least about reuniting with good friends and starting a new year.