Good Day from St. Joseph’s Indian School!
You’ve heard the saying, ‘the king is dead, long live the king,’ and we’ve seen an indication of it here at St. Joseph’s!
Most of the Christmas decorations came down right after our Christmas celebration on January 10 and several decorations promoting St. Valentine’s Day went up – not just commercially, but on campus as well. There is a sign welcoming you to the infirmary with two big hearts, a set of lips and the greeting ‘hugs and kisses.’
St. Joseph’s staff participated in the annual Chili Cook Off yesterday. We have yearly contests to find the best chili and soup! Those entering need to make a good amount so the staff can come and taste the variety of entries. Staff make sure they come early so as not to miss out on the goodies! The various dishes were tasted by our judges and prizes were awarded.
As our second semester gets under way, we’d like to update you on how our recent grads, alumni and scholarship recipients are doing! Kyron, JaTonne and Angela are back in class for the second semester. RJ is working here in Chamberlain at Sanford Hospital. Shawn is in Yankton looking for work. Cody, a 2014 grad, is back in class at University of South Dakota. Erica is discerning what her next step will be.
I offer thanks on behalf of our students here at St. Joseph’s who had the chance to celebrate Christmas this past Sunday. Our students received some wonderful gifts and they extend their thanks to you!
I had the chance to visit several of the homes and see the smiles and hear the giggles as packages were opened and everybody got a chance to see what Santa had brought.
Every home does things a bit differently. Some have breakfast after coming back from Mass; others tear right into the pile of gifts under the trees. Some open one at a time so that everyone gets the chance to see; others let everyone open at the same time. Some homes have the same gifts for each student, while others have gifts of a similar type but geared for each individual. (This was especially true among some of the older homes where sports caps were a key gift… allowing each student to show their support for a team or player.)
Star Wars items were also very popular, as many of the students were able to see the movie during the Christmas break. One home is all set for a Star Wars-themed camping trip as each student got a Star Wars pop up tent and sleeping bag.
Swimming goggles were the hit with several of the younger homes. They love to swim at St. Joseph’s rec center and had been complaining that the swimming pool chlorine was getting in their eyes.
One home even purchased a bicycle for each student!! They all wished it was warmer outside so they could go for a spin! I explained to them that they have something to look forward to in the spring.
We are grateful to you, our Benefactors, who contributed to the Christmas fund that enabled St. Joseph’s houseparents to serve as Santa’s elves! I wish you could have been present to see what happiness your generosity brought, but I hope these photos do the day justice!
Our Boys Basketball Season gets underway this coming Thursday as our 5th and 6th graders take on the students from Pierre Indian Learning Center (PILC). All teams, fourth grade through eighth grade, will be playing through the end of February. The boys have been practicing and look forward to showing off their skills! We hope everyone has fun and that there will not be any serious injuries.
We usually act out the Nativity Story as part of the Sunday Liturgy before our Christmas celebration, but this year we found a cute video production that you might also want to take a look at. It is children telling the story, as they remember it, but adults acting out scenes. You can see it here.
I think you’ll enjoy it.
Again, thanks for your generosity. You truly helped to make our Christmas celebration here at St. Joseph’s something special.
May the Great Spirit’s blessings be with each of you throughout 2016.
They’re BACK!!! The Lakota students returned to St. Joseph’s campus this past weekend. It is so good to have them back and encourage them as they jump into winter activities. Monday was a day for a teacher in-service, so those who were back early had the chance to go sledding on the snow.
We are scheduled to get some very cold and blustery weather this weekend, with temperatures just above zero and wind chills 20 to 30 degrees below zero. I want to thank those who helped provide warm clothing for our students – it is really going to be used and appreciated this weekend!
Holy Year of Mercy Logo
On Tuesday, we started the third quarter with a prayer service. Our theme was Mercy, tying in with the Holy Year Pope Francis is asking the Church to celebrate this year. As you can see by the logo, the Good Shepherd comes in search of us to forgive our straying and puts us on His shoulders to bring us back into relationship with God and one another.
Congrats to the students in Raphael and Dennis Homes! They did a project at Christmas, making ornaments and then selling them as a fundraiser. They sold $44.00 worth of ornaments, which they quickly donated to a nonprofit that utilized it to feed over 200 people. We are proud of them!
