Tag: St. Joseph’s Indian School

I enjoyed breakfast and a good conversation with my brother-in-law Ed this morning. He was on a brief visit, driving home a camper for friends who toured the Black Hills. He rolled in last night and was off again this morning, but I sure appreciated his company and getting caught up on family.

I made the rounds in the classrooms. Richard had the first graders in Religious Education class. They were learning the sign of the cross. A few had the basics down, but for many it was a brand new concept. A lot of the children who come here, even if they have been baptized in some tradition, are mostly unchurched. Hopefully they will deepen their knowledge of God, teach me a thing or two about God’s ways and surpass us all in goodness and mercy.

Frank, our 6^th – 8^th grade Residential Coordinator and Jenny, our Student Coordinator, met with all the 7^th and 8^th graders to lay out some guidelines which will help our American Indian students down the road if they want to get accepted into our high school program. We want all of our students to keep their eyes on the future and realize the choices they make now can either contribute to their later success  or become a roadblock. We plant the seeds now and hope they will take root.

I ate supper in the Dennis Home (1^st-3^rd grade girls), where half of the girls are brand new to St. Joseph’s. I was surrounded in the playroom by more dolls than I’ve seen in a long time; familiar play things that help the girls relax, have fun and help their adjustment to new surroundings.

Before becoming a houseparent, Peter was a chef, and he fixed up a wonderful stir fry from scratch. It’s a constant challenge to make sure kids are eating healthy and tonight they had a mixture of chicken, broccoli, celery, onions, green beans, cabbage, water chestnuts, mushrooms and rice on their plates. Not only did I hear no complaints, but many of the girls asked for seconds!

None of the new kids had ever been around a priest much and were very curious about my all black attire. They asked, “When are you going to change clothes?”  (I do all the time – they just look the same!). Later when I ran into the group again by the Rec Center, in my gym trunks and tennis shoes, they had to check those out too.

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 1^st – 3^rd 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.