Hi, my name is Jennifer and I am the Web Producer at St. Joseph’s Indian School. I work in the business office, updating our website and sending out emails. I help keep benefactors informed of the happenings around St. Joseph’s campus.
I am an enrolled member of the Lower Brule Sioux tribe and was fortunate to be a St. Joseph’s Indian School scholarship recipient. Looking for employment after college, I decided St. Joseph’s was the right move for me.
My father is a Commander in the U. S. Public Health Service and has worked for Indian Health Service for almost 30 years. His job took my family and me from state to state, and from one Indian Reservation to the next, throughout my childhood.
He was once given an eagle feather – the greatest honor a Native American can receive – by a Lakota medicine man from the Black Hills for his work with the elderly. His passion for helping Native Americans and giving back has been my inspiration to do the same.
Working for St. Joseph’s Indian School is my way of giving back to my people. I am fortunate to help our people; even though I do not work directly with the students, this is my way of giving something better for the next generation.
Jennifer, St. Joseph’s Web Producer and her father, a Commander in the U. S. Public Health Service.
The SCJ Founder, Fr. Leo John Dehon was born March 14 in 1843. On this date last week I sent out an email note to St. Joseph’s staff thanking them for carrying on his tradition of love and caring.
Fr. Dehon used to have many short prayers during the day, before or after events in a busy life, to keep him centered. One of my favorites is always, “Jesus, make my heart like yours.” No matter how hectic life gets, we can always build such prayer and centering moments into our lives. Several staff emailed back that was a good reminder and just what they needed at the time they read and reflected upon it.
We hosted a group of education majors from Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, South Dakota. Some were helping with classroom instruction and activities. Another was working with our special education teacher learning the ins and outs of testing and assessment. She found it helpful to test out the theories they learned in class with real, hands-on life experiences. When these students go back to school, they’ll have a fresh round of questions for their instructors as they take up the challenges of such a worthy profession.
We are looking forward to graduation for our eighth grade class in a couple of months. I am proud to say that I have had many of these Lakota students since they were in their younger elementary years at St. Joseph’s Indian School.
The Lakota eighth graders craft small medicine wheels, which are a gift to their classmates at graduation.
This time of year, I have the honor of helping them to prepare their class banner, make their medicine wheels (which are used in the graduation ceremony) and prepare them for life after St. Joseph’s.
After graduation, eighth grader banners hang in St. Joseph’s Rec Center.
One of the more enjoyable items I share with them is giving them their eighth grade portfolio. This portfolio encompasses all of their works from the time they entered my Native American Studies room until they graduate. It is so fun to hand back papers and watch them look through their past years of learning! I can hear them sharing their drawings and writings with each other. The giggles and smiles reinforce the reason I have them create the portfolios.
The students made their personal portfolio out of brown paper bag and yarn. They are modeled after the par fleche containers Lakota/Dakota/Nakota (Sioux) people used long ago. The containers from long ago were made of rawhide and sinew. Today, we make them in a much more inexpensive, modern way.
In the past, the par fleche was decorated with tribal designs specific to one’s tribe and tiyospaye – extended family. This made it easy to return a lost container to its rightful owner, much like luggage tags today. The par fleche carries meaning and a lot of knowledge of each St. Joseph’s student.
As a parish priest, I frequently made the rounds in hospitals. I haven’t had the occasion here at St. Joseph’s Indian School to do that very often, but today I did.
Fifth grader Kendra went to the health center complaining of a bad stomachache. A few hours later, she was in surgery to remove her appendix. Her mom was with her when I got to the room. Kendra had just woken up from the anesthesia and was enjoying a popsicle. We prayed and I let her know we had a whole bunch of Lakota students back at school asking how she was doing and keeping her in their prayers as well. I didn’t stay very long, since what most patients need is rest and recovery time. Hopefully, she will be back running the playground in short order.
In the halls of the hospital, I ran into a family I knew from Fort Thompson, South Dakota, which is about 25 miles from Chamberlain. The two daughters asked me to stop in and visit their aging mother, who had a host of health problems. We chatted for a while and then prayed.
Next, I ran into a man from the Crow Creek Indian Reservation whom I didn’t know, but he saw the collar and asked for prayers for his family as well. A listening ear and a brief prayer can comfort and help heal. Ultimately, though, we place our loved ones in God’s hands.
Who can go to work in their pajamas, then sit in the hall and read Dr. Seuss with kids? ME!
There is much testing going on at St. Joseph’s at this time of year, especially in my area. Individual Education Plans are wrapping up for this year, but new students coming in need to be placed in the appropriate setting. I have been using Key Math to see where our holes are in Math and this has become a very useful tool! I learned something new this year! 🙂
Winter is teasing us right now. It will be nice outside one day and then it turns ugly cold! It is creating cabin fever! We do go outside with the Lakota boys and girls if it is above zero and the wind chill is above zero. Even though the kids might complain when they go out, they enjoy getting a breath of fresh air and running to keep warm.
Basketball is a hit here at our school – both boys and girls! Even our little ones are pretty good at basketball! They take on the bigger kids when they get the chance. It is nice to see the care the older students show the little ones. Lifting them up to make baskets, stealing the ball and giving it to a little one, pretending that the little ones stole it from them, and “trying” to block the shot!
Have I mentioned this time, how much I love it here at St. Joseph’s? Well the basketball story is just one reason. There is a ton more reasons. Who can go to work in their pajamas, then sit in the hall and read Dr. Seuss with kids?
ME, that’s who! We are reading “Cat in the HAT!”
The kids loved it! It was so much fun, especially when we started reading in unison!!! Imagine that! What a magical time it was! And then we got treats afterwards!!!
There are still many more reasons I love it here – stayed tuned!
Samantha, Robin and Kyla read for Dr. Seuss’ birthday.
Cassidy, Melvina and Vilencia look down to the Senate floor.
Last Friday, St. Joseph’s eighth graders went on their cultural trip to Pierre, South Dakota. We left school about 8:10 A.M. and traveled west on the interstate to Vivian and proceeded north to Pierre.
Upon arrival in Pierre, we toured the State Capital Building. The students were impressed with the beauty and grandeur of the building, and all the old features. The aspect of the tour that held their attention the most was looking for the blue and heart shaped tiles. The Capital building has a tile floor; when it was installed, the workers were given a limited number of blue and heart-shaped tiles to place throughout the building as a mark of their own.
St. Joseph’s eighth-grade students take a group picture on the steps of the Capital Building.
From there, we went to Pizza Ranch and enjoyed lunch. After lunch, the day brought us to the Cultural Museum. The museum exhibits items from the different eras of South Dakota’s people. The students seemed to enjoy looking at how people lived in the past.
On the way home, we took the road that follows the east side of the Missouri River. They were all looking forward to going down the stretch of road with the bumps! It was a fun, educational experience for the Lakota eighth graders to get to see some country, take in some government and experience the history of South Dakota’s various cultures.
Have you ever seen those colorful commercials begging you to order a Kids Bop CD? You know, the ones with a bunch of kids singing, jumping, and dancing? Well, that pretty much sums up what the Lakota girls in the Afra Home consider an ideal day. They love music! They love singing, dancing, playing instruments, and making their own choreography; they could literally do it for hours.
Imagine having 10 little girls (grades 1-3) who all want to take a turn at “playing” one keyboard. Sure, I have a massive headache by the time it’s all over, but it makes me happy to see them happy, so that’s what we do.
All the kids at St. Joseph’s have to tidy up their rooms every morning as well as take care of their chores and responsibilities. As an incentive, the order in which the girls finish determines the order in which we pick songs to dance to later in the day.
Here is a homemade music video of one of their recent and awesome picks:
The differences between what motivates our girls versus what motivates our boys are really interesting. Among other things, the boys LOVE food. I really enjoy cooking for them. Here at St. Joseph’s we never withhold food as a punishment or give them food as a reward. Obviously, food should be something all children should have no matter what. However, sometimes I will cook things that take extra work in the kitchen if the boys have had a good day.
On Sundays after church, if the boys were good, I won’t make a “boring” lunch. I make brunch, which includes homemade chocolate chip pancakes and a special peanut butter sauce to go with them rather than syrup. I love seeing Jachin and the boys sitting at the table waiting in anticipation. They get so smiley and excited. I can’t explain it but my heart does a little dance when they exclaim “Thank you for cooking Luleisa!!!”
We are also doing a health challenge, which entails eating lots of fresh fruits and veggies with every meal. The word “challenge” is an understatement. Sometimes the boys just don’t want to eat vegetables. However, if they don’t eat their fruits and veggies at supper, then they don’t get “sweet snack” in the evening.
Fridays are a very important day for the Ambrose Home boys. Everyone has only one goal in mind: I. MUST. MAKE. SWEET. SNACK.
Dinner is their mission. They take it very seriously because on Fridays we give them a can of pop and a full sized candy bar. Of course, if you don’t eat your supper, you’ll chomp on fruit as you watch everyone else guzzle down their pop.
Ladies and gentlemen, if this video doesn’t inspire you to eat your veggies, there is no hope for you! Here’s Paite vs. Food: Friday Green Bean Challenge
After school today, we loaded up St. Joseph’s 24 A and B honor roll students and traveled to Pierre, South Dakota for pizza and a movie as a reward for their achievement. The younger kids played games with action figures and dolls, while the junior high students mostly slept. Funny how at that age they can sleep anytime, anywhere and in any contorted position. The first and second graders asked every few minutes, “How many more miles now?” After a while, I just deducted one mile from the last time they asked. Since I ended on 15, it meant that in the last 40 miles they asked me 25 times. Patience!
We called ahead and made a reservation at the Pizza Ranch, which serves a buffet with other kid friendly selections like chicken and mashed potatoes. The staff knew our group was coming but the other diners didn’t, and I saw the look of panic on the faces of some diners, afraid our group would be unruly and make their dining experience unpleasant. But, the Lakota boys and girls were polite and well behaved and one woman even came up as she was leaving and complimented us on their behavior. My table was with first, second and third graders. I helped them with foods they couldn’t reach, made sure they only took a little at a time and ate what they took before going back for more.
We had some extra time before the movie, and parked by the State Capital. The fresh air and walking around gave them a chance to burn off some energy after the long bus ride. We took a walk along the artesian lake and saw the bronzes dedicated to veterans, as well as the wild mustang bronze in memory of the group of state public servants – including Governor George Michelson – who were tragically killed in a plane crash several years ago.
Our legislature is in session, so the capital was open. The representatives were on supper break, so we got to see the house and senate chambers without disturbing any of the action. A third grade girl dreamed that maybe she would have a desk there one day, and I told her she will have my vote when she gets old enough to run.
The movie was a so-so cartoon, “Escape From Planet Earth” but the kids enjoyed it. I didn’t realize theaters carry booster seats, but several of our kids asked for them so they could see better. When it was all finished, we made sure everyone got in line for the bathroom before we began the journey home.
We started the day with an appreciation breakfast for St. Joseph’s staff. Instead of eating breakfast in the homes, everyone on campus was invited to a shared meal at the dining hall. I was surprised when I took a bite out of what I thought was a sausage patty and it turned out to be an oatmeal breakfast cookie. I liked it a lot, but sure wasn’t expecting that taste.
Human Resources had a three-question trivia contest about the weather. They realize that many people just use smart phones to look things up, so Donna joked with an adult that she handed a quiz to, “cheating is encouraged!”
One of our Lakota first graders coming through the line at that time had a perplexed look on her face.
Donna had to retrace her steps and assure the child that no, cheating is not good, and it is not encouraged, especially in school, and we were only joking. We must be careful what we say and do around children because they remember our words and most definitely notice our actions.
One of our family service counselors accompanied students to the South Dakota Women’s Prison in Pierre for a visit to see their mom. Those kinds of separations are hard on a family and particularly the children. They are hopeful her upcoming parole hearing will allow the family to be united once again.
We had two exciting junior high basketball games yesterday and today!
Last year’s team had a bumper crop of great players and went undefeated. This year, we have a much smaller group of eighth grade Lakota boys – both in number and in height – and it’s been a rebuilding year that takes lots of patience.
But yesterday, against the St. Francis Indian School Warriors, our St. Joseph’s kids erased an 8-point half time deficit, and rallied to win by a single point! Getting off the goose egg in the win column had the same excitement for the guys as though they’d won a tournament. I joined the Rooney Home (6th-8th grade boys) for supper afterwards and they replayed some of the exciting moments from the victory.
Today was another nail biter, this time against our cross-town rival Chamberlain Cubs. All of these students have gotten to know each other through our intercity basketball program, and have played both with and against each other many times. Several of the Cubs are children or grandchildren of our St. Joseph staff. It’s one of the games on our schedule where you need to get to the gym early if you want a close by parking spot. The lead changed hands countless times, and was tied with a minute to go. Chamberlain made their free throws down the stretch and pulled out a 3 point win. While our team was disappointed it couldn’t continue a winning streak, they hustled and gave it their all.
Congratulations to the Cubs, but wait until next year!
With my head spinning from looking at numbers on the budget sheet, I decided to take a break from the office and walk around campus to check out the activities. Our facilities crew is especially busy, with all kinds of projects in various states of completion. Tile is being put down for the kitchen and dining room floors in the William Home.
Our thrift store remodeling is on track for a March 1 opening and they’re putting in the finishing touches there. Next comes the work of moving all the clothes and household items from the old store to the new.
The kitchen and dining room floor in the William Home remodel is being laid.
The basement of the Benedictine building is getting the sprinklers for fire safety replaced.
Cabinets for the museum’s expanded gift shop arrived and are being installed.
A bathroom in the Rec Center is being remodeled to make it handicap accessible.
Our facilities manager, Tom, showed me blueprints of some other projects we will start when the weather turns warmer. We make budget plans a year ahead of time. It’s satisfying to see those plans coming to completion.
