Lakota (Sioux) – Page 9 – St. Joseph's Indian School

The heart of our mission at St. Joseph’s Indian School

Hello from St. Joseph’s seventh and eighth grade community! My name is Frank and I am the Residential Coordinator for this community, which means I oversee all the

Frank, 7th & 8th Grade Residential Coordinator

seventh and eighth grade houseparents

With the blizzard of activities that surround our students and staff, I sometimes get lost in the perpetual motion. I also sometimes forget that our students have more going on in their lives than just what goes on here at St. Joseph’s Indian School. Our mission is to minister to the needs of the whole student – mind, body, heart and spirit.

I was reminded of the real goals of our mission recently.

During the week, I work later in the evening to spend time in the homes, visit with the students and help out where I can. I went to one of our girl’s home and as I walked in the houseparent asked me to prop the door open.

This is actually against the rules. Our homes are set up to maintain utmost safety for our students and staff, so outside doors are always locked. Students have a code to let themselves in.

It does happen on occasion that the doors are propped open – maybe the air needs to clear quickly from a burnt pan or simply to let in some fresh air. When the houseparent asked me to prop the door, I asked if she had burnt something and was trying to keep the fire alarm from sounding.

She said no and politely explained the reason – the home was having an honoring supper.

One of the girls lost their father last year and this was the anniversary of his passing. The student had been down during week, but her houseparent had picked up on her mood and made the connection. As she continues to struggle with the grief of her father’s passing, an honor supper is meant to help the student grieve and celebrate her father’s life and spirit. The supper symbolically hosts his spirit and helps the student connect her father in healthy, culturally significant way.

St. Joseph’s has many Native American houseparents like Rachel, who teaches students about powwow dances. — St. Joseph’s is blessed to have houseparents from all walks of life, especially those who can help the Lakota (Sioux) children learn about their culture.

The supper table was laid out spectacularly with a spot for everyone in the home and an extra place of honor for the student’s father. At this place on the table, there was a picture of him with sage and flowers arranged around the picture. The honor spot, with his picture, was placed at the head of the table in a simple gesture of respect for his spirit. The student invited her older brother from one of the high school homes to be part of the special meal.

In accordance with Lakota tradition, the two prepared a spirit plate for their father to nourish his spirit in the afterlife.

As I had observed when I arrived, the door was propped open. It was open to welcome his spirit into the home and allow free passage.

I was completely chagrinned.

The simple gesture was out of concern for the student’s wellbeing – truly at the heart of St. Joseph’s mission.

St. Joseph’s houseparents live with our students day in and day out. They know the students well enough to pick up cues when behavior is out of the ordinary. They know their families.

This houseparent was able to connect the dots and then intervene in a culturally sensitive and meaningful way for the student.

In the hubbub of everyday life at St. Joseph’s Indian School, I tend to focus on results such as good grades and exceptional behavior from our students. It is easy for our focus to get stuck in one area of our mission, just like I was.

But as usual, circumstance came around to remind me what was really important and the scope of our mission as a whole. These opportunities, I believe, are designed by the Creator to keep us moving forward, to keep us focused on the mission as a whole and to humble us when needed.

St. Joseph’s houseparents are with the children all the time they are not in school. — St. Joseph’s houseparents transform houses into homes full of love!

I was humbled by the houseparent’s awareness and ability to help her student cope in a way which makes sense on many levels. Interventions and simple acts of compassion happen every day in our homes on campus; our houseparents minister in many ways to the spiritual needs of our students. We don’t always see those simple acts of kindness, but we do see the end result in the smiling happy faces of the children we serve.

I would like to thank all of our supporters – without you being part of our mission we would not be able to meet the needs of our students!

God Bless,

Frank W.

7-8^th Grade Residential Coordinator

An education for life at St. Joseph’s Indian School

At St. Joseph’s Indian School, we strive to educate the Lakota (Sioux) children we work with for life – mind, body, heart and spirit. With a safe environment and enough to Continue reading “An education for life at St. Joseph’s Indian School”

Ending one season, starting another at St. Joseph’s Indian School

Good afternoon from St. Joseph’s Indian School!

