St. Joseph’s – Page 15 – St. Joseph's Indian School

Rewarding academics, years of service at St. Joseph’s Indian School

Good day from St. Joseph’s Indian School!

Students are receiving honors for academics and attendance during assemblies this week. — Fr. Anthony presents Aurelia with her award.

March is living up to its reputation of going back and forth between lion and lamb weather. The initial plan for our Palm Sunday liturgy was to start with the blessing of the palms outside, but the 30-40 mph winds took care of that idea. Students and staff received their palms and exited the chapel which then had palm fronds placed on the carpet to parallel what the people of Jerusalem did when Jesus entered the city. The students held their palms high as the altar servers and I entered to start the Mass.

The return of the sun has brought a lot of fishermen to the Chamberlain area. When the ice melted on the Missouri River, it seemed that fishermen appeared overnight. The local marina is filled with license plates are from all over. We hope their presence is a sign that winter is over. We’re grateful for warmer weather, although we are badly in need of moisture.

Last week, we held the annual Service Awards Banquet to honor staff who have been with St. Joseph’s in five year increments. We had 31 staff honored for a combined 530 years of service. The longest serving member has been with us for 40 years! The most recent was a class of five who have been here for 5 years. We are grateful for their devotion and dedication to St. Joseph’s Indian School, and our Lakota students and families.

Nancy’s third graders are tied with Katie’s second graders for best GPA. — Nancy’s third grade class.

Over the last few days we have been honoring students who made academic honor roll and had perfect attendance with assemblies by age group – grades 1-3, grades 4-6 and grades 7-8. We are always happy to be able to reward students for their hard work. The class with the best grade point average wins a little plaque they can put up in their room and are treated to a pizza party. For third quarter, Katie’s second grade classes tied with Nancy’s third grade class with a score of 3.6475. Now, THAT’S a tie!

Our principal, Kathleen, took our Acalympics Team to White River, South Dakota, for another academic contest. There were ten schools represented and St. Joseph’s came in sixth with our highest score ever! The team enjoys the competition and realizes the

Katie’s second graders have a collective GPA of 3.6475. — Katie’s second grade class.

necessity to be widely aware of what is happening in our world today.

On Saturday, Kathleen hit the road again. She accompanied several eighth grade girls to South Dakota State University in Brookings to take part in the GEMS program (Girls in Engineering, Math and Science). The program introduces girls to careers in math and science and encourages them to consider these majors in college.

The best news I can share with you this week is that we are increasing our high school home capacity, so will be able to offer some new aspects of getting ready for college. Pilamaya – thank you – for your generous support of our students!

May your Holy Week be filled with many blessings. The Lakota (Sioux) children wish you and your loved ones a very Happy Easter!!!

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

Youth Gymnastics at St. Joseph’s Indian School

Nearly 40 girls in grades 1-6 recently finished this year’s gymnastics program at St.

Mark, St. Joseph's Rec Center Specialist — Mark, St. Joseph’s Rec Center Specialist

Joseph’s Indian School!

We don’t have any competitions during our season. Instead, we focus on helping the girls have fun while they are being active, learning coordination, body awareness and image, plus persistence and perseverance! After two months of practice I saw lots of improvement and, of course, lots of laughs.

Our gymnastics time concluded with a performance at the Rec Center for the entire community and family members. The girls showcased their skills in tumbling, dance, vault, bar and beam. This was the second

Little by little, the gymnastics program is growing. — Thanks to donated equipment, we were able expand the gymnastics program this year.

year we held a performance for the community. We were very excited to be able to expand the performance this year, thanks to donations of different equipment.

Part of the goal of the program is to prepare the elementary girls to participate in high school gymnastics if they wish.

This week, the girls started a two-week gymnastic

St. Joseph’s gymnastics girls don’t participate in competitions yet, but focus on learning the basics. — St. Joseph’s gymnastics programs is a fun way for the girls to be active and learn body awareness, persistence and perseverance!

camp held by the local high school gymnastics team. I have been working directly with the high school coaches to coordinate programs so St. Joseph’s students get the most benefit possible from the camp. In the future, we hope to provide our students more choices for athletics as they progress through middle and high school.

Thank you for your support of these great opportunities for the Lakota children!

Mark S

Fourth quarter has begun at St. Joseph’s Indian School

Good day from St. Joseph’s Indian School,

It’s been another crazy week of spring weather in South Dakota! We had one day that broke an all-time record and hit 85 degrees last week, yet we are still having frosty cold mornings. We are in desperate need of rain since the Chamberlain area is already in the early stages of drought. Today is cold and windy.

