Hi, my name is Jennifer and I am the Web Producer at St. Joseph’s Indian School. I work in the business office, updating our website and sending out emails. I help keep benefactors informed of the happenings around St. Joseph’s campus.
I am an enrolled member of the Lower Brule Sioux tribe and was fortunate to be a St. Joseph’s Indian School scholarship recipient. Looking for employment after college, I decided St. Joseph’s was the right move for me.
My father is a Commander in the U. S. Public Health Service and has worked for Indian Health Service for almost 30 years. His job took my family and me from state to state, and from one Indian Reservation to the next, throughout my childhood.
He was once given an eagle feather – the greatest honor a Native American can receive – by a Lakota medicine man from the Black Hills for his work with the elderly. His passion for helping Native Americans and giving back has been my inspiration to do the same.
Working for St. Joseph’s Indian School is my way of giving back to my people. I am fortunate to help our people; even though I do not work directly with the students, this is my way of giving something better for the next generation.
Jennifer, St. Joseph’s Web Producer and her father, a Commander in the U. S. Public Health Service.
Greetings, friends of St. Joseph’s Indian School! I hope you are doing well. It is hard to believe, but spring is here! The official start of spring was March 20, and with that comes St. Joseph’s Indian School’s spring and Easter Breaks. The students departed for break on March 22 and will return April 1.
Most of our students will be headed home. At this most holy time of year, it is wonderful to see our students being able to spend the time with their families. Our students have worked hard over the last months, since returning from Christmas break, and are excited to have a few days away from school to be with family. A few of our students will be remaining on campus for the break, with houseparents in one of St. Joseph’s homes.
Our high school students do get a few days off for Easter Break, but lament the fact they no longer get the long Spring Break our younger Lakota students get J.
Upon returning to St. Joseph’s campus on April 1, students in grades 1-5 will get to take part in an Easter egg hunt. This is always great fun for the younger students. Grades 6-8 will be having a potluck on that day, which is open to all of the 6-8 grade students and their families. This is the first year the 6-8 grade community will be holding the potluck and we hope for great success.
Over Spring Break, three of our eighth grade students headed to Washington, D.C., for a few days to tour our nation’s capital.
For a couple of the students, it will be their first experience with flying, and although nervous, they are very excited to be on a plane! The students are also looking forward to being away from South Dakota and experiencing a big city and all that Washington, D.C. has to offer. We wish them safe travels and an excellent adventure!
At this most holy time of year, we here at St. Joseph’s Indian School wish to take a minute to THANK YOU for all of the support you offer us throughout the year.
Without your prayers and generous financial support, we would not be able to do the work we do here. St. Joseph’s Indian School is an amazing place and we are so very lucky to be able to work with some amazing children.
Last week was the birthday of Fr. Leo Dehon, the founder of the SCJ’s (Priests of the Sacred Heart). This led to some discussions on campus about what it meant to be Dehonian. I remember quizzing our St. Joseph’s kids about Fr. Dehon once. What did they know?
Born in France!
Died in Belgium!
Had three doctorates!
Wore glasses!
While interesting, these bits of information weren’t terribly enlightening. I had some time between picking up my runner from track practice and dropping off my baseball players at the field, so I thought I would do some research.
One really obvious fact: Fr. Dehon did not have 10 teenage boys to contend with when he wanted a few minutes of quiet time.
I bet he never had to throw a wet sock off his desk as some giggling kid hit the floor behind the office door and whispered, “Don’t tell him I’m in here!” All while some other kid is screaming down the hall, “Where’s Annnnndrew??” and swinging the other wet sock with a vengeance.
My Dehonian moment was going to have to wait until after the kids had gone to bed.
In the meantime — there was dinner to eat and dishes to do. This one had to go the tutor and that one had to find his Geography book. The guys with privileges tried to run off all their excess energy at the Rec center and the ones who stayed back to do homework got hopped up on snacks and algebraic aggravation. Home meeting became a debate over sharing time on the X Box and whether or not people should leave the room when they fart.
Prayer time was calmer, with intentions offered for family, friends, baseball, track, Sandy Hook and the new Pope. And a special intention for the guy who was going to end up on the bottom of the…3..2..1…Dogpile.
I admit, I was not feeling very Dehonian at the end of the day. I was tired, cranky, and I had a pile of unfinished tasks. I was not in a more saintly state of mind the next morning either. When I finally plowed into Maija late in the afternoon, the only thing I had on my mind was making it to my day off and taking a long nap. In her infinite wisdom, she said to me, “Get out of my office and don’t come back until you have your heart in your work again.” Well, duh.
