The trees are beginning to change color in South Dakota; the sun is not up as early and is going down earlier each night. Mornings and evenings are much cooler than they have been.
With autumn comes football, and it is homecoming week at Chamberlain High School! Football players are busy preparing for their game on Friday night; tonight Homecoming Royalty will be crowned. One of our high school students, Shawn, has been nominated for king. Maddy, a candidate for queen, is also part of our St. Joseph’s Indian School family – her father Mike is St. Joseph’s Director. You might remember that last year we were in a similar situation. Congratulations to everyone who has been nominated!
In their first home game, St. Joseph’s volleyball team swept their opponents – Go Braves!
Last week St. Joseph’s girls’ volleyball teams got into action. They hosted Todd County’s sixth, seventh and eighth grade teams and swept all nine games! Everyone was excited about the victory, but the girls know they need to keep working hard as they get ready to play some tough teams in the coming weeks.
The St. Joseph’s Braves seventh and eighth grade football team will have their home opener tomorrow night. Go Braves!
The St. Joseph’s Braves seventh and eighth grade football team will have their home opener tomorrow night.
I hope you all have a wonderful week and take the time to see the beauty of creation all around you as Mother Earth begins to
brighten things up with the changing of leaves and cooler temperatures.
May God continue to bless you for your generosity towards the Lakota children at St. Joseph’s Indian School. We greatly appreciate your support, prayers and concern!
Once powwow is over, most look to take it easy for a day or two, but St. Joseph’s fifth graders are off and running this week with Starbase!
Space shuttles zip down the line with fragile cargo in the Eggbert experiment.
The program combines science, technology, engineering and math to deal with various problems and challenges.
Monday the students conducted the ‘Eggbert Launch.’ After devising ways to protect an egg strapped into the model space shuttles they were given, the shuttles were launched down a wire into a head-on collision.
The Lakota students came up with some unique ways to protect the eggs as they slid to their fate, but only one survived completely. Taps were played over four of them, two were deemed to have survived but needed a trip to the egg hospital.
Tomorrow, the class will make a trip to Rapid City, South Dakota to visit Air & Space Museum at Ellsworth Air Force Base, get hands-on with space food and view constellations in the dome from the Journey Center.
Nateela, LaShawn and Barrett devised a way to keep their egg from cracking in a head-on collision as part of the Eggbert experiment!
In all the excitement of powwow on St. Joseph’s campus this weekend, our 2014 seniors are experiencing a whole new kind of excitement: the next chapter!
The Sheehy Home, including houseparent Mike, Errol, Cody and Wyatt.
They have taken their next step in their lives, whether to college, technical school or something else.
Mike, one of St. Joseph’s houseparents, had the privilege of taking one of the boys to college:
My wife and I have been houseparent’s at St. Joseph’s for six years now. Our first two years were in the 6th-8th grade community. The last four were in the high school program.
One student, Errol, has been in our homes for all six years. Watching him become the young man he is has been a privilege. He graduated with honors as member of the National Honor Society.
In July I received a call asking if I would be willing to drive him to the University of South Dakota so he could register for his classes and finalize all the paper work. I quickly agreed and counted it as another privilege.
On our way back to his house that day I asked him what his plans were for getting to school in August. He smiled and said, “Well, I was hoping you would take me.”
I was glad to help and we made plans for the move-in day. When August arrived, another one of my graduates, Cody, was playing basketball with my home in the gym. Cody would be leaving for South Dakota State two days later. I told him I was going to pick up Errol and take him to college the next day and asked if he wanted to ride with me. He said sure he would like to go.
The next day, most of the ride they debated which school was better and why the other one should transfer. Once we arrived at Errol’s new home for the next four years, we were happy to see Errol’s roommate, Wyatt, was also moving in. Wyatt is also a graduate from St. Joseph’s Indian School.
Errol, Wyatt and Cody on move-in day!