The Feast of St. Joseph, March 19, was the first day of the fourth quarter of the school year for the Lakota children. We had a nice prayer service geared toward

honoring St. Joseph in his role as guardian of Mary and Jesus. March 19 also concluded our monthly Novena of Masses (the 11^th through the 19^th) for you, our benefactors. The students keep you in prayer regularly and we include your intentions in our prayer requests at Sunday Mass.

Fr. Anthony sampled the monkey bread the sixth graders were baking in class. — Passing by the Personal Living Skills class, I was invited to sample the monkey bread the sixth grade students were baking. It was delicious!

When the prayer service was over, I jumped into my car and made a bee line east to St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to take part in the Chrism Mass for the diocese. The oils used in the Sacraments for the up-coming year are blessed by the Bishop and then distributed to all the parishes and schools throughout the East River Diocese. I brought the oils back and gave them to the religious education teachers who are preparing students to receive the Sacraments.

Last Friday as I was leaving the art room after visiting the second graders, I passed the Personal Living Skills classroom. It must have been my lucky day because I was invited to sample the monkey bread the sixth grade students were baking. They did a great job – it tasted delicious!

We are in the planning stages for ‘SCJ Schools in Collaboration’ and there was a conference call yesterday. Schools in Collaboration unites the elementary schools ministered to by our Priests of the Sacred Heart (SCJ) community in Texas, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Mississippi. Our sister school in Germany was also part of the phone call.

Each year, one of our activities for Schools in Collaboration is a ‘battle of the books.’ Classes from each school read a number of the same books. Then the schools pair up to have a trivia contest based on what they read. We are working toward having a joint prayer service in the next several weeks.

With Easter just around the corner, several of our students will receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation/Confession this week. If a student is not Catholic, they can still come in and talk over anything that may be troubling them. It will also be the opportunity for those receiving Sacraments on April 12, 2015 to make their first confession. Please keep these young people in your prayers.

I pray your season of Lent is proving to be a rewarding time for you spiritually as we strive to become more and more Christ-like. Be assured of our continued prayers for you and your intentions.

Have a great week!

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

Instead of a lemonade stand…

When the students of Sheehy Home (high school boys) decided they wanted to go snowboarding and skiing for their home trip, I knew we needed to do a fundraiser to help cover the cost. So, we sat down and talked about some ways to make extra money.

The shirt design incorporates symbols from St. Joseph’s and Chamberlain schools, as well as cultural elements like the dreamcatcher and medicine wheel. — Craig brainstormed the t-shirt design in less than two hours.

Previously, another St. Joseph’s home had done a lemonade stand at our annual powwow, and one did a bake sale. We’ve done car washes in the past but, with the weather outside below freezing at the time, we decided to come up with a new idea: create and sell a t-shirt.

I wanted the guys to learn how a company works from idea to completion, so to get started we elected a president, treasurer, designer, sales manager and production manager.

The young man chosen to be the designer – Craig – sat down and got to work. In less than two hours, he had a sketch of what would become our design.

We took his sketch and had it copied into a computer file. My wife, April, helped Craig enhance the digital file of the sketch and came up with our finished design.

The top banner says Chamberlain High, where our high school students attend. The bottom banner says St. Joseph’s Indian School, where we live. The bear cub is the mascot for Chamberlain teams and the paw print is also a school recognized image. The design also incorporates the colors of the Lakota medicine wheel. The dreamcatcher surrounding the school images symbolizes all the possibilities an education brings.

The Sheehy home accepted the design and submitted our idea for a fundraiser to the management team here at St. Joseph’s. They heard our plan and agreed to allow us to sell the shirts on campus and at Chamberlain High School.

The cabin was only a mile from the slopes and had an outdoor hot tub. — Relaxing in the outdoor hot tub at the cabin.

We worked with a local company that makes t-shirts and negotiated prices for various amounts of t-shirts sold. Our goal was to sell 100 shirts to ensure the best price. With that cost in mind, we worked with St. Joseph’s management team and came up with a sale price of $12.00 per t-shirt.

Our sales manager created a sales folder that everyone used, including a picture of the shirt, our design story and an order form. Our guys covered the campus and school for an entire week taking orders. Our Production Manager took all the order forms and totaled all the various sizes and announced that we had sold 192 shirts. Our elected president led the way selling 58 shirts. When we turned in our order we were able to negotiate an even better cost price for the shirts!

Once the shirts were ready we picked them up and, again using the order forms from each student, filled the orders. After delivering the finished product and all expenses were paid, our treasurer announced that we had earned just over $850.00 for our trip.