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

Last week, we had a staff appreciation breakfast and handed out a small lapel pin to everyone. We’ve shared a pin each year over the last several years and ask staff to wear them, especially on the 19^th of each month. This day corresponds with the feast of St. Joseph in March and is also when we end the monthly novena of Masses we offer for our benefactors (the novena begins on the 11^thof each month).

The pin gives all of us a visual reminder of our benefactors’ generosity. As we lift all of you up in prayer, we renew our commitment to use the resources you provide to the best of our ability in reaching out to meet the needs of the Lakota (Sioux) students and their families. Pilamaya – thank you – for sharing your blessings!

The St. Joseph’s Braves finished their season playing the Chieftains from the Crow Creek Reservation. — St. Joseph’s football team burst onto the field to start their last game!

Our volleyball and football seasons were also wrapped up last week. The girls earned a victory against the Warriors from Pierre Indian Learning Center (PILC) to close their volleyball season. At home, the football team hosted Crow Creek.

There are several students from the Crow Creek Indian Reservation who attend St. Joseph’s, so many players knew each other. There was great cheering from the crowd as many students and staff had come out to watch the boys play.

It was a close game! Everyone played hard and the Crow Creek Chieftains came out with a 50-46 win over St. Joseph’s Braves.

As the nets, cleats and pads are put away, our students will unpack their sneakers and gym shorts and get ready for basketball. The girls begin team practices next week and the boys will play in St. Joseph’s inter-city league on Sundays. After Christmas break, the boys and girls will switch – the boys will begin their regular basketball season and the girls will play inter-city league.

We hope you all have a great week.

Know we keep you in our prayers asking God to bless you and keep you healthy and happy.

Sincerely,

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

College visits for St. Joseph’s high school students

Greetings from a chilly Chamberlain!

Throughout the school year, St. Joseph’s high school students visit various colleges and trade schools as they consider their future. Last week, several or our seniors, juniors and sophomores traveled to the University of South Dakota to learn more about the campus and classes offered there.

On the trip to USD, our students were thrilled to catch up with St. Joseph’s alumni Errol and Wyatt, who graduated in 2014 and now attend the University of South Dakota. It was great to have their insight about the transition from high school to college. Thanks guys!

You may have heard about the recent difficulties at Chicago’s airports. The ripple effect of this disruption in air travel made it all the way to South Dakota. Our team going to the donor luncheon in Chicago this past weekend had their flight cancelled. In an effort to keep our scheduled events, the decision was made to drive to Chicago.

Everything went great!

The Lakota (Sioux) students prepare for the future by visiting colleges and tech schools. — St. Joseph’s high school students visited USD and met up with alumni Errol and Wyatt.

Justina and Treyah did a great job speaking to our donors. The trip was made extra special by a visit from Fr. Steve Huffstetter, SCJ, past Director of St. Joseph’s and our current Provincial Superior. He joined the team for the Saturday lunch and sightseeing. Fr. Steve grew up near Chicago and was excited to show the team the local sights.

During the donor events we hold in different cities around the U.S., two of our Lakota (Sioux) students share with our benefactors how their generosity touches the lives of the children who attend St. Joseph’s. Our next luncheon will be in San Francisco, California in January. You can register online or call 1-800-584-9200. We’d love to have you join us if you are in the area!

Within the next few days, St. Joseph’s will be hosting exchange students from Germany. In June, we send a couple students to visit Germany and France. In the fall, our European counterparts become our guests and visit St. Joseph’s Indian School. They will attend a few days of classes with our students at Chamberlain High School, do some sightseeing and make a presentation of what life and school are like in Germany.

I hope that everyone has a great week. May God continue to bless and reward you for your generosity.