We recently had sign-ups for the boys’ basketball teams. The 4th, 5th and 6th grade will start on January 14, and the 7th and 8th graders will begin a week later. They are looking forward to getting underway and showing off the skills they learned in the Inter City Program they took part in before Christmas.
We are also busy organizing cheerleaders and members of the Pep Squad, a group of younger students who belt out cheers during the games! We hope the weather allows our boys to get in all their games.
The efforts of the staff at the Akta Lakota Museum and Cultural Center continue to be recognized. They recently were honored by the State of South Dakota for their hospitality and friendliness to visitors and guests. They also continue to get very nice reviews from those who stop in to visit the museum. If you would like to read some of them, you can go on-line and check them out at http://bit.ly/1S6d7MI.
Since it is going to be very cold here, I thought I might put in another plug for our next donor luncheon, which is coming up on the weekend of January 16-17 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Two of our high school girls will be attending along with some St. Joseph’s staff. They are excited to meet you and answer any questions you may have. If you are able to join us or would like more information, visit www.stjo.org/luncheon or call 1-800-584-9200.
I hope everyone’s 2016 is off to a flying start. May God’s blessing be with you to bring good health, much happiness and many interesting experiences during this election year.
Guess what! It has been snowing again; but this time we avoided being in the bullseye. We received several inches of snow on Christmas afternoon, but our grounds crew did a fantastic job removing the snow from the roads. Today we are getting some gentle flurries.
The Chamberlain Cubs were scheduled to host an East-West basketball tournament yesterday, bringing in schools from across South Dakota, but the threat of snow caused the schedule to begin today.
You may recall that our Lakota Hand Games team had been practicing to defend the championship they won last year at the Lakota Nation Invitational gathering in Rapid City, South Dakota. Sadly they did not do as well this year. We also sent a Knowledge Bowl team to compete against other schools. The team won their first contest but then dropped into the losers’ bracket and could not work their way through to play for the title. Once a team is ousted, each member of the team can take part in a specific category and answer questions and write an essay on their topic. This year one of our juniors, Justin, took part in the Literature category and won first place. Way to go, Justin!!
The archery team boasted a couple place winners:
Camron placed 1st in High School Boys Bare Bow
Danielle earned 4th place in High School Girls Bare Bow
Samantha placed 4th in Middle School Girls Bare Bow
Congratulations archers!
Since our students are away on their Christmas Break, I can share some events that have happened over the last few weeks. Our sixth, seventh and eighth graders participating in Explorers completed their first semester ‘Chores’ project. Through their hard work, the students raised $1,700 for a local resident who is fighting cancer! There was a picture in our local papers of all the members of the club surrounding the beneficiary who had a big smile on their face.
Just before the Break, those who will be serving as bowling captains held a draft of the students who wish to bowl in the upcoming league. There will be about 8 students on each team. Four of the eight will bowl each week. It will be up to the captains to select who will bowl and up to the students to remain eligible academically. There will be about six or seven weeks of bowling.
Also on the sports front, I was informed by our athletic director, Bryan, that one of our seniors, Daves, has been selected to participate in the South Dakota All State football game this coming summer due to his defense, kick returning and receiving capabilities. Congratulations Daves! I believe this is a St. Joseph’s first.
Vickie, the gift shop supervisor at the Akta Lakota Museum and Cultural Center, was the guest speaker at the Chamberlain Kiwanis luncheon meeting recently.
Vickie filled in for the Museum Director, Dixie, who was snowed in that day. Vickie has been with the museum for 18 years. She shared with those attending information on some of the artists we have on display—Arthur Amiotte, Oscar Howe, Robert Penn, Andrew Standing Soldier, Don Ruleaux and Don Montileaux. She mentioned how schools from various parts of the state come for visits. During these visits, our museum staff help them develop a better awareness and understanding of the history of the Native People. She was happy to inform the Kiwanis that approximately 25,000 visitors came through the facility this past year, a 12% increase!
Hope Santa was good to everyone. On behalf of St. Joseph’s Indian School’s students and staff, I would like to extend our best wishes to you and yours for a very Joyous, Peaceful, Healthy and Happy New Year. May God’s blessings be with you now and throughout 2016.
Today we had the biggest volume of incoming mail in months. Practically all of it consisted of gifts, well-wishes and Christmas greetings, all from our generous supporters.
