Tag: St. Joseph’s Indian School

A time for endings… a time for new beginnings!

Whew!  It’s all over.

Our 89th school year has come to a close with the graduation of our high school students on Mother’s Day and our 8th graders on May 26.  On May 25 and 26, all students returned home to their families for the summer.

HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES

Our four high school graduates—Justin, Danielle, Lilly and Ashley—joined their classmates to walk across the stage, receive their diplomas and take the first steps into their futures.  Justin is looking forward to learning how to weld, Danielle will study nursing, Lilly is interested in Astrophysics and Ashely is currently undecided.  We wish our grads all the best as they walk the path the Great Spirit opens before them. Continue reading “A time for endings… a time for new beginnings!”

A recap of the last few weeks at St. Joseph’s Indian School!

Good day from St. Joseph’s Indian School!

As the school year wound down throughout the month of May, our students kept active!  Many of the Homes took their year-end trips to Sioux Falls, Rapid City, Pierre or Minnesota.  The various classes also took day trips to visit local points of interest.

Though the students always get excited about going off campus to visit various sites, they also like to be involved in what is happening in the local Chamberlain-Oacoma area.

CIRCUS

In mid-April, the Chamberlain Big Bend Shrine Club Circus came to town.  The students were excited about having the chance to ride an elephant, camel or pony.  They also were excited about seeing clowns and the acts of the circus performers—especially those working with lions and tigers. Continue reading “A recap of the last few weeks at St. Joseph’s Indian School!”

A trip they will never forget!

Hello, I’m Frank. I currently serve as the 7-8 Grade Residential Coordinator at St. Joseph’s.

In April, St. Joseph’s traveled to New Orleans for a donor luncheon. Each time St. Joseph’s host a donor luncheon, two students are chosen to travel along. This gives our students a unique opportunity to see the country and meet many people who so generously support them!

Let me tell you a little about the preparations on our end… Continue reading “A trip they will never forget!”

There’s many things going on at St. Joseph’s!

Greetings from St. Joseph’s Indian School,

SACRAMENTS

This past Sunday was a very grace-filled day for St. Joseph’s as 27 of our students, who had been studying since September, received the Sacraments. Nineteen students were fully initiated through Baptism, Confirmation and First Communion.  Two students, previously baptized in another Christian tradition, made a profession of faith in the Catholic Church, were confirmed and received First Communion. Six others who were baptized Catholic as infants, made their First Communion. Continue reading “There’s many things going on at St. Joseph’s!”

Holy Week at St. Joseph’s

Happy Holy Week from St. Joseph’s Indian School!

What is the old adage, ‘if you don’t like the weather just wait a few moments?’ That has been the truth here in Chamberlain these past few days. It was in the 80’s on Saturday and then on Monday, the temperatures dropped to the low 30’s along with rain, sleet and snow. On Tuesday, most of the snow melted and on Wednesday, the weather was overcast and rainy. The moisture is allowing the grass to green-up nicely!

WAX MUSEUM
Last Friday, our 3rd graders hosted a ‘wax museum’. Continue reading “Holy Week at St. Joseph’s”

Odds and Ends at St. Joseph’s Indian School!

Good day from St. Joseph’s Indian School.

I thought I’d write about a few odds-and-ends of what has been happening here on campus and in the local community.

FISHING

Last Friday, I was driving back to campus and came across one of our local motels that had their sign up saying “No Vacancy.” Continue reading “Odds and Ends at St. Joseph’s Indian School!”

Mathias/Stevens Home- Spotlight

Every Tuesday for the next few months, we will be highlighting one of our 20 homes on St. Joseph’s campus.

Here at St. Joseph’s, we provide nationally-accredited home-away-from-homes for Native American children in grades one through twelve.

There are no dorms at St. Joseph’s. Children live in one of our campus homes with two specially-trained houseparents. They live and play together as any family would. The boys and girls learn life skills and enjoy spending time with their ‘St. Joseph’s family’.

 

Diane and Milton are two of our 3-day houseparent staff. During their 6 days on, 3 days off schedule that is typical for all of our houseparents, they spend 3 days in the Mathias and 3 days in the Stevens homes. This type of schedule allows for both our 6-day and 3-day houseparents to have 3 days off after their 6-day shift.

Our 3-day houseparents play an integral role in both homes they serve! Continue reading “Mathias/Stevens Home- Spotlight”

Cyr Home- Spotlight

Every Tuesday for the next few months, we will be highlighting one of our 20 homes on St. Joseph’s campus.

Here at St. Joseph’s, we provide nationally-accredited home-away-from-homes for Native American children in grades one through twelve.

There are no dorms at St. Joseph’s. Children live in one of our campus homes with two specially-trained houseparents. They live and play together as any family would. The boys and girls learn life skills and enjoy spending time with their ‘St. Joseph’s family’.

St. Joseph’s Cyr Home is one of our 4-6 grade boys’ homes on campus.

Theresa and Odis 6-day houseparents. Theresa has an interesting story and has been at St. Joseph’s since the fall of 1986. Here is what she shared:

 “I have been here since the fall of 1986. When I came in ’86, I re-started the yearbook program and was the editor for a number of years. Through this process, I got to know everyone on campus!

 Throughout my time at St. Joseph’s, I have been a houseparent, houseparent trainer, director of religious education, religion teacher and then back to being a houseparent. I enjoyed all my positions, but with houseparenting you get to know a smaller group of kids better than when I was a teacher and had all of the children in my classes. 

I found out about St. Joseph’s when I was in Canada working as a houseparent for a high school program in British Columbia.  A couple I knew from there had come to work at St. Joseph’s after leaving Canada.

I like to garden, and in August when the boys come back to school I usually have cantaloupe growing – they help me water it and really enjoy helping me eat it. J

Why I enjoy the work I do?  I wouldn’t enjoy it if I didn’t have great partners.  It really does take two of us to do the work and still have time to enjoy doing things with the kids. Of course I also enjoy the kids – it is fun to watch them mature and working with them keeps me young.” Continue reading “Cyr Home- Spotlight”

State Basketball Recap and Construction Update

Good day from St. Joseph’s Indian School.

The quiet of a week-long Spring Break was shattered this past Sunday as students and staff returned to campus ready to head into the 4th quarter. We held a prayer service to kick off the last quarter of the school year on Tuesday, asking for God’s guidance and direction and the support of the Holy Spirit as the academic year begins to wind down.

The students have been quite busy signing up for teeball, softball, cross country and a gymnastics camp being held in downtown Chamberlain. There is also some preparation underway to have student vs staff basketball games Continue reading “State Basketball Recap and Construction Update”

Senior Home- Spotlight

Every Tuesday for the next few months, we will be highlighting one of our 20 homes on St. Joseph’s campus.

Here at St. Joseph’s, we provide nationally-accredited home-away-from-homes for Native American children in grades one through twelve.

There are no dorms at St. Joseph’s. Children live in one of our campus homes with two specially-trained houseparents. They live and play together as any family would. The boys and girls learn life skills and enjoy spending time with their ‘St. Joseph’s family’.

In 2015, St. Joseph’s began our High School Senior Home program. Hogebach, our senior home, provides opportunities for current high school seniors to learn the skills and responsibilities they will need to be successful after graduation.

Nancy, Al, Melissa and Aaron are St. Joseph’s Senior Advisors.

Nancy and Al have been houseparents at St. Joseph’s for four years. This year is extra special since they have been with the four senior girls since their freshman year! They have enjoyed getting to know both the girls and boys even more this year.

Prior to coming to St. Joseph’s, Continue reading “Senior Home- Spotlight”