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

Technology & Engineering for St. Joseph’s fifth graders

St. Joseph’s fifth graders recently completed a week-long science class called Starbase Project NOVA. The week culminated with a field trip to the South Dakota Air and Space

Brock, St. Joseph's fifth grade teacher — Brock, St. Joseph’s fifth grade teacher

Museum located next to Ellsworth Air Force Base near Rapid City. Maybe you saw our pictures on the St. Joseph’s Indian School Facebook page?

During the week, the Lakota (Sioux) students learned about science, technology, engineering, and math – all through hands-on activities and experiments. They loved it!

Some of the activities were designing a space shuttle seat for Eggbert, their passenger, to allow him to safely land on his return trip from outer space. In this activity, they also learned about the importance of wearing seat belts while traveling.

The Lakota students conducted experiments that helped them learn about math, science, technology and engineering. — Students programmed a small robot to go through an obstacle course.

They also built miniature rockets made out of straws, pieces of notes cards used for wings, and clay for the nose tip. Their objective was to use a special launcher to try to land their rocket on a specific target. If their first launch wasn’t successful, they were given opportunities to make modifications to their launch to try to reach their desired target.

A chromatography experiment using different black markers asked students to determine which marker was used to write a special note.

St. Joseph’s fifth graders learned about chemical reactions during an experiment called Elephant Toothpaste. — Elephant toothpaste!

They even programmed robots to maneuver through an obstacle course.

A favorite activity of many was creating “elephant toothpaste.” In this experiment, students mixed several ingredients to create a chemical change resulting in the “elephant toothpaste.”

On their field trip, they were able to take a guided tour of the South Dakota Air and Space Museum, make space food (pudding) using powdered ingredients and take a virtual tour of outer space in the GeoDome.

St. Joseph’s 5^th graders really enjoyed the week. Some of their comments about Starbase were, “it was awesome,” and “we got to do some really neat experiments.”

Brock, Fifth Grade Teacher

If only you could have heard the joy that erupted from St. Joseph’s this morning…

Greetings from South Dakota and happy powwow week!

The Lakota boys and girls waited a month, but St. Joseph’s new playground is finally done! — Shouts of joy erupted from the playground when the Lakota students finally got to play on the new equipment!

The BIG news today is the blessing of the new playground equipment! Students and staff came out during their first period yesterday morning so we could offer a prayer and express our gratitude to our tiyospaye – extended family – who made it all possible. There was a lot of excitement and glee as they slid, climbed, swung and checked out everything.

As one staffer put it:

The kids finally got to play on our new playground! They have been waiting for a month and were incredibly patient. Today it was awesome to witness them experience it for the first time. Yep, all 164 kids at once – priceless!!!!!! If only everyone could have heard the joy that erupted from St. Joseph’s this morning…we are truly blessed!!!!!!!

Pilamaya – thank you – for your generosity!

And in the midst of this excitement, powwow week is upon us!

Last week we began the process to determine our royalty for the powwow. The students taking part had to write a short essay about why they wanted to be Miss St. Joseph’s, Jr. Miss St. Joseph’s or the Eagle Staff Bearer. They were also asked to demonstrate their dancing skills and answered questions from our panel of judges. The results will be announced Friday afternoon, September 12, at the cultural presentation in the Rec Center.

Even the big kids wanted to check out every corner of the new playground. — All the Lakota students – big and little – checked out every corner of the new playground.

Powwow guests are already arriving at St. Joseph’s Indian School! Our first visitor so excited he came a week early. He knocked on our door Saturday morning wondering where everyone was. Activities officially begin Thursday morning with a bus tour of nearby Indian Reservations (pre-registration required). In the meantime, guests can visit the Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center and take in the sites in and around Chamberlain. Check out the full powwow schedule!

You can learn more about powwow, including the definition of the event and various dance styles, at www.stjo.org/powwow.

I hope each of you has a wonderful week. Please keep us in prayer that we’ll have good weather and a successful event for our Lakota (Sioux) students, their families and all our guests!

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

The Lakota children say pilamaya – thank you! — Wopila tanka – many thanks – for your generosity!

Chaplain

Enjoying the Labor Day weekend with the Lakota (Sioux) students

Greetings from St. Joseph’s Indian School!

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend! We were honored to have a lot of guests visit the Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center as they were passing through on their travels. I love driving through the parking lot to look at the license plates and see where everyone is from. I hope you may have the chance to visit us one day!

It was a busy week here on campus. One of our high school boys’ homes hosted the Chamberlain High School Varsity football team for dinner Thursday night. It is a way to strengthen team unity and help give the local players and coaches a chance to see how the St. Joseph’s students live. We have several St. Joseph’s boys on the team.

St. Joseph’s powwow will be September 12-13; the Lakota children are ready! — The Lakota boys and girls are practicing their dance steps for powwow!

Sadly, the team lost their season opener Friday night against a team ranked at the state level. However, the Cubs will have the chance to rebound with their home opener this Friday.

In volleyball news, the varsity season opens tonight with the Lady Cubs hosting Stanley County. Just like the football team, we have several students on both the Varsity and JV teams.

Go Cubs!

The high school students had Friday off as well as Monday. One of our homes took advantage of the time off and offered a car wash on campus. Their goal was to raise money to attend the LifeLight Music Festival in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which is a three-day Christian music event. The car wash was a hit and they had a great time at the festival!

Here on campus over the long weekend, the younger Lakota students took in a movie – Guardians of the Galaxy – at our local theater. A picnic was planned afterwards, but they had to avoid some rain drops! They also had the chance to enjoy being outside, swim and just take it easy – it was a wonderful, relaxing weekend!

With the holiday weekend behind us, all the focus now shifts to St. Joseph’s powwow September 12-13. We are praying for good weather! The students are busy preparing regalia and practicing their dance steps. We hope you can join us!

We hope you will all have a great week! May God’s blessings and guidance will be with you.

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

Staying active with the Lakota (Sioux) children

Greetings from Chamberlain, South Dakota!

There was a nip in the air this morning that gave a hint that fall is on the way. We had several warm days last week and got some much needed rain. The rain has helped bring back some color to our grass. A few local cattle seemed to believe the old saying, ‘the grass is greener on the other side.’ Saturday morning, we discovered about a dozen had broken through the fence and were grazing on St. Joseph’s football field!

Last week, students and staff gathered in front of the school building to have a group photo taken in the design of the Morning Star, also found in the Lakota Star Quilt.

St. Joseph’s sports teams are getting ready for the opening of their seasons. Our sixth, seventh and eighth grade students started volleyball, football and cross country practices this week.

Speaking of the cross country team… The other night I heard voices up at the SCJ Community House where Fr. Bernie and I live. All of a sudden, 15-20 youngsters and several adults came around the corner of the house. It was a bit of a shock since we don’t usually have many visitors!

I found out later that our rec center staff had plotted out a new cross country path that led them up the hill where the house is. The team members not only run around campus but also up and down hills for better training. Some of them stopped for a break at the top of our hill before finishing the practice for the day.

The Lakota students and St. Joseph’s staff members gathered for a Morning Star group picture. — St. Joseph’s students and staff gathered for a special group picture in the shape of the Morning Star.

Some of our runners got in some extra practice over the weekend as they took part in the Chamberlain Youth Triathlon. They were able to compete on teams or individually. Two of our teams won first place in their divisions and several individuals also won medals!

Everyone is getting excited as our 38^th Annual Powwow draws closer. Our students have been practicing their dancing and the staff has been going over their notes to see where adjustments can be made to improve the experience for our guests. Today, some of the student tour guides are having a practice run for the school tours they will provide.

The Lakota children competed in a youth triathlon and did great! — Several St. Joseph’s students participated in a youth triathlon. Several earned places!

The final touches are being put on the new playground and will be dedicated on the morning of the powwow. I hope you can come and enjoy the weekend with us September 12-13! If you still need information, call 1-800-584-9200 or visit stjo.org/powwow.