We had raised enough to stay in a cabin less than a mile from the slopes!

Our guys enjoyed two days of skiing and snowboarding, followed by relaxing in the outdoor hot tub at the cabin. The best part for me was, when all was said and done, one of the boys said “You know, there is a lot of work that goes into making a shirt.”

Thank you for making St. Joseph’s possible, and the life lessons our guys learn here that are making tomorrow brighter.

Mike and April F

Sheehy Home Houseparents

Boys in the Sheehy Home earned some extra money to go skiing on their home trip this winter. — The guys enjoyed two days of skiing and snowboarding.

Spring Break at St. Joseph’s Indian School

Greetings from a quiet St. Joseph’s Indian School campus!

Fr. Anthony, St. Joseph's Chaplain — Fr. Anthony, St. Joseph’s Chaplain

It is just not the same on campus this week without the Lakota boys and girls; it is Spring Break for the elementary students (grades 1-8) and staff.

They will return Monday, March 16, but in the mean time we have about 10-12 students who are staying in our break home and our high school students who attend Chamberlain High School (they have a slightly different break schedule). Students in the break home will be going to visit some of the local sights and enjoy a fun and relaxing week.

You may recall the old saying ‘March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb’ or the opposite, in like a lamb and out like a lion. Well, in South Dakota, we had that all happen within five days! Last week we had a blizzard with snow, cold and strong winds. Just a few days later, the sun came out, the temperatures were up and the snow was melting. Today the weather is mild, with cool mornings and warmer days. We are hoping the break in the winter weather lasts!

Last week, St. Joseph’s students celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday. It was pajama day at school and the children spent time reading to one another.

Our seventh and eighth graders also took part in Camp Med last week, which is a hands-on health career learning opportunity. The students learned about the job duties, educational requirements, rewards and challenges they might encounter in a variety of health careers. They experienced everything from reading x-rays and filling prescriptions to stabilizing a trauma patient and rehabilitating a stroke patient.

And Friday at 2 p.m., school was out!

Staff who have helped at the rec center enjoyed an outing to a basketball game. — St. Joseph’s Rec Director hosted an outing to a basketball game to thank everyone who helped out at the rec center first semester.

That evening, several staff members headed to South Dakota’s largest city, Sioux Falls, to take in a basketball game. As a way of saying thank you to everyone who has helped in the rec center during the first semester, Bryan, our Rec Director, hosted an outing to a D (Developmental) League game between Grand Rapids,

Michigan and the Sioux Falls Skyforce.

Grand Rapids is a developmental team for the Detroit Pistons and Sioux Falls is a similar team for the Miami Heat. The arena is brand new and very fan friendly. The game was exciting – players were shooting up threes from all over the court. Offense was king and defense showed up occasionally. Everyone had a great time and a few even went home with a t-shirt and other goodies tossed into the stands.

I hope you have a wonderful week. Pilamaya – thank you – for your support, encouragement and prayers! We’ll be starting our Novena of Masses for you and your special intentions on Wednesday, March 11 and conclude on the Feast of St. Joseph, March 19.

Sincerely,

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

St. Joseph’s students celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday in school. — Happy birthday Dr. Suess!!

The Gold Coin Father at St. Joseph’s Indian School

Fr. Anthony would never boast or brag about himself, because that just isn’t him.

LaRayne is St. Joseph's Native American Studies teacher. — LaRayne, St. Joseph’s Native American Studies teacher

However, I can and I will.

Fr. Anthony (a.k.a. The Gold Coin Father) has a very special way to share his passion with our parish circle at St. Joseph’s Indian School.

Not only does Fr. Anthony make it a point to add Lakota language and other fine details to his work, but he has also found a unique way to reach St. Joseph’s students.

Mass is very much like a class. We open with prayer and a song or two for “grabbers.” A reading, reflection and biblical references are given. Once that is complete, the students will wiggle in their seats, sit up tall and be prepared for the reading given by Father Anthony.

Fr. Anthony rewards the Lakota children for questions answered correctly during Mass. — If you answer Fr. Anthony’s question correctly, something shiny may be coming your way.

Almost every child who is a veteran to a Fr. Anthony mass knows to listen closely; if you are lucky and your prayers are answered, something shiny may be coming your way. The kids know that during the homily, Fr. Anthony will toss a gold coin your way if you politely raise your hand and answer his questions correctly.

Students know questions are coming when they see him reach under his vestment into the gold coin pocket. Students ready themselves to give answers which, they hope, are attached to a golden coin. The expressions on the faces of our Lakota, Dakota and Nakota children are fun to watch as they wait for Fr. Anthony to point in their direction, hopeful and excited.

