Tag: South Dakota

Favorite dessert: biscuits and gravy

The first day of school. Crazy but fun.

Midmorning I went onto the playground during recess and shot baskets with 2nd graders. Mostly I rebounded and tried to teach them to cut toward the basket so I could feed them the ball. Even that basic concept took some coaching and coaxing, but there’s some potential ballers there.

I waited until afternoon before venturing into the school. I don’t want to interrupt too early as the teachers build a routine and relationships. I’m trying to learn the new students’ names, as well as remember all our returning students. Some have grown and changed a lot even since May. Some of the younger crowd recognized me from the visit to their home yesterday, which at least sparked a bit of recognition and familiarity.

In the 2nd grade classroom, I went around the room and asked them to tell me their name and favorite dessert, which was a fun ice breaker. We might have to work on teaching food categories and the basic food groups, since besides ice cream and chocolate chip cookies I also heard “biscuits and gravy.”

This morning, Central Receiving was crawling with houseparents, gathering up clothes that their children will need. When our students arrive, all their clothes are cataloged so we know what they have. Some students have very little and the houseparents were even looking for basics like socks and underwear. Over the summer, many generous folks sent in or dropped off many new or gently used clothing items and they are quickly getting into the dressers of the Lakota kids who need them. This year, we seem to have an abundance of clothes for the girls, but a shortage of items for the boys. We do keep an updated  list of needed items on our website. Find St. Joseph’s Indian School’s needs list here!

I reviewed the High School driving handbook. We’ve been finding that after students graduate, they don’t have a realistic sense of how to budget for insurance, replacement parts and repairs. We are trying some new procedures to help students understand the costs for operating a car and want to teach them to do more of the basic maintenance.

I ate supper in the Fisher Home (6th-8th grade boys). They have 9 of 12 back from last year and the 3 new 6th graders have all been at St. Joseph’s for several years. Since I already know all the guys there, I knew visiting Fisher wouldn’t cause too much commotion.

My favorite day of the year

My favorite day of the year –the homes open and Native American families are arriving with students for the start of St. Joseph’s Indian School’s school year.

I got to  the office at noon, when the homes officially opened. There were already five students on campus, the first one arriving at 11:30, excited about being back. There are also students who are very homesick as soon as their family leaves, and the houseparents try to be supportive and guide them through the tears and sadness. By mid afternoon, lots of kids were outside playing, which always helps with adjusting. Out of 203 children, 42 are new to our programs this year.

I made the rounds to all of the homes. I visited the Benedictine homes twice – in early afternoon and after supper. Afra, Raphael, Ambrose and Dennis house the 1st – 3rd graders, and those always have the most new students to get to know, and it takes me several tries to make sure I get all the names down. I also spent time with families as I saw them arrive. We want to continue to find ways to keep them involved, even when they may live many hours away and not make it back to campus all that often.

Our High School students attend the local public high school, which doesn’t start until next week. But about half our high school students have come back to participate in football, golf or volleyball. Two of our four high school homes are open this week. The rest of the crew comes back a week from today.

Students have two sets of houseparents they work with. One set of houseparents works in the home for 6 days and the others for 3. These first two days everyone will be on duty so they and the kids can get to know each other from the beginning.

A day full of Lakota (Sioux) culture

Yesterday I enjoyed a day of prayer and recollection when I visited my spiritual director. Summer has helped me get into a very good space and I want to keep it that way once school begins and the pace gets more hectic. In order to stay on the right path, I know I must consistently make time for prayer and exercise. Now that I’ve mostly cleared my desk, I also want to avoid procrastinating and handle things as they arise. I accept that each day will bring a longer to do list than I have time for, so I pray for wisdom to prioritize, especially spending time with the staff and students .

Lower Brule Indian Reservation celebrates their annual powwow this weekend and I made my way there for the festivities. I split my time between the powwow dancing and the rodeo grounds. Since the Sioux were great with horses, and the prairie is well suited for ranching and agricultural pursuits, many tribal members have become skilled cowhands and riders. A few even compete on the national stage in rodeo.