St. Joseph’s Indian School strives to acknowledge all donations in short order. This can be a challenge when volumes are large. Because the quantity of mail was so great today, our Mail Processing staff sent out an SOS for assistance in sorting. Feeling confident that no one would miss me at my desk for an hour or two, I headed to the sorting room.
Tray upon tray of mail greeted me when I arrived. A number of other staff members were already at work sorting the mail according to size. This process enables the pieces to be fed properly into the machine which automatically opens the envelopes.
I saw return addresses from all over the country. Many envelopes had hand-written holiday greetings. Others had a colorful array of Christmas stamps. One poor wrinkled-looking envelope had an address that was barely legible. I said a silent prayer to the Post Office for their diligence in getting all of that wonderful mail to us, including those pieces with challenges.
What I felt with each piece of mail that I handled was a deep respect for our supporters. Those envelopes showed me that our benefactors care. That so many people from so many places believe in our mission in little Chamberlain, South Dakota, and the work we do with the Lakota students is very humbling.
IT’S BACK!!!! Just when we thought we might be getting over the snow, the third storm in three weeks nailed us. Interstate 90 was closed from Chamberlain to Rapid City– a stretch of about 200 miles.
The big event this past weekend was the Student Christmas Store! The store is a yearly tradition that allows our students to “shop” for their loved ones before Christmas break begins. Our students come with their lists and circle the store a few times before they make their final decisions!
Staff was on hand to help our students pick out just the right gift for their loved ones at home. Once their shopping was complete, they moved to the skating room where other staff members helped them wrap their treasures.
There was also time for goodies and pictures with Santa!
Members of the National Honor Society and students in the Raphael and David Homes got into the spirit of helping others. The NHS students recently sponsored a bake sale to raise money for the food bank here in Chamberlain and the Homes sold handmade tree decorations to support a fundraiser on behalf of Fighting Hunger in South Dakota. The goodies at the bake sale were delicious, and the decorations caught everyone’s fancy and sold out quickly!
Recent bad weather kept pushing our Healing Camp back, but we were able to hold it this past Monday and Tuesday. St. Joseph’s Healing Camp is open to any student and their family members who are dealing with a recent loss of a loved one. There are various activities they take part in to help them talk about their feelings and emotions.
The yearly camp ends with a traditional wiping of the tears ceremony by a local elder. It is one way for St. Joseph’s to show support and encouragement as our students deal with the passing of a loved one who now walks the Holy Road.
Our grade school students have recently been given chance to experience the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Their religious education teacher, Joe, and I set it up so the students could come to the Sacrament during their religious education class time. Fr. Bernard Rosinski, SCJ was available to assist as well! The students were given the chance to receive either the Sacrament (if Catholic) or a blessing (if not Catholic).
We know everyone gets so excited about getting the externals—gifts, cards, etc.—ready for Christmas but sometimes we forget to get ourselves ready. This was an opportunity for them to make sure there will be room in their hearts to welcome the Christ Child.
St. Joseph’s Spelling Bee Winners!
Just as I finished with the last class, the spelling bee began as a way to determine who will represent St. Joseph’s in the state spelling bee in Mitchell, South Dakota. The three students pictured will be representing St. Joseph’s! If they perform well enough, their spelling skills could eventually take them to the National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC!!
Our students left for Christmas Break last Friday and are enjoying spending time with family and friends at home. We hope your plans give you the opportunity to be with your loved ones as we celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace.
It was one of those moments that you are fortunate to experience… like so many others over the past 30 years. I am frequently reminded that the mission at the heart of our work at St. Joseph’s Indian School is truly a blessing for all who are open to it!
It started with our yearly Christmas Store, held on December 12 this year. Like many other caring staff, I volunteered to assist as our students select Christmas gifts for their family members. The Christmas Store comes about because of the generosity of so many. Students are able to select gifts for their siblings and family members. It is an opportunity to give someone a present that they might not otherwise have.
Throughout the day, some staff help students pick out gifts. Others, like me, volunteer to help wrap presents. There’s music playing and Santa Claus is here. St. Joseph’s high school students even assist the younger students. It is a lot of fun!
After assisting a couple of students in wrapping their presents, there was a short break between groups… And there it sat on a table full of wrapping paper.
It was a letter to Santa Claus.