Of course they were laughing about how they were going to fit everything into such a small dorm room and they realized their rooms at St. Joseph’s were much bigger, not to mention they had air condition and the dorm room doesn’t. Once settled, in Errol ask if we could drop him off at the Native American Center for his orientation class. We pulled up in front and I was expecting to say our goodbyes, but Errol and Cody both got out and went inside…
I had to circle the block and find a parking spot.
When I went inside the meeting had already started, so I motioned for Cody to come with me and waved bye to Errol. Errol waved back and said thank you.
As Cody and I started out the door towards the car he said “What about Errol?”
“He is staying here,” I answered.
“We are leaving him?” Cody asked.
I said yes.
Cody asked again, very thoughtfully, “We are leaving him here all alone?”
“Yes Cody,” I replied. “We are leaving him here all alone. He’s in college now, buddy.”
After a moment’s thoughtful silence, Cody said “I can’t believe we are leaving him here all alone.”
I reached up and put my hand on Cody’s 6’4’’ 290lb. back, and reminded him that in two days his mother would drive him to South Dakota State University and watch as he moved in to his dorm room.
“Then,” I said with a quiet voice, “she will then leave you there. And you’ll be in college too.”
We rode in silence for a few miles, not entirely sure where the most sniffles were coming from. After a few minutes, Cody broke the silence.
Greetings from South Dakota and happy powwow week!
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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 38th 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.
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.
Good afternoon! I am Angela, St. Joseph’s Speech Therapist.
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!
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!
As All Staff Orientation begins to unfold at St. Joseph’s Indian School, you can almost hear the pitter patter of little (and big!) feet. The Lakota (Sioux) students will arrive for the upcoming school year in less than a week! All our staff are busy making sure everything is ready.
The orientation process gives veterans and new staff the chance to get to know one another, share insights and to ask and answer questions. All these preparations make the opening of the school year easier for everyone when the homes open Sunday and the students arrive.
Houseparents will put final touches on their home to welcome the students to their home-away-from-home. Teachers also are getting their classrooms in order and doing last minute decorating to welcome the children.
St. Joseph’s Family Service Counselors work with houseparents, teachers and support staff to help everyone understand how they can best prepare themselves to deal with the various experiences and needs the students will have.
Orientation will cap off Thursday with a picnic for all employees to share some good food and camaraderie for the opening of the 2014-2015 school year.
As part of the effort to make our program at St. Joseph’s Indian School interesting and challenging, our Principal, Kathleen, took part in a conference on education sponsored by the Priests of the Sacred Heart (SCJs) this summer. She and the principals of other SCJ schools from around the world met to share ideas and foster ways of promoting the spiritual values of Fr. Leo John Dehon, SCJ and Founder of the Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart.
St. Joseph’s houseparents are stocking cupboards and getting ready for the Lakota boys and girls to return for the start of the school year!
It has been a bit noisy around the Chamberlain community these last few days. Bikers are passing through on their way to the Black Hills and the annual Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota.
In the past we have had the opportunity to bless a number of the riders and their motorcycles. We wish them safe travels and an enjoyable time!
The beautiful green of early summer is quickly fading to shades of tan and gold. Rain has been scarce lately. Hopefully, we will be blessed with rain between now and powwow so things will be nice and green for the event. We would love to have you join us for our annual powwow September 12-13. You can register to attend and find more information at stjo.org/powwow.
We hope you have a great week! Please keep us in your prayers as we prepare the arrival of our Native American students, and for safe travel of our students as they return for the upcoming school year! May God continue to bless and reward you for your generosity to for the care and education of the Lakota children attending St. Joseph’s Indian School.
Summer is nearly over at St. Joseph’s Indian School!
Fr. Anthony, St. Joseph’s Chaplain
I just received a note from Donna, our Human Resources Director – things are looking great for the upcoming school year (which is just around the corner)!
Donna mentioned that our teaching spots have been filled, which is a special accomplishment. Newspapers recently reported that 30% of open teaching positions in South Dakota have not been filled. We even have two new Family Service Counselors hired. The only area still to be filled is for three houseparents. Please keep in your prayers that these openings may be filled with the right people.
See St. Joseph’s available career opportunities here!
New staff orientation started today. All staff orientation begins the first week of August. The Lakota (Sioux) students return August 10 and classes begin August 11. Where did the summer go?
St. Joseph’s students Wankiya and Alan will travel to Cincinnati, Ohio in August for donor luncheons.
Just after school starts, we’ll host our next donor luncheons in Cincinnati, Ohio, August 16 and 17. Two of our students, Alan and Wankiya, will be there with staff to meet you and share their experiences at St. Joseph’s. Register online now or call 1-800-584-9200 for more information. You can also take a look at our event calendar to see if we’re coming to a city near you!
As we continue moving through summer, it’s rodeo and powwow season throughout central South Dakota – fun for all ages! I hope to see you at St. Joseph’s annual powwow on September 13.
Whether you can attend powwow or not, you are always welcome to stop in and visit St. Joseph’s Indian School and see the good you are doing for the Lakota children. Be sure to make time for the Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center!
May God continue to keep you in good health. Know we are praying for you in gratitude for your generosity. Pilamaya – thank you!
With orientation for new staff and all staff just around the corner, I have taken a few days to make a quick visit to my mother in the San Antonio area and enjoy some vacation time. Seems hard to believe summer is going by so quickly!
Though I am away from campus, I wanted to take a moment to express some pride in the people who are part of St. Joseph’s Team.
Brock, one of St. Joseph’s fifth grade teachers, was honored for his dedication to community baseball.
Brock, one of our fifth grade teachers, was honored with the Distinguished Professional Achievement Award for his years of service to the Chamberlain baseball program!
He started as a volunteer in 2001 with the Chamberlain High School baseball program. He stepped down last year after spending the last six seasons as head coach. He also served as head coach of the Chamberlain Legion baseball team from 2002-2013.
In addition to coaching, Brock has been groundskeeper at the field trying to encourage others to enjoy this summer sport. He still is active in the baseball program in the area by serving on the Chamberlain Baseball Association Board.
We are proud to have Brock as part of our St. Joseph’s Indian School team!
Deacon Bud and Frances have dedicated their lives to serving the Native American people.
Deacon Alfred “Bud” Jetty and his wife, Frances, are also a vital part of St. Joseph’s Indian School, the local community and the Diocese of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Deacon Bud serves at St. James Catholic Church in Chamberlain and frequently helps with our Sunday liturgy. He is a positive example to the Lakota students and is also on St. Joseph’s Board of Directors.
Bud and Frances were named Native American Liaisons by Bishop Paul Dudley in 1991. Bud and Frances were both featured in the July 2014 issue of The Bishop’s Bulletin.
Deacon Bud was selected to be State Deputy for the Knights of Columbus (KOC) in 1991 and thus far has been the only Native American to hold the top post in the state. One of his programs was the establishment of a KOC student exchange program giving both Native and other students the chance to experience other worlds. More than 50 such exchanges took place in the first three years and still continue today.
Bud and Frances both take great pride in the canonization of St. Kateri Tekakwitha – the first Native American Saint. Deacon Bud was a representative of the Diocese of Sioux Falls at her canonization ceremony in Rome. Frances and Bud are looking forward to attending the annual National Tekakwitha Conference in Fargo, North Dakota in August.
Congratulations to Bud and Frances! We are honored to have their support and involvement with St. Joseph’s Indian School. We pray their ongoing example of service and dedication is a reminder that each of us is gifted in a variety of ways and are indeed all related and called on to be present to one another as we fulfill Jesus’ command, “love one another, as I have loved you.”
I hope everyone continues to have a safe and enjoyable summer! I look forward to getting back to campus and welcoming new staff to St. Joseph’s Team.
Your prayers are appreciated that orientation go smoothly so staff will be ready to welcome the students as they return for the opening of school on August 11, 2014.