The Grand Entry at the powwow is a kaleidoscope of color and motion, with the beat of the drum reaching down deep inside. The drum beat draws you in so you’re more of a participant than observer. Inbetween rounds it’s great fun to walk around the arena and see who you run into. I know many of the folks from when I was Pastor there. I also am tickled to see and talk to St. Joseph’s Indian School students and check up on how their summer has gone. I overheard one family talking about having to get their first grader to bed at a decent time so they could get to St. Joseph’s Indian School early tomorrow. I introduced myself and met Tayron, one of our new first graders, and offered him an early welcome.

On one fun powwow side note, a  group of mostly St. Joseph’s Indian School houseparents won the tug of war, with bragging rights for a year and a little pocket-money. The gathering is laden with culture and ceremony, but also lots of fun like a picnic at a family reunion.

Perfect day for a picnic

Mike, a motorcyclist from Michigan was returning from the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, and saw our St. Joseph’s Indian School sign along Interstate 90. As I was walking to chapel for midday prayer, he drove up and introduced himself.

“I send a little money when I can and just wanted to make sure you had a real school and I wasn’t just sending money to a fat cat driving a limousine. But you look like your picture and I can see you have a lot for the kids to do on campus, so I’m glad to meet you and glad I stopped.”

Then he was on his way. We’re always glad when people are passing through and able to stop and see what we’re about.

Most of our planning and preparation meetings are over, and we finished the day with an “All Staff Picnic”. It’s fun to spend time with the spouses, children and family that belong to our staff and I don’t get to see too often during our workdays. Some of the kids I hardly recognize as they’ve changed and grown so much in a year. Some may even continue on a family tradition and someday become part of our staff themselves. The past couple of years the picnic has been beset by too much heat. Today the temperature was perfect, but then a fierce rainstorm blew in. While it sent a few people scurrying home, it caused more than the usual crew to stay and visit.

St. Joseph’s Indian School is scurrying

I’m always a little nervous when a lawyer knocks on my office door, but this visit made me very happy. A generous donor had willed St. Joseph’s Indian School a tract of land and we are finalizing the sale. The monies from this request can go into long-term investments that will benefit the Native American students a long way down the road.

I only had one scheduled meeting today, with Human Resources. But since everyone is back on campus and scurrying around to make sure all is in place for the students’ arrival Sunday, there are many, many impromptu meetings, phone calls and emails and we try to take care of all the details. As folks started going home at the end of the day, I had to work backwards to conscientiously answer the backlog of post-it notes I had written on top of other memos as they came in.  But we will be ready.

St. Joseph’s Indian School’s annual powwow isn’t until September 17, but we are already starting to set up the work schedules to make sure it all goes smoothly. We’re expecting another good crowd of visitors.

After supper, I took a walk around campus. Most of our houseparents go to their own homes or apartments for the night. Some however, live several hours away. During the school year they stay here for the 6 days they work, then go home for a 3 day break. For these prep days, it isn’t worth all the travel, so a few of them are on campus already. I saw the lights on in the Matthias home (jr. high girls) and stopped in to see Lisa, who had materials for her girls spread out all over the kitchen table as she tried to get organized. Like the other houseparents, she had a good break and is excited as she prepares for the arrival of the kids she knows well, and a few new students.

I continued my walk, and ran into Dick who was taking a break from the Fisher Home (jr. high boys) where he was cleaning and organizing and out for a walk himself. I changed direction and made a lap around the campus enjoying his company. It’s relaxing just to stroll and get caught up with what’s going on in the lives of staff members.

Smiles and memories from St. Joseph’s Indian School

The staff sat through many meetings and presentations today. One favorite event is viewing a slide show of the past’s events. That always brings smiles and nostalgic memories. There was also the mandatory talk about fire and safety, and classes on dealing with blood and airborne pathogens when kids are hurt or sick. We all have to continually strive to learn a little about a lot of different topics.

Smaller focus groups met to pull together the ideas and questions we heard during yesterday’s strategic planning sessions, trying to fill in more details. One question we ask a lot around here is, “Who has the R? – Who will be responsible for making sure what we say we want to do gets done?”

Besides meetings, teachers are getting their classrooms ready. The walls are starting to come to life with more color and objects that announce the start of another school year. Houseparents also are organizing and setting up the homes – everything from stocking the cupboards to decorating bulletin boards and prayer spaces. The balance between physical work and the input of ideas seems to be a good combination.