I was not sure where it came from, but it had all the magic that a letter to Santa should have. It had a few misspellings and imperfect penmanship, just as a child’s letter should. But it was magic nonetheless. It asked for gifts for her siblings, and she had drawn a few pictures.
But mostly, I was struck by the spirit of the letter! Simply stated, this child was given the opportunity to ‘Believe’ in the magic of Christmas.
With this being the Christmas Season, I find there are a number of Christmas movies that give one perspective. In the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life,” George Baily sees a world without himself in it! This led me to the question, what would the world be like without St. Joseph’s Indian School? What if we did not have so many generous supporters? What kind of Christmas would our students and their families have?
How would their lives be impacted?
Student letter to Santa.
Thirty years ago, my wife and I were fortunate to come to St. Joseph’s Indian School. Back then, the plan was to take a year and see if we could make a difference. And what we have 30 years later is a lifetime full of memories and many instances where the Mission impacted us far more than we impacted the Mission. So what George Baily realized, I too realized. How truly lucky I am to be part of this wonderful Mission that is St. Joseph’s Indian School.
That student letter was a simple reminder of the magic that is in the hearts of our students, their families, the staff and our supporters. It is you, our supporters, and your generosity that allows the Spirit of the Mission to thrive each and every day on our campus. And it is during this important Christmas Season that your generosity is most apparent in the eyes of the children we serve!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! The Spirit is alive! God Bless!
What a week here at St. Joseph’s! You may recall we were hit with over six inches of snow a week ago Monday and now we are wondering where it all went! The snow was on the ground for several days, but when area temperatures began to rise, it melted quickly. However, do not fear… the students were able to get some sledding in, snowballs thrown and snow forts built!
To help those in Dancing Dolls and Dudes have enough time to get ready for their big recital debut on Sunday, we moved our normal Sunday morning Mass to Saturday afternoon. At the end of Mass, St. Nicholas, St. Joseph’s own President, Mike, stopped by to visit with the children and pass out goodies to those who could answer some questions he had. Everyone was excited seeing Saint Nick, knowing he’ll soon be making his rounds on Christmas Eve.
The Dancing Dolls and Dudes recital went well! The Dolls were divided by age and each group performed two or three dance numbers. The young men taking part all danced together. A few days later, at the end of the Mass on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, we had our dancers stand and took a moment to congratulate them on their performance with a round of applause.
The Akta Lakota Museum and Cultural Center was recently honored by the South Dakota Department of Tourism with the South Dakota Great Service Star for 2015. This is an award given to tourist spots within the state that give exceptional customer service. We want to extend our congratulations to Dixie and her team at the museum for their efforts! They truly do a fantastic job.
Some of our sixth, seventh and eighth grade boys participate in the local Explorers group with young men their age from the local public school. Every year, the young men ‘take to the town’ and perform odd jobs as a way to raise funds for a worthy cause. This year, they began their quest to raise money to assist in purchasing an automated external defibrillator (AED) for the Chamberlain Middle School. After they began saving their money, they became aware of someone many of the boys knew who had just been diagnosed with cancer and decided to make that person the main focus of their money raising efforts! They will still be making a donation for the AED, but the boys are all excited to give back to someone who means a lot to them!
St. Nick (President Mike) visited the students this past Sunday!
With Christmas getting closer, various decorations are going up around campus. The nativity scene was put up where the tipi stands just outside the Akta Lakota Museum. Several of the Homes have also gotten into the holiday spirit and the rest will get busy this weekend so they’ll all have everything in place by the time Christmas break arrives.
I hope your time of preparation for Christmas is moving along smoothly. While it is nice to get all the externals—baking, cards, gifts and decorations—going, may we take a moment to get ourselves ready so there will be room in our hearts when the Prince of Peace comes. Have a great week.
What a mess! The Chamberlain area was recently hit with over six inches of snow! The storm caused over thirty students and several staff members to be caught away from campus after the Thanksgiving break. Everyone had the option to be back either Sunday or Monday– those who came back on Sunday made it with no problems, but those who waited were stuck. Mitchell and Sioux Falls, South Dakota, set new records with over seven inches of snow!
St. Joseph’s students enjoyed sledding and making snowmen!
The snow caused various activities to be canceled — our healing camp for students who have lost a loved one recently; several basketball games and the initial basketball practice for the high school teams, to name a few. The storm also prevented some of our students from taking part in a skype interaction with some of our benefactors in France. They had written a poem they wanted to share.
St. Joseph’s students enjoyed the recent snowfall!
I greeted the students on their first day back at school after the holiday. In talking with the students, it seems everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
During the break, I had the opportunity to go up to Ft. Thompson on the Crow Creek Reservation and celebrate mass with several of our SCJ priests who are stationed in the area. After mass, we joined with the parishioners and took part in a lovely Thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings prepared by Sr. Charles. When I returned to campus, I stopped in to visit with the staff who were not able to get away for the break. They, too, had a delicious meal and good fellowship.
When I was in the school library for the interaction with our French Benefactors, the librarian pointed out that the theme for this month is ‘ask a question’. Our librarian is working hard to develop investigative reading skills with our students. If they have a question—all they have to do is pick up a book on the topic and READ!
You may recall that a few weeks ago, I mentioned that the Ambrose Home went to St. Joseph’s Church in Ft. Thompson as part of their social outreach activity but forgot to bring goodies to share. You can see in the photo that they did come up with some nice treats and got them to Sr.
St. Joseph’s students enjoyed ‘paying it forward’!
Charles so that they could be shared with the parishioners! Houseparents Jennifer and Katy divided the boys up into four groups who each made something special. They had a great time doing it! Their outreach is one of the ways we show gratitude for the generosity our benefactors show to us.
Since we are facing some real challenges with all the snow, it might be a good time to remind you that our next donor luncheon is in a warmer climate, Fort Lauderdale, Florida on the weekend of January 16-17, 2016. We are sending two of our high school girls to share their insights on St. Joseph’s. If you would like to attend, please give us a call at 1-800-584-9200.
Continued thanks for your support of the programs here at St. Joseph’s. Your generosity helps to make holidays like Thanksgiving so meaningful for our students. We hope you, your family and your friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well.
It’s another lovely day in the neighborhood… although the evil word SNOW has been mentioned on the weather reports! We have yet to see any and are thankful for mild fall weather.
Since the Lakota (Sioux) youth have begun second quarter, we recently held an awards ceremony for quarter one. The rewards for A and B honor rolls and perfect attendance are a certificate and a WalMart gift card. If a student is on the honor roll with perfect attendance next quarter, the award may increase in value! We also have a contest between age groups to see which class can achieve the highest GPA (Grade Point Average). The one with the highest average gets a pizza party and hangs the award plaque in their classroom.
Ron’s 5th grade class won the award for the highest cumulative GPA for Quarter One!
We honored all veterans and those actively serving our country during Sunday Mass at Our Lady of the Sioux Chapel. THANK YOU just isn’t enough for their sacrifices.
Last Saturday, the Chamberlain Science Club hosted the 1st Annual Hot Chocolate 5K Walk/Run, and it began here on St. Joseph’s campus. It was a way to celebrate Native American Month and learn about the importance of exercise all year long. Sanford Hospital set up an informational booth and there were baked goodies and warm drinks for all those taking part.
Students are in the process of learning to sing two Christmas carols in the Lakota language — Silent Night and Hark the Herald Angels Sing. Aside from what they are learning in class, singing songs is a nice way to keep developing the Lakota language skills of our students.
This week, St. Joseph’s is honored to welcome Mr. Lawrence Diggs, our current Artist in Residence. He is helping our students express themselves through poetry!
St. Joseph’s was honored to have one of our Native American Studies teachers, Allen, give a presentation on historical trauma in American Indian History to a college class at Dakota Wesleyan University. He shared how early boarding schools tried to negate Native American culture and heritage and ‘mold’ them into the white culture by cutting their hair and not letting them speak their native languages. He also spoke about high rates of unemployment, suicide and sexual assaults currently present on the reservations.
St. Joseph’s Indian School’s Tree of Remembrance
He also shared positive notes about how the reservations are working hard to combat suicides and offer resources to those who are struggling. Change will not happen overnight, but he is happy that steps are being taken to get things headed in the right direction and he is proud to be part of that process. Read more in the article that appeared in the Mitchell Daily Republic!
We hope you have a wonderful week. Say pilamaya – thank you – to a veteran and let them know you are grateful for their service to our country.
Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ
Chaplain
PS: The picture shows our tree of remembrance in Our Lady of the Sioux Chapel with the names of our Beloved Dead whom we are keeping in prayer this month.
