Tag: Native American

Visitors and day camp: June begins at St. Joseph’s Indian School

Dear Friends of St. Joseph’s,

Twenty-three big RV Campers pulled into St. Joseph’s campus on Friday. The visitors stopped to tour the Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center.  They were part of an

Water safety is one of the many activities for Lakota children at day camp.
Everyone had fun learning about water safety.

Adventure Caravan group coming from places in Texas to California.  All together, 55 guests enjoyed a guided tour of the museum and viewed a film on the American Indians from the Great Plains.  They also visited our Alumni & Historical center, Tokéya uŋkí nájiŋpi (We Stood Here in the Beginning) that details the history of St. Joseph’s Indian School.

The school year has ended, but I would like to share with you the winners of the Fr. Leo John Dehon Award.  Fr. Dehon founded the Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart (SCJs). The award is given to the student who exemplifies generosity, compassion, initiative and mastery of skill in dealing with their fellow students.

Staff members can nominate a student each quarter.  The student who receives the most nominations over the course of the year is declared the overall winner.  This year there was a tie between Shawnna, Alyssa and Mariah!

Their prize was to have lunch with our school principal at a local restaurant and then have the opportunity to shadow at a local business next school year.  Alyssa has won previously and shadowed at the veterinary clinic, which is what Shawnna and Mariah have chosen for next year. Alyssa is thinking of spending her time at the police station.

The Lakota children learned to make birdfeeders with pinecones and peanut butter.
Day campers made birdfeeders with pinecones and peanut butter.

Our summer program, Rising Eagle Day Camp, is up and running.  The first two weeks, we serve Native American children from the Crow Creek Indian Reservation, north of Chamberlain on the east side of the Missouri River.  The first day saw the excited youngsters ready to come down for activities, swimming and nutritious meals. The following two weeks will see children coming from the Lower Brule Indian Reservation on the west side of the river. We can accommodate 60 participants each day – our bus is often full to capacity!

As we see so much activity going on at St. Joseph’s, it reminds us we do could not help in so many ways without your generosity.  Pilamaya – thank you – for your care and concern, which enable us to offer something positive to so many local children.

The Lakota children have breakfast, lunch and a snack every day before St. Joseph’s bus takes them back home.
We have breakfast, lunch and a yummy snack every day!

 

Have a great week!

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

Coincidence or part of the bigger plan?

So…the other day I was walking into our Student Coordinator office and noticed a stack of boxes sitting by the door. I hadn’t really noticed the boxes for awhile and wondered

Six Lakota students helped Frank deliver St. Joseph’s donation of food to the local domestic violence shelter.
Helena helped Frank and other students deliver boxes of food to the local domestic violence shelter.

what they where and how long they had been in that spot…

Then it hit me!

The boxes contained the food from the annual food drive St. Joseph’s holds in November. *forehead smack*

In the hustle and bustle of the school year, we never delivered them to the domestic violence shelter here in Chamberlain. Color me embarrassed – I was in charge of delivering!

I immediately began working with Jennie, the Student Coordinator, to come up with a plan to deliver the food. We picked four students to help load and unload the boxes. I called the shelter and set up a time to make the delivery. The day arrived came and I ended up with two extra students to help. And help they did!

The six students unloaded the boxes quickly.

The person on duty at the shelter worker was very grateful for the donation – they had several clients in the shelter at the time and supplies were running low.

My embarrassment of forgetting the food boxes abated. I realized maybe us (actually just me) forgetting the food for all that time in the office was part of the bigger plan…

Maybe, just maybe, things happen for a reason. Maybe sometimes we just need to flow with our surroundings and trust what’s happening.

Or, maybe it was just coincidence that our twelve boxes of food came at the right time…

Whatever the case, it was the right time to role model and teach the students about generosity firsthand by giving back to our community, even if it didn’t work out exactly like I first planned.

Chances for small lessons of generosity, independence, belonging and mastery are given to us every day at St. Joseph’s Indian School. As staff and helpers, we need to remember to watch for these times and take full advantage of opportunity to teach our Native American students in the best way we can.

And today, I believe my “mistake” was part of the bigger plan to share this lesson of generosity with the six students who helped deliver those boxes.

As our school year winds down and the students get ready for summer break, I would like to thank our extended family for making these teachable moments possible for our students. Everyone shows support to our students to make this possible – we can’t do this work without you! We are truly thankful and blessed by your generosity.

Happy summer!

Frank W.

Residential Coordinator

Thank you for your generosity!

Dear Friends of St. Joseph’s,

As you may know I celebrated my birthday last Monday, May 12. I was informed there were a lot of birthday greetings popping up on St. Joseph’s Facebook page.  Since I do not have a personal account, I went to another office to take a peek at the greetings.