Partnering brings inspiration, strength and commitment

I notice an excitement in the air at St. Joseph’s Indian School and a buzz of conversation when all the child services staff comes back for our all staff orientation. About half of our staff work year round, and half are on 9 month contracts. I’ve seen some houseparents and teachers over the summer as they worked in the day camps,  summer school or in the summer homes. But some folks we’ve not seen since graduation in May. Just standing at the chapel doorway as folks streamed in for our opening prayer service brought many smiles, warm handshakes and hugs.

Today is the one time of the year when all our staff can be together with no kids to supervise. We used the day to discuss and move forward our strategic plan. Strategic planning is a lot of work. I feel tired and drained at the end of such days. Part of the struggle is the actual discernment – what is God calling us and asking of us? What direction should we move? The great principles always meet the reality of limitations and all the day-to-day duties that distract from longer range goals. It’s a comforting support to know that we’re not alone, but working together on this common project.

This year’s theme is Partnering brings inspiration, strength and commitment.

Seeing all of our staff gathered in one place gives me the opportunity for my annual “state of the union” address. It’s more a chance to introduce new people, highlight all the work that’s gone on over the summer, look ahead to where we hope to go, and try to inspire. If nothing else is remembered, I hope each employee feels themselves a valued and an important part of all that what we do here. It takes so many different skills and talents to make the work at St. Joseph’s Indian School possible.

 

Your dreams have to be bigger than you are

I’m always on the lookout for an inspirational quote. Besides scripture and more obviously spiritual sources, today I was touched by a line I heard while watching highlights from the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction. Deion Sanders grew up poor. He strove for excellence on the playing fields to rise above that and to provide for his family, especially his mother.

Your dreams have to be bigger than you are.

I hope that we pass that attitude on to our Lakota youth, that they can dream big and be dedicated in the pursuit of excellence, so they can grow and thrive.

We were delighted to offer hospitality to Brother Conrad, a Capuchin Franciscan who worked on Indian Reservations in Montana for many years. He has stayed with us several times over the years as he travels back to visit and reconnect with the people he came to know and love. While each tribe is unique, many of the Northern Plains tribes share much in common, and we compared stories about the joys and challenges of working in Indian Reservation communities. One of Brother Conrad’s gifts is carpentry and mechanical skills, and he spent many hours fixing buildings and helping people in that way. Because of his interest, we toured some of the construction projects happening on our campus.  While making the rounds we ran into a Houseparent couple, Robb and Cheryl, preparing the Hogebach house (HS girls) for the arrival of our students in a few days. Besides seeing the facilities, they gave a good overview about the kind of work and mentoring that goes on in the homes.

 

Wisdom and dedication

Our school bus was sitting in the parking lot, hood open and a group of people were gathered around looking at the engine. There wasn’t any trouble, just several of our St. Joseph’s Indian School staff members taking part in CDL training so they could get certified to drive the bus. Jerry  Vaad had been our mainstay behind the wheel, transporting several generations of sports teams and classrooms bound on field trips. But Jerry died toward the end of last school year. I’m grateful that six members of our staff heeded the call for help. Alice, one of our houseparents, was the only woman to sign up, but she said that if she could do it, anyone can, and she was going to encourage more women to sign up next time.

These last days of summer are a bit quieter and more relaxed. I have longer periods of time uninterrupted by meetings or phone calls, which lends itself to reading and preparation.  Today I worked on talks for the upcoming orientation and strategic planning, and got started on a homily. The time also lends itself to prayer and reflection. Walking by the Missouri River, I held up our students and staff in prayer, asking God for wisdom and dedication to make this another good year.

Hogs at St. Joseph’s Indian School

The hogs are on the road. Not the pork kind, but Harley Davidson motorcycles on their way to Sturgis, South Dakota. This is the busiest time of year on our highways, and you can hear the steady roar of the motors making their way west. We see a lot more motorcycles in our Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center parking lot as members of our tiyospaye – extended family stop to say hello, and tourists stop to learn about the Native American history and culture of the area.

I received a video from the Indian Land Tenure foundation. They educate people about how Federal Legislative policy has affected tribal rights and land situations. The video gave a broad history about such laws as the Indian Removal Act, Tribal Termination and the Dawes Allotment Act which checkerboarded many of the Indian Reservations. I’ve learned about this part of history over the years, and this was a good overview.  If anyone is interested in learning more about treaty rights the website is www.iltf.org!