We work for the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Not the Sacred Rule Book of Jesus. Or the Sacred Schedule of Jesus.
We are called to be heart-centered. To paraphrase the Tin Woodsman, “Hearts will never be practical, until they can be made unbreakable.” There is something reckless and un-practical about being heart-centered. This is different from being careless or thoughtless — Fr. Dehon was a learned man and he was neither impulsive nor fickle. Rather, he was doggedly persistent, even in the face of heartbreak. Kind of like someone else we know — and whose steps we are following this Holy Week.
A Sacred Heart space is expansive and inclusive and yes, somewhat foolish — letting in the lost, the weak, the so-called outsiders.
There is room for a kid who lost his mom and a kid who feels like he has to be the man of the house. There’s room for honor-rollers and homework procrastinators. There’s room for wall punchers and cookie bakers, emo-kids and hip-hoppers.
As a matter of fact, there’s room in there for everyone, including a somewhat exasperated houseparent and her laundry list of seemingly “important” things to do. If we all squish together, there’s space for you too. Just leave the room if you fart. ‘Cause that’s one rule we are going to keep.
We held our Employee Service Awards and recognition banquet last week. I find it such an affirming evening of celebration. Mary Jane, our Alumni Director, reached 40 years of service! Another five staff members reached the 35-year plateau and eight more celebrated 25 years of being part of St. Joseph’s tiyospaye – extended family.
Mary Jane, our Alumni Director, reached 40 years of service!
Andy, now part of our rec center staff, started when we still had dormitories – pre-1980! He has seen dramatic transformations in the campus over the years.
While the campus has changed, Andy reflected, the students are much the same, with the same needs to be cared for and loved. We continually strive to find new ways to give the Native American children we serve the structure and direction that will guide them to happiness and success.
Some staff didn’t wait 5 or 10 years to be acknowledged! We also celebrated eight people who were nominated by peers or supervisors for doing those little extras that make everyone’s workday better. I’m constantly impressed by the passion and commitment that so many people bring to St. Joseph’s Indian School each day.
Andy started working at St. Joseph’s Indian School when the Lakota children lived in dorms instead of homes.
Last week, we put the wraps on a couple of different basketball programs for the year. Sunday afternoon, the girls’ intercity basketball season culminated in the championship game. The chance to have children of staff and children from the Chamberlain community playing alongside our St. Joseph’s students really helps build relationships for the day when our students go off campus to Chamberlain High School.
So many people give a lot of their weekend time to help our youth. Awards to players on each team were handed out, and the adult volunteers were acknowledged and thanked.
After school today, our coaches announced and presented trophies to our St. Joseph’s Indian School basketball teams. Some of the best athletes were disappointed that they didn’t earn an award. However, the trophies are based mostly on spirit, improvement and hustle, which is hardest to coach or teach.
Some players who weren’t high scorers and came in as subs earned recognition for their attitude and team play. The pep club and cheerleaders were also acknowledged for the fun and spirit they add to our home games. Our first, second and third graders are especially fun to watch and hear when they get going on the cheers they’ve learned.
Tuesday
March 19 – The Feast of St. Joseph! I’ve given up desserts for Lent, but when Clare brought an Italian dessert (Zeppole) she and the students made for our Child Services meeting, I indulged just a little to celebrate our patronal feast.
Split Rock Studios arrived back on campus to bring to life the next phase of our renovation at the Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center. Three walls of the museum now have a large mural of the vast and beautiful South Dakota prairie grasslands, and exhibit installation isn’t far behind.
They are also installing more of the audio visuals in our historical displays. With warmer weather, our visitor count increases dramatically. When the project is completed by May and we extend our hours, the folks who pass through our doors are in for a treat as they learn about Lakota (Sioux) history and culture.
Wednesday
I spoke to a good friend from college who now works as a physical therapist. Paula was filling in for a co-worker and met an elderly woman having difficulty getting motivated to do her rehab exercises.
Seeing a St. Joseph Indian School note pad on the desk, Paula asked the patient about it, which led to a spirited conversation about St. Joseph’s. Their connection with me put the woman totally at ease, and she gave it a great effort that day. Her story made me smile, and I promised to lift her up in prayers in a special way.