Needless to say, I was overwhelmed.

There were over 180 greetings!  One hoped that my birthday would be “out of this world.” It came close as there were greetings from France and Sweden, from both coasts and even from a fellow May birthday celebrator.

I am very grateful for your kindness and thoughtfulness and I give thanks to God for the chance to be here at St. Joseph’s Indian School.

I am also grateful that many of your kind wishes for a happy birthday were accompanied by statements of support for our school and the Lakota (Sioux) children we serve. Your generosity makes it possible for us to offer so much to the Native American students and their families. Because of this important work, nine of our students graduated high school yesterday!

Congratulations to St. Joseph’s Class of 2014!
Thanks to your generosity, nine St. Joseph’s seniors graduated high school this year!

Pilamaya – thank you – again for your thoughtful greetings!  I appreciate the prayers you offer up – we can always use them.

May God’s blessings be with each of you on your special day when you celebrate the gift of life given to you and the many gifts and talents with which you have been blessed.

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

Poetry, snow & sixth grade at St. Joseph’s Indian School

The end of the year is here! It is a very busy time at St. Joseph’s Indian School, fitting in class trips, end-of-the-year activities and wrapping up projects.

Linea teaches reading at St. Joseph’s Indian School
Linea, St. Joseph’s reading teacher for sixth, seventh and eighth grades.

In reading classes, the Lakota students completed units on poetry. During this unit, it is always a treat to have our principal, Kathleen, come and read to us. She does an amazing job and captures the attention of all the students.

We read mostly lyric and narrative poems, and students explored the different ways authors presented their words. Some used humor and others appealed to our senses and emotions.

I also discovered we have some talented young poets right here at St. Joseph’s!

During the reading of the poem “The Dream Keeper,” our Native American Studies teachers came into our classroom and helped us make our own dreamcatchers. The students did an awesome job and had a lot of fun.

Spring is also the time that our sixth graders take their cultural field trip to the Badlands National Park in western South Dakota. We schedule this trip a couple of weeks in advance and then have to accept what Mother Nature has in store of us.

This year she decided to rain on our day…

Actually, we were like postal workers and could say that “neither rain nor sleet nor snow” will keep us from having fun on our class trip!

Everyone knows the end of the year is coming fast and the students are looking forward to their summer break!

Linea – Reading Teacher, grades 6-8

St. Joseph’s sixth graders made their own dreamcatchers after reading the poem “The Dream Keeper.”
After reading “The Dream Keeper,” St. Joseph’s sixth graders made dreamcatchers in class.
St. Joseph’s sixth graders had their class trip to the Badlands National Park in May.
Sixth grade boys stand in the rain and snow in the Badlands during the sixth grade class trip.

Awards Banquets for St. Joseph’s Seniors

Greetings once again from South Dakota – the land spring has forgotten!  Although we have not had any of the snow that Rapid City and the Black Hills have received

Fr. Anthony and the Lakota children.
Fr. Anthony spends time with St. Joseph’s students.

recently, it has been cold and wet over the last few weekends.  We are grateful for the moisture, but would be happy to share some of it with the drought areas in California.

As the school year winds down, activities pick up for the Lakota (Sioux) students.  Over the last two weekends, 11 of our 19 homes have been away on their home trips.  Some have gone shopping in the Sioux Falls area and others have headed out to the Black Hills.  This coming week will see the seventh graders head out on their cultural trip to explore various sites in South Dakota and the neighboring states that have Native American cultural and historical impact.  They’ll be back on campus prior to graduation on May 23.

St. Joseph’s high school students have also had a variety of activities take place, including end of the year awards. Last Monday was the academic awards banquet:

  • Students who took part in the one act play were awarded a Superior Play & Acting Award on the State level;
  • Robert and Kyran were recognized for taking part in Boys’ State;
  • Senior Errol was honored as a Regent Scholar and recipient of the Al Mueller Memorial Scholarship and the Ruth Potter Memorial/Dakota Indian Foundation Award.

Wednesday, St. Joseph’s seniors were honored at a prayer service and reception where Cody was awarded the Jerry Vaad Memorial.   This award is in honor of a long-time employee in the athletic department at St. Joseph’s Indian School. It is awarded to the graduate who best exemplifies sharing of time and talent with other members of his or her tiyospaye – extended family – on campus.

Friday came and it was time for athletic awards:

  • One of our new students this year, Danny, won the most improved award for golf;
  • Shawn was mentioned for making all-conference honorable mention in football;
  • Gabe was designated most inspirational for boys’ basketball;
  • Adrian won the JV Most Valuable Player award;
  • Jacob was considered the most inspirational on the high school track team;
  • Senior Reuben was honored for being a basketball team captain and making all-conference.

Chamberlain High School only has three days of classes left, so tomorrow night is the Baccalaureate service the United Church of Christ. It will be a special moment for all the seniors as they look back at their accomplishments and ahead to their graduation on May 18.  Please keep them and their future plans in your prayers. Read more about them here.

Have a great week and know you are being remembered in our Novena of Masses offered the 11th through the 19th of each month. May God continue to bless and reward you for your generosity towards the Lakota boys and girls at St. Joseph’s Indian School.

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

April’s journey to St. Joseph’s Indian School

Good afternoon!

April works with St. Joseph's students and families.
April works with St. Joseph’s students and families.

My name is April and I greet you with a warm and hearty handshake. I work with our Lakota families at St. Joseph’s, along with many other roles. I would like to take this opportunity to share with you about why I am at St. Joseph’s Indian School. I guess I can start by sharing a quote from our Elders. They say everything happens for a reason and when one door closes, another opens.

A long time ago … and I mean a long time ago… when my children were playing basketball and football, I would come to St. Joseph’s for their games. The first time we drove into campus, I was so impressed. The first thought that entered my mind was I would love to work here.

As time went on and my children grew up, there was no reason for me to visit anymore until I learned of my grandchildren who came to school here. I was able to come and get them on a weekend. They would tell us about St. Joseph’s and share that they liked it here, especially because there was a swimming pool! J

Time went on and I began my journey of healing back in 1986. Little did I know at that time, I needed to do what the little sacred spirits at St. Joseph’s are doing today… I wanted to learn who I really was and about my culture. So I decided to go to treatment.

Things were not good and I wanted to know why I was making so many wrong choices. With the help of my Hunka relatives (adopted through a traditional Lakota ceremony), Mr. Gene Thin Elk and Rick Thomas, I was able to start building a foundation for myself and learned how to make some positive choices.

I thank the Grandfathers every day for giving me a second chance.

This time I would show my children a clean and sober mommy. There were many steps I needed to take to do just that. I have been alcohol and drug free for 28 years.

Through the years, I decided I wanted to help my relatives in a good way, the best way I knew how. I felt so good on the inside knowing that I had nothing to hide and that I had a voice in a good way, to share with others that it’s okay to cry and to laugh.

April chaperoned St. Joseph’s students on a trip to learn more about their Native American heritage.
April and the Lakota (Sioux) students during their cultural trip.

The Elders say that tears and laughter are the two best medicines that we have. I strongly believe that.

Our Elders also say that each one of us are gifted. Maybe we don’t know yet what that gift is, but others will see it and tell us because of the way we choose to walk.

I was raised as a strong Catholic; my parents had us in church every Sunday. And God Bless my mom who shared with me and my siblings that it is ok to carry a Bible in one hand and the Canupa – pipe – in the other. Never forget where you come from and don’t ever disrespect others, she said.

My mom was a great teacher, along with my dad. Both are now in the Spirit World.

As a result of all this, I strongly believe I was guided here to help our little Native Spirits feel comfortable and re-learn that it’s ok to talk with another person – our clergy, counselors, houseparents, teachers or mentors. Each child is different and come with their own little stories that we can learn from together and help them to the best of our ability.

That is why I am here.

Maybe I can also be a grandma they don’t have, or to model the grandma (Elder), and share what I have learned through the years before I came here. I hope we can all keep learning together.

Wopida tanka – many thanks,

April

Flurry of activities as the school year winds down

This has been a busy last few days.  On Wednesday and Thursday of last week our eighth grade students had a day to shadow St. Joseph’s students attending Chamberlain High School. This is a great opportunity for the students to meet teachers and discover ways to get around the high school campus.  As our eighth grade graduates get ready to move into our high school program, our seniors are getting ready to move on to college, vocational school and other educational avenues. On Wednesday afternoon a prayer service and reception will be held for our nine high school seniors. Their graduation ceremony is May 18th.

This past Sunday, I attended the awarding of the annual Distinguished Alumni Award to Mr. Sam Dupris of Bloomington, Minnesota.  Sam attended St. Joseph’s from 1937-1942 along with several of his siblings.  Sam told our students that the values and educational base he received while attending St. Joseph’s has helped him throughout his life. After a stint in the Army, he used the GI Bill to attend flight school and for more than 25 years spent time with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) working his way up the ranks to be captain and chief pilot. Sam is the first and only Native American to serve as a FAA pilot.  He was inducted into the South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame in 2001 and South Dakota Hall of Fame in 2010.

This past Saturday, the annual Chamberlain High School Powwow was held at the new Chamberlain Community Center.  Irene, a junior in our high school program, was selected to be Miss CHS Powwow. She joined, Mia and Cassidy, fellow St. Joseph’s high school girls to participate in the dancing. Our drum group also participated with music and songs for the celebration.

Many new faces are on campus as new staff is being interviewed and hired for next year.  While we are happy to welcome them, it also means some of our ‘veterans’ will be moving on.  Eleven will be retiring from St. Joseph’s with 114.5 combined years of service and dedication to our students.

You may remember I mentioned the Explorers were doing a car wash last weekend to raise money for new playground equipment at American Creek Campground. They washed 84 cars, made over $500 in tips and a little over $3,500 in pledges. Since June of 2002, they have raised a little over $79,500 to be used for audio visual equipment, projects to beautify the Chamberlain/Oacoma area, supporting meals on wheels and aid to local residents facing health issues.

I hope you have a positive week while finding ways to draw closer to those you care about and taking that first step in reaching out to make a new friend.  May God’s blessings continue to be with you!

Sincerely,

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

Honoring the Past, Preparing for the Future at St. Joseph’s Indian School

Greetings once again from St. Joseph’s Indian School! We are keeping bust with a wide variety of activities as we approach the final weeks of the school year.

Fr. Anthony gives a Lakota child her First Holy Communion.
Fr. Anthony gives the candidates their First Holy Communion.

Last Wednesday we held an inipi (also known as a sweat or going into the sweat lodge) for our high school boys. John, a St. Joseph’s graduate and former principal of our school, led this traditional Lakota ceremony. He led the inipi ceremony to honor all the senior boys and those who have helped them reach this step in their life, including other male students and staff.

Friday was a very busy day!

Career day began after lunch. The Lakota boys and girls began each session by asking presenters a series of questions to determine their profession – what skills were involved, was it something you could do inside or out, any special gear needed, what sort of educational preparation was needed, etc. We learned about the growing, manufacturing and marketing work being done at the Lower Brule Popcorn Company, which is on a local Indian Reservation. Students also heard from artists who create beadwork and Native American flutes, a drug and alcohol counselor, a dental hygienist and a musician with the band Brule’.

Later that afternoon, we held our annual sobriety celebration kicked off with guest speaker Ms. D’Este Chytka, founder of ‘It’s all about Respect.’ She urged students to respect themselves, one another and Mother Earth – Unci Maka.

After her talk, our annual Sobriety Walk to downtown Chamberlain began at the rec center! It was a great day with beautiful weather and wonderful messages for the Lakota (Sioux) children.

With the support of their families, St. Joseph’s students prepared for and received the Sacraments of Baptism, Holy Communion and Confirmation on Sunday, April 27.
Sixteen Lakota students participated in Baptism, First Communion and Confirmation last Sunday.

On Sunday, 16 students received Baptism, First Communion and Confirmation.  We were honored to have many family and friends share in Sunday Mass when the candidates received the Sacraments.  I am also happy to report that a student who didn’t return to St. Joseph’s after spring break was able to complete his preparation for the Sacraments. With a letter of support from the members of our pastoral team, Clare and Joe, he was able to receive his Sacraments on Easter at his home parish in Nebraska.

It was a very special day for our students and families, and a positive witness for everyone who attended.

Please join us in praying for those who lost their lives in the recent tornadoes in Arkansas and Oklahoma, as well as their families. We continue to keep you and your intentions in our prayers asking God to bless and reward you for your generosity. Have a wonderful week!

Fr. J. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

Happy Easter from the Lakota (Sioux) children!

Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!!!  The tomb is empty, He is truly risen!!!Happy Easter from the Lakota children!

 

We hope you all had a very Blessed Easter and that the good works you did during the Lenten Season will now continue so you can share that good news of an empty tomb with others.

 

After the Lakota (Sioux) students returned from Easter break on Monday at noon, several homes were planning to attend the Big Bend Shrine Circus in Chamberlain that evening.

 

Tuesday, it was back to business in the classrooms for the Lakota children and St. Joseph’s Parent Advisory Council was on campus.  Made up of the Native American parents and guardians of St. Joseph’s students, the group meets twice a year. We keep them up to date about what is happening on campus and hear their feedback and suggestions on current and future programs for the students. We are grateful for their support and insight.

 

You may recall we recently sponsored the 2nd Annual Mr. Relay for Life pageant, which St. Joseph’s alumnus, Stefen, won.  I’ve come to find out that one of our employees

St. Joseph’s staff coordinated the Mr. Relay for Life pageant to raise money for cancer research.
Benjamin, an employee in St. Joseph’s Development Office, took second place in the Mr. Relay for Life pageant!

from the Development Office – Benjamin – came in second. Congratulations to everyone who participated and helped make the event possible – over $7,000.00 was raised

to benefit Tri-County Relay for Life!

 

As we approach the end of the school year, the next major event on the agenda at St. Joseph’s Indian School is the reception of Sacraments—Baptism, First Communion and Confirmation for those who have been taking part in the Rite of Christian Initiation for Children(RCIC) during the school year.  Their big day is coming up this Sunday.  We hope for beautiful weather so students’ families will be able to come and share this special day with them.

 

We hope you all have a great week! May God’s grace and peace enable you to be open to our Risen Savior. May He walk with you and guide you to discern how your blessings can help others and make our world a better place.

 

 

Sincerely,

 

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

More hands-on learning for the Lakota (Sioux) students

St. Joseph’s eighth grade girls had another opportunity for hands-on learning last week when they attended a GEMS (Girls in Engineering, Math and Science) conference at

Claire is a St. Joseph's houseparent
Claire

South Dakota State University (SDSU) in Brookings, South Dakota.

 

As one professor pointed out, eighth grade is a critical time for girls in math—some of them are taking algebra and for the first time are struggling to “get it.” Later, they may start avoiding taking math and science classes based on the faulty belief that it is too hard, or they just can’t do it. Besides, girls don’t do math, right? HA!

 

GEMS was an opportunity for them to learn that not only are math and science accessible for girls, they can be a lot of fun! They had 15+ volunteer role models to show them how great it is to be a girl-geek in engineering. Both students and professors were on hand to show them around and guide them through four activities.

 

St. Joseph’s eighth grade girls programmed a robot to navigate an obstacle course as part of the GEMS workshop.
The girls were careful to start their robot in the same place each time to navigate the course.

Engineering is all about solving problems, so the girls were given several cool tasks to try out for themselves.

 

Problem #1: Control a Robot. Instead of using a remote control, the girls wrote the actual program to guide the robot through a maze drawn on a floor mat. Wow! Just like the Mars Rover! They wrote lines of code and then tested them out on the robot, tweaking distances and degrees of turns. All the while, their college mentors modeled how to solve problems. “You might want to shorten the turn there. Make sure you always set the robot down in the same spot.” The girls were fascinated, frustrated and elated.

 

Problem #2: Solve a Crime. Oh no! Somebody broke into the lab, broke a planter, stole some copper wiring, and spilled a suspicious white powder on the floor. Plus, they left

While learning about how buildings are constructed, the girls wore regulation Personal Protective Equipment, or PPE.
Personal Protection Equipment – it’s what all the cool girls are wearing!

behind their half-eaten chocolate bar. That’s just WRONG.

 

The girls got to use techniques like fingerprinting, dental casting, foot printing and chemical analysis to figure out whodunit.  I can’t wait until someone’s snacks go missing in Pinger Home, because I am sure the St. Joseph’s CSI team will be on the case. Stand back!

 

Problem #3: Build a New Laboratory. Well, the girls didn’t actually have to help construct a building. But they had a very enthusiastic tour guide explain to them all the different teams who have to work together to complete a complex structure (not unlike the crew who completed the Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center renovation last fall). Plus they got to wear PPE – Personal Protection Equipment – goggles, hard hats and reflector vests. It’s what ALL the fashionable girl geeks and engineers are wearing!

 

Problem #4: Build a Bridge. This was their absolute favorite activity. It involved working in a team with a tour guide. They had to build a working 6-foot bridge with tinker toys, cardboard, string and two bricks. As one girl said:

At first, I saw the space between the two desks and I thought we could never do it. And then we just… started building. I really had to exercise my brain.

The importance of mentors became really clear.

I liked building the bridge because our guide stayed with us the whole time instead of rotating to other stations. She could tell we were really into it.

The Lakota girls worked in teams to build a bridge spanning 6 feet using only string, cardboard, two bricks and tinker toys.
Their favorite task was building a 6-foot bridge, working only with cardboard, two bricks, string and tinker toys.

 

The girls really enjoyed their trip to SDSU, even though it meant getting up at 5am (on a Saturday!) to make the 3-hour trek from St. Joseph’s Indian School to Brookings. I really hope their experience will help them the next time they get stuck in math class.

This may be hard, but I can do hard things. I can solve this problem.

Once again, I thank our generous donors and SDSU for giving our Native American girls such an awesome learning opportunity. Girls Rock!