When they are correct, they are wide-eyed as a gold coin is tossed their way and their knowledge is affirmed. After it is caught, the child usually rubs it, looks at it, peers at the rest of the congregation, smiles and rubs again before placing it in the safe pocket of a pressed pair of trousers or kept in the warm grip of a sweaty little hand.

One never knows when Father’s hand will stop diving into the pocket, but you can tell when the homily is finished. There are some slumped shoulders and anxious hearts hoping that the next week will be their chance to catch an answered prayer tossed by the Gold Coin Father.

Winter hangs on at St. Joseph’s Indian School

Good day from St. Joseph’s Indian School,

We’ve had a relatively mild winter in central South Dakota (we consider any day with sunshine and above zero temperatures “mild”), but that seems to be coming to an end. The weather started terribly this morning with snow and very strong winds. St. Joseph’s even had a late start for the Lakota children!

Tomorrow’s weather is predicted to be extremely cold – it should be an interesting few days. But, I have also been told we will get a break at the end of the week with temps possibly up in the 40’s by the weekend. We’ll see what happens. I guess it is true that if you do not like the weather, wait a few moments and it will change!

This past Tuesday, we held the Staff Appreciation Breakfast, which is a way for the Priests of the Sacred Heart (SCJs) to say thank you to all the men and women who serve our missions so faithfully in a wide variety of ways. It also allows the Lakota (Sioux) students to interact with those who work behind the scenes as well as staff members they encounter every day. We had some trivia about Fr. Leo John Dehon, the founder of our SCJ community, and drew for door prizes.

Spring is right around the corner, which means some of our “winter” activities and programs are coming to an end. Last Friday was the end of the bowling season. Congratulations to the Rolling Thunder team and their captain Dave, one of our teachers, who captured First Place.

On our last day of bowling, the various teams were mixed together and we bowled 9 pin tap, which means the lanes were set so if you knocked down 9 pins it counted as a strike. One of our high school girls, Irene, went crazy rolling scores of 245 and 251. She even beat the bowling master, Andy, from the rec center who coordinated the league this year. The students all did well and had fun.

The girls’ inter-city basketball season wrapped up on Sunday. There was a lot of improvement from when the season started. We hope friendships have been made that will continue through the years as these young ladies cross paths on the court or as they attend high school together in Chamberlain.

The Chamberlain High School girls’ basketball team is finished for the season as they lost their second round game in the state play-offs. The boys’ team is the number 2 seed for their district and will not play until later this week when they’ll host one of the lower seeds. If they win, they’ll play for the region championship and go on to the state tournament. They ended their season against Stanley County from Ft. Pierre, South Dakota, this past Friday night and two of our St. Joseph’s players started — Adrian and Davis.

For Davis, it was a reward for how well he has played coming off the bench. He showed his gratitude by having a double-double, in that he scored 11 points and had 10 rebounds to go along with several steals and assists. Great game, Davis!

Our St. Joseph’s boys’ basketball teams have also completed their season. We hosted the sixth, seventh and eighth grade teams from Todd County this past Thursday. The sixth grade won easily, but the seventh and eighth graders came up a bit short due to the Todd County press. They made a run and got close but just could not get into the lead. The seventh and eighth graders will finish their season today with a trip to Miller, South Dakota.

Be assured of our prayers for you; pilamaya – thank you – for your continued support and interest in the Lakota children!

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

Preparing the Lakota students for their next steps in life

Greetings from St. Joseph’s Indian School! Although spring is only a few weeks

Julie is a counselor for the Lakota boys and girls at St. Joseph's. — Julie, Family Service Counselor

away, it has been cold and snowy in Chamberlain. The kids are getting a bit antsy and most are ready for warmer temperatures so they can be outside and run off some energy!

We are also at a point in the school year where our seniors and our eighth grade students begin final preparations for their next steps in life.

Where will I go to college or what will I do after graduation? What high school will I attend?

All of these questions lead to some anxiety, introspection, and excitement.

As a Family Service Counselor, it is my job to help the students asking themselves those questions continue making plans for the future.

St. Joseph’s is proud to have six seniors graduating from our high school program this spring!

Many seniors have already applied to colleges or for military service and are pretty secure in what their next step will be. We continue to put plans together to plan the details that will help those students succeed in their next endeavor.

As we work on the process of selecting eighth grade students for our high school program, we work to keep stress levels down and ease anxieties. No matter what our eighth grade students choose to do next, it will be a new adventure!