Our students reenacted the Stations of the Cross in the chapel at the end of the school day. Hopefully the colorful costumes, large cross and other visuals helped the gospel come alive just a bit more deeply as we close in on Holy Week. Spring break begins Friday, and many of our students will be going home. The high school students and one break home will still be open, but our grade school classes will take pause to let students spend time with family, and prepare for the wonderful celebration of Easter.
I’ll be gone on retreat for a good part of the break, and will pick up the blog after Holy Week. You’re all in my prayers – Happy Easter and God Bless!
The SCJ Founder, Fr. Leo John Dehon was born March 14 in 1843. On this date last week I sent out an email note to St. Joseph’s staff thanking them for carrying on his tradition of love and caring.
Fr. Dehon used to have many short prayers during the day, before or after events in a busy life, to keep him centered. One of my favorites is always, “Jesus, make my heart like yours.” No matter how hectic life gets, we can always build such prayer and centering moments into our lives. Several staff emailed back that was a good reminder and just what they needed at the time they read and reflected upon it.
We hosted a group of education majors from Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, South Dakota. Some were helping with classroom instruction and activities. Another was working with our special education teacher learning the ins and outs of testing and assessment. She found it helpful to test out the theories they learned in class with real, hands-on life experiences. When these students go back to school, they’ll have a fresh round of questions for their instructors as they take up the challenges of such a worthy profession.
We are looking forward to graduation for our eighth grade class in a couple of months. I am proud to say that I have had many of these Lakota students since they were in their younger elementary years at St. Joseph’s Indian School.
The Lakota eighth graders craft small medicine wheels, which are a gift to their classmates at graduation.
This time of year, I have the honor of helping them to prepare their class banner, make their medicine wheels (which are used in the graduation ceremony) and prepare them for life after St. Joseph’s.
After graduation, eighth grader banners hang in St. Joseph’s Rec Center.
One of the more enjoyable items I share with them is giving them their eighth grade portfolio. This portfolio encompasses all of their works from the time they entered my Native American Studies room until they graduate. It is so fun to hand back papers and watch them look through their past years of learning! I can hear them sharing their drawings and writings with each other. The giggles and smiles reinforce the reason I have them create the portfolios.
The students made their personal portfolio out of brown paper bag and yarn. They are modeled after the par fleche containers Lakota/Dakota/Nakota (Sioux) people used long ago. The containers from long ago were made of rawhide and sinew. Today, we make them in a much more inexpensive, modern way.
In the past, the par fleche was decorated with tribal designs specific to one’s tribe and tiyospaye – extended family. This made it easy to return a lost container to its rightful owner, much like luggage tags today. The par fleche carries meaning and a lot of knowledge of each St. Joseph’s student.
The girls in the William Home have walked over 1,000 miles since the start of the year!
Greetings from the staff and students of the William Home (4th-5th grade girls)!
It is amazing how fast this school year has gone at St. Joseph’s. We have been able to accomplish so many things and are working hard to finish up the school year with many positive memories. The Lakota (Sioux) girls in our home have been so busy this year with basketball, Dancing Dolls, cheerleading and gymnastics as their extracurricular activities.
We have completed our walking program for the year and it is safe to say that we far exceeded our goal! We put up a map to track our walk with a goal of walking to the hometowns of each girl in our home, which would have been just over 15,000 laps in the gym (750 miles). We are happy to say that our final total is over 20,000 laps, or 1000 miles!
Recently, we were able to travel to the Lower Brule Indian Reservation to attend mass and then serve treats afterwards. The girls have always enjoyed doing this and, of course, love to show off their cooking abilities. We still have the circus coming up, as well as our home trip that will take us to Rapid City, South Dakota, to the water park.
One of our big highlights of the year will come soon when we start moving back in to the newly renovated William Home. All of us are excited to see the new home, although the fifth graders are a little bummed they will only be in the new home for a short time.
As always, with a school year winding down, you think about all the memories you have made with those fifth graders and will miss them when they move up. Thank you to everyone for helping to make this a wonderful and memorable year in the William Home!
St. Joseph’s fourth and fifth graders delivered food and toiletries to St. James to share with those in need.
During Catholic Schools Week in January, St. Joseph’s fourth and fifth grade students collected food and toiletries for St. James Catholic Church. The church has a pantry that is open to the Chamberlain community. Tubs were placed around campus to collect a variety of useful items. Many students also brought items they picked up.
At the end of the week, all fourth and fