The school bell has rung!!! The Lakota students began arriving yesterday, and some came in early this morning. As the students entered school this morning, the teachers and staff greeted them with leis –the traditional sign of welcome in Hawaii. We have a large number of students this year. It looks like we’ll have 50 high school students and 166 students in grades 1-8, for a total of 216 Native American youngsters! We are grateful for your generosity that makes it possible to welcome in so many students to St. Joseph’s Indian School.
As part of our commitment to make sure we can offer a safe environment for the students we serve, our staff has learned about the Olwes Bullying Prevention Program.
It was developed in Norway by Dr. Dan Olwes and has been used here in the United States for about 5 years now. It is a program that encourages all St. Joseph’s staff, not just teachers and houseparents, but anyone who will be in contact with the students, to be alert to any negative actions or words so that someone can step in on the spot to prevent the situation from escalating further.
We have ‘no bullying’ signs up around campus and will have an official kick-off at the start of September to remind everyone that it’s necessary to treat each other with respect and dignity.
We began the monthly novena of Masses for all our benefactors on Sunday, August 11 and it will continue to August 19. We offer this novena each month as our way of saying thanks to you for your support and encouragement.
I hope each of you has a wonderful week and that God’s blessings and strength will continue to be with you.
It’s hard to believe that in less than a week I will be seeing 24 adorable little faces! Some will be familiar and others will be new. Either way, it doesn’t take a mathematician to figure out that there will be 48 little eyes watching every move I make. It is a REALLY good thing that I don’t suffer from any form of social anxiety.
As 3-day houseparents, my husband Jachin and I have the privilege of working in both the Afra and Ambrose Homes. This will be our second year serving the Lakota children in the 1st-3rd grade community at St. Joseph’s Indian School. After seeing the progress our kiddos made last year, I can’t help but be excited about what is to come. Among other things, it was so rewarding to witness their academic, emotional, social, and spiritual development.
We don’t just love being a part of the mission at St. Joseph’s Indian School, we believe in it!
Although the kids aren’t back yet, staff members across many departments have been preparing for their return for quite some time. I could write a book about all that has been accomplished by my colleagues, but for now I’ll stick to what I’ve been involved with.
In July, I went to Colorado for a Love and Logic conference and just a couple weeks ago, we were certified in a counseling technique known as Life Space Crisis Intervention (LSCI). Then, all last week, was New Staff Orientation. I had the pleasure of meeting most of the newcomers on campus. My hat goes off to Human Resources – they did a wonderful job at finding lots of really wonderful people from all over the country.
Z, as she is known, is a new houseparent. Her cultural roots are in South Africa.
It’s great that St. Joseph’s continues to become more diverse. I happen to be half Chilean-Colombian and I also happen to be a bit of a nerd when it comes to learning about various cultures. I love listening to stories about traditions and listening to people speak foreign languages. I also think it’s valuable for our Native American students to have role models that look like them and others that are very different from them. Over the last couple of weeks, I have especially enjoyed getting to know Z (a new houseparent from South Africa), Nancy (a returning third grade teacher who is from the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe), and Jeshua (our new Native American Studies associate from Lower Brule). We are excited to have them with us!
Aside from learning about the ins and outs of the organization and their respective positions, our new staff took First Aid and CPR, and were also certified in CPI Nonviolent Crisis Intervention.
Nancy and Jeshua are new teachers at St. Joseph’s and are both Native American.
As you can see, we have been keeping ourselves busy. In addition to all of the above, we have to freshen up on policies, procedures, new programs, and goals for this coming year. We have also listened to various presentations on topics ranging from Fire Safety and Preventing Child Abuse to Professionalism. My personal favorite so far was a presentation on the correlation and bridges between the Christian/Catholic faith and Lakota traditions.
In total, I have about 20lbs of material I’ve read and reviewed so far and we’re still not done! We also have to prep the homes, make beds, and stock supplies and groceries. Devoting so many hours to preparing for the start of the school year could seem really monotonous to some, but being able to positively affect the life of just one child makes all time and effort worth it.
I ask that you keep the children, their families, and us in your prayers. Fr. Steve will definitely be missed by all this year. With that said, I’m beginning to thank God for the work He is doing, for those He is leading into a new season, for the people He has purposefully placed here, and for the generosity of all those who make our day to day blessings possible. I am hopeful that 2013-2014 school year will be a great one! Please stand in faith with me! 🙂
There’s lots to learn, but staff orientation is also a lot of fun!
I’ll leave you with a silly picture of Jachin and me from All Staff Orientation.
Things are a bit NOISY in Chamberlain this week as bikers come through the area on their way out to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota’s Black Hills. The annual rally starts today and runs the entire week. It is impressive to see so many cycles out on the highway. Many stay in the Chamberlain-Oacoma area on their way and stop to visit the Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center.
A prayer service kicked off our All-Staff Orientation this morning, as preparations continue for the return of the Lakota boys and girls on August 11 and the first day of school on August 12. It’s hard to believe the summer has gone by so quickly! We miss our veteran staff members from past years, but are also happy to welcome 20 new staff to St. Joseph’s tiyospaye – extended family. While I’m not sure yet how many students we’ll have this year, there will be around 55 new students.
St. Joseph’s Indian School recently hosted our local Relay for Life event, which remembers those who have died from or are dealing with cancer. Fr. Steve was the honoree, and the event raised about $30,000.00!
Of that, St. Joseph’s staff contributed nearly $6,600.00!
Every week, staff members participate in the ‘jeans because’ program that allows staff to wear jeans on Friday. This activity alone raised approximately $1,200.00 for Relay for Life! The contributions are used for a variety of charities who work for the cure of cancer.
Bryan, St. Joseph’s Athletic Director, is a new inductee into Chamberlain High School’s Athletic Hall of Fame. Congratulations Bryan!
Some good news for a St. Joseph’s employee was in the local paper this last week. Our Athletic Director and Recreation Coordinator, Bryan, has been selected by the Chamberlain Booster Club to become a member of the high school’s Athletic Hall of Fame. During his high school years, Bryan was very successful in basketball, football, power lifting and baseball. Congratulations, Bryan, on this achievement!
I hope you all have a great week! Keep us in your prayers as we continue to prepare to open the new school year.
Hello to all! This is Allyssa, St. Joseph’s Human Resource Associate. Although it is summer, the Human Resource Department at St. Joseph’s has been busy recruiting staff for the new school year. Last Friday, we begin the massive HR paperwork session with most of our 23 new Child Services Staff. These employees face three weeks of intense training before the Lakota students arrive back on campus August 11.
It seems like just yesterday that the children were packing up to go home for the summer and we said farewell to staff who are moving on from St. Joseph’s Indian School. Now, we are welcoming new staff to our mission and preparing for the students to return!
Hiring has been our number one priority this summer. We had 18 houseparent vacancies, one teacher and four training/support staff positions to fill… and that was just in Child Services! The interview process for houseparents is lengthy. After a successful phone interview, the candidates come to South Dakota for face-to-face interviews with up to seven different St. Joseph’s employees. The applicants have tours of campus and join our students for supper. This gives candidates a better overview of what it’s like to be a houseparent.
Summer also finds our maintenance crew working hard to prepare for the upcoming school year. The big maintenance projects are undertaken, homes remodeled and vehicles checked over.
As they say “Times flies when you’re having fun!” There is no doubt about it; the HR Department here at St. Joseph’s has fun. In June, we were able to attend the annual Society for Human Resource Management conference in Chicago. It is a great opportunity to meet others in the HR field and learn the latest innovations in the industry to help us meet the needs of staff. We came back with new ideas to implement, energized to take on new challenges, whatever they may be.
As we gear up for another school year, I hope each of you have had a wonderful summer!
My bags are packed and it is time for me to leave St. Joseph Indian School. I move on to new challenges and adventures that await me in the role of Provincial Superior of the Priests of the Sacred Heart.
Last week, I met a few of the new staff taking part in the LSCI (Life Space Crisis Intervention) training. All the new staff will be on campus Monday for their weeklong orientation. All our Child Services staff gathers on August 5 for training and preparation for the school year. Then comes my favorite day of the year (this year Sunday August 11)… when the homes open and the Lakota students begin returning!
I enjoy reconnecting with students and hearing about their summer. I check in with St. Joseph’s teachers and houseparents after their break. I will miss that day very much. I’ll miss getting to know the 40-something new students we’ve accepted into our program. I’ll miss working with our creative and passionate staff.
A college football coach was talking on Sportscenter the other night about his efforts at rebuilding. He had a great senior class, and this year’s incoming freshmen will have some big shoes to fill
“Seniors graduate every year . . . but the legacy continues”
The same is true here. Students and staff will move on, but St. Joseph’s Indian School not only endures, it thrives. We have a great tradition and legacy here. I am grateful and blessed to have been part of it for the past nine years.
My last events were a mass Saturday evening and a social afterward in the Rec Center. I’ve had a host of farewells these past couple of weeks, and shed more than a few tears. The tears are both sadness at parting and joy from all that we’ve experienced and accomplished together. I felt a sense of joy for a last celebration, hug, or memory with people I’ve shared so much with.
We wrapped up shortly before 10. The sky outside was still a warm red and purple, lingering colors from a gorgeous sunset over the Missouri River. I will miss those spectacular sunsets. The fountain in front of the Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center was still running, and the sound of water very soothing.
Our SCJ Founder, Leo John Dehon had a favorite scripture – Ecce Venio – Behold, I come to do your will O God.
In the quiet of the night, alone in the parking lot with just me and the Creator, I felt a deep sense of peace.
Difficult as it is to leave, I’ve come to a place of acceptance. I am ready to move on, looking forward to the next time I’ll return to enjoy all the amazing staff and students who grace this campus.
Hello friends of St. Joseph’s Indian School! I hope this finds you all doing well and enjoying your summer! Summer is in full swing here at St. Joe’s and it is keeping us all very busy! I am a Family Service Counselor and wanted to share a little with you about what summer is for me.
Julie and one of the Lakota students she works with, Chelsea.
During the summer, the Family Service Counselors hit the road and go visit our Lakota students and their families. We check in to see that the students and families are doing well, as well as ask if there is anything they need from us during the summer. The students and families are usually happy to see us and are very welcoming.
We also complete interviews for prospective students during the summer. Part of the admissions process is gathering records for a student, but perhaps the most important part of the admissions process is meeting the child and their family.
We go to their homes and complete an interview to see if they would be a good fit for St. Joseph’s programs. We also take time during the interview to explain St. Joseph’s Indian School, the programs offered and the schedule in the homes and school. The interview process usually takes about an hour to an hour and a half to complete.
It is always wonderful meeting new families!
Other things counselors complete during the summer include paperwork, getting ready for the upcoming school year, attending workshops and trainings, and other tasks that pile up during the school year.
While there are a few Native American students on campus during the summer, it is much different from during the school year. Most of a Family Service Counselor’s summer is spent on the road traveling to various locations around South Dakota to check in with students and families.
We get to see a lot of beautiful country and it is always a pleasure seeing students and families. One of the students I have seen this summer is already anxious to come back for the new school year! J
We miss our students during the summer, so getting to see them is a bonus. We are all ready for them to come back and to start a new school year in August.
Enjoy your summer, and as always, thank you for the generous support you give to St. Joseph’s Indian School. Without your prayers and support, we could not do the wonderful work we do!
Good morning from the banks of the beautiful Missouri River!!
Chamberlain was a bit crowded last weekend as the local high school welcomed home alumni for their annual reunion weekend. The classes honored were those of every five years from 1943 through 2003.
One special event for the weekend was an Art Expo at the South Dakota Hall of Fame located in Chamberlain. It honors people from around the state who have made a positive impact in South Dakota in a variety of areas, including business, the arts and humanitarian causes. St. Joseph’s Founder, Father Henry Hogebach, SCJ, is one of those honored.
The theme of returning alumni was in effect here at St. Joseph’s too. Mr. Casmir LeBeau from Eagle Butte, South Dakota, came to visit. Mr. LeBeau was one of St. Joseph’s first students in 1927! He heard Fr. Steve has been elected Provincial and would be leaving at the end of the month to assume his new responsibilities in Hales Corners, Wisconsin. Though a little hard of hearing, his health and memory are in fine working order and he enjoyed sharing several stories with us at lunch and then went over to the Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center to meet with Dixie, our Museum Director, and Mary Jane, our Director of Alumni Outreach. He was able to help put names to some of the faces in various pictures from the early years of St. Joseph’s.
I received a phone call from a benefactor this week asking a question several of you may be wondering about as well. She asked if St. Joseph’s had Mass on Sunday that guests could attend. I was happy to tell her that we have Mass each Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m. in Our Lady of the Sioux Chapel here on campus. This is open to anyone who wishes to attend.
Mass is not held when the Lakota students are away on a break – Thanksgiving, Christmas, spring break, Easter or summer vacation. The first Mass this year will be on August 18. Please feel welcome to come and celebrate with us if you are in the neighborhood! Mass on our annual powwow weekend, September 20-22, will also be at 10:00 a.m.
May God’s blessings, guidance and strength remain with you always. Thanks again for all you do on behalf of St. Joseph’s Indian School!
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!
Welcome to the lofty heights of St. Joseph’s Summer Home! I mean this in a literal sense, as over the last weekend we took the Lakota (Sioux) children on a camping trip to South Dakota’s Black Hills!
Thirteen Native American students, two St. Joseph’s houseparents and one intern (Genevieve) camped out for two nights.
We spend the first in the South Dakota Badlands, where we shared a campground with the buffalo and South Dakota’s infamous “gumbo” in the morning after a rainy night.
The second night, we camped at Center Lake in Custer State Park. Genevieve commented that the campground looked like a postcard or like it was out of a TV commercial.
The highlight of the trip was the hike up Harney Peak, the highest summit in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. The kids did an amazing job on the two-hour hike from Horse Thief Lake to the fire tower on the summit of Harney Peak. These summer home kids are some tough kids!
The kids were impressed that you could see Wyoming to the west, the Badlands to the east, Nebraska to the south and Bear Butte to the north all from the fire tower! On the way down, we shared the trail with a mountain goat and some marmots.
The Summer Home is a great time for the Lakota students to get some adventure and travel in that they don’t get in the school year. We are thankful to all you donors who make these important times possible!
Before the end of the school year, we learned about the poetry the Lakota students were working on in Linea’s classroom. You asked to see their work, and here are some “I Am” poems.
Deavontay
Deavontay and Melvina both graduated with St. Joseph’s eighth-grade class in May and will attend Chamberlain High School next year.
Stay tuned for more poetry later this week!
I Am Poem
I am Quiet and Intelligent
I wonder about my own future
I can hear my grandchildren laughing
I see the future
I want to be forever youthful
I am Quiet and Intelligent
I pretend to be old
I feel as young as a newborn foal
I touch the warm sun
I worry about world peace
I cry for my people
I am Quiet and Intelligent
I understand the hardship of the world
I say Wakan Yeja (Children are Sacred)
I dream of tomorrow
I try and try again
I hope to be successful
I am Quiet and Intelligent
by Deavontay
I am…
Melvina
I am creative and a dreamer
I wonder what it is like to be famous
I hear fans yelling mine and Chandler’s names
I see millions of people in the crowd at our concerts
I want to be famous
I am creative and a dreamer
I pretend I am a superstar when I’m alone
I feel excited about the future
I touch the sky and let my dreams take me where they may
I worry about child abuse and people that have to suffer
I cry when I think about Shauntae
I am creative and a dreamer
I understand it takes hard work to get to the top
I say “Thank you America!” when I get done singing to myself
I dream about someday performing at Madison Square Garden