If you cannot attend, please keep us in your prayers that we’ll have nice weather – just like Goldilocks said, ‘not too hot, not too cold, but just right.’

Have a great week! May everyone have a relaxing and enjoyable Labor Day weekend. If you are traveling, please drive safely.

God bless!

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

The Lakota (Sioux) children are ready to learn!

Good afternoon! I am Angela, St. Joseph’s Speech Therapist.

It’s been a busy and productive start to the school year at St. Joseph’s! We started our third week today. To help get the Lakota boys and girls off to a good start, we do some screenings to make sure they are ready to learn.

Last week, the South Dakota School for the Deaf (SDSD) screened our entire school – 208 students – for hearing proficiency. The SDSD team consists of a licensed audiologist and two audiology technicians who screen hearing and complete full evaluations when necessary.

During our screens, two students were identified with ear infections and one with wax build-up posing significant challenges with their hearing. After medical intervention, the students will then be re-screened by our speech-language pathologist to ensure that intervention was successful and they are able to pass their hearing screen. We are so fortunate to be able to offer health services here on campus!

The Lakota students participated in hearing screening. — All St. Joseph’s students had their hearing screened to start the school year.

It is reassuring to know our students have good hearing and can effectively learn and participate in the classroom. We are blessed to have SDSD share their commitment to education and health with St. Joseph’s Indian School each year. Feeling very grateful, we have already penciled them in for the same time next year!

Spirituality and Smudging at St. Joseph’s Indian School

Good afternoon! I am LaRayne, St. Joseph’s Native American Studies Teacher.

LaRayne is St. Joseph's Native American Studies teacher. — LaRayne, St. Joseph’s Native American Studies teacher

Spirituality is an important part of our mission at St. Joseph’s Indian School – to educate for life, mind, body, heart and spirit.

Smudging souls is something that has been done for generations in our tribal cultures. It is a cleansing ritual for our bodies and minds. We take advantage of special days at St. Joseph’s to perform this ritual for our children, staff and mission.

To mark a new beginning and the start of the school year, we smudged before we entered the school on the first day to show that each of us were entering the school with a clean being. Smudging helps to rid a person or area of unwanted energies that aren’t helpful throughout the day, week, or month. Smudging is also used to bless new areas, items or places so that a fresh start is felt in the heart.

Not only is our school equipped with the ability to smudge, but also St. Joseph’s homes have everything they need for the students can be smudged whenever they feel the need to take part in this very meaningful ceremony.

Many of our students take part in smudging daily at their family’s home or watch a family member take part. The connection the ceremony has to home, culture and family is strong. I often hear our students say, “Oh, that smell reminds me of my Grandma’s house. She does that.”

Smudging is something we do as part of the whole person education to show the students that what they do is a beautiful part of who they are as Lakota/Dakota/Nakota people. It can be very prayerful and medicinal.

Students have the opportunity to smudge at St. Joseph’s whenever they feel they need to. — LaRayne holds out the burning sage for the Lakota (Sioux) students to smudge on the first day of school.

In order to smudge, you need sage or sweetgrass, (we use sage), a fireproof bowl (we use abalone or turtle shells) and a lighter or matches (optional). Sage balls are made by removing the leaves of the sage stalks and rolling them in your palm to form small spheres.

I made several of these to burn for the 180 students plus 15-20 staff and houseparents who accompanied the kids through the open doors of our school on that exciting (yet sometimes scary!) first day of school. When the smoke from the burning sage rises, people welcome and brush the smoke over their faces, hearts and bodies in a washing motion to feel the cleansing properties and take in the sweet scent of the sage.

If burning sage is not possible, one can also rub the leaves in the palms of the hands and then rub the hands over one’s body to cleanse. Also, the plant can be rubbed directly onto the body.

Either way, our students and staff are ready to embrace the 2014-15 school year with a connection to Mother Earth, home and school through the meaningful act of smudging.

Pilamaya – thank you – for helping us provide these important opportunities for the Lakota boys and girls!

LaRayne