While it is exciting to see a student graduate from high school, it is a bittersweet moment as we prepare to let the students spread their wings and fly. While many of our eighth grade students will return to our high school program in the fall, some will choose to attend high schools in other places… another bittersweet moment.

No matter what a student chooses to do after these milestones in their lives, we wish them well and wish them success.

As we navigate through the end of winter and the season of Lent, it is a good time to reflect on what the mission of St. Joseph’s Indian School and in what ways we can continue to be of service to the Lakota (Sioux) students and their families. We truly thank all of you who have chosen to be of service to our mission here at St. Joseph’s, through donations, prayer, and support.

Without your commitment to service, we would not be able to provide the programs necessary to help the students learn the skills they will need to survive in the world.

So as the last weeks of school quickly approach, know that amidst home trips, softball, track and summer preparation, you who support us so well are not forgotten!

We pray for you daily, and thank the Lord daily for all you do. May God Bless and keep you always.

Julie

Family Service Counselor

Preparing to receive the Sacraments at St. Joseph’s Indian School

Good day from St. Joseph’s,

This was a big weekend at St. Joseph’s Indian School with the Rite of Christian Initiation for Children (RCIC) Sacramental Prep Class having a mini-retreat on Saturday. Over 30 students are preparing to receive the sacraments of Baptism, First Communion and Confirmation, which is a decision they make with their families.

Most of the class will be baptized and receive the other two sacraments. Nine are preparing just for First Communion and one, who is already baptized in another denomination, will be making a Profession of Faith and then receive First Communion. The students have been studying since early October. They joined with others around the world to take part in the Rite of Election on Sunday by which they again affirm their desire to draw closer to God and sign their names in the Book of the Elect which acknowledges their commitment in front of the whole faith community present at Mass.

As you can see from the pictures, they made stoles decorated with various symbols relating to the sacraments and will wear them when they are baptized. In Our Lady of the Sioux Chapel I explained the vestments, colors, books, chalices and paten, the altar and tabernacle and sanctuary lamp.

They also had the opportunity to practice receiving the host and taking a sip of wine, which brought out some interesting facial expressions!

Another session dealt with the seven Gifts of the Spirit, followed by painting a blessing cup. They made bread, which was shared with their individual homes. It was a wonderful time helping them prepare for their big day in April!

Also on Saturday the fourth, fifth and sixth grade Braves took part in a basketball tournament hosted by Chamberlain. Teams came from surrounding communities in central South Dakota. Sadly our fourth and sixth grade teams went out early despite keeping their games close. Our fifth grade team lost their first game but came back strong to beat Crow Creek and Mitchell to capture third place. Way to go guys!

Besides the basketball tournament, there was also a wrestling mini-clinic that some of our younger boys took part in. Thank you for helping us offer the Lakota children a variety of activities to help them cultivate lifelong interests!

I hope you have a great week as the month of February comes to an end. Know you and your intentions are remembered in our prayers as the children ask the Great Spirit to bless and reward you for your generosity for their education and care.

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

Greetings from St. Joseph’s Pinger Home!

Greetings from the staff and students in St. Joseph’s Pinger Home (4^th, 5^th &

Mike works with the Lakota girls in 4th and 5th grades — Mike, a St. Joseph’s houseparent

6^th grade girls)!

Since we last visited, things continue to go fast and furious for the girls. We finished up our basketball season in December and all the teams (4^th, 5^th and 6^th) came home with winning records. We had a great year working with the girls and they really progressed as the year went along. I was fortunate enough to be able to help coach all three of these grade levels and there was a lot of talent on the floor. The best thing though, is that they came to practice with a smile on their face and worked hard every day.

After Christmas break, the girls came back and we had our St. Joseph’s Christmas party. What a great time that was! Thank you for your generosity – without your support, these things wouldn’t be possible for our students.

We had our St. Joseph’s Christmas parties when the students returned from break. — The Pinger girls had an awesome Christmas thanks to you!

Now the girls are staying busy with cheerleading, gymnastics and martial arts. The sixth graders are still involved in basketball through our inter-city program, which combines the St. Joseph’s girls with girls from Chamberlain for scrimmages on Sunday afternoons.

St. Joseph’s girls’ basketball season concluded just before Christmas break. — Mike helped coach the 4th, 5th and 6th grade basketball teams.

We are still walking almost every morning and so far have put in almost 15,000 laps which equals out to 750 miles. Spring break is closing in fast and that will mark the end of the 3^rd quarter of the school year. It’s hard to believe that it has gone so quick! Thanks for all that you do to help the children and support our mission at St. Joseph’s Indian School.

Best wishes from the Pinger Home girls and staff,

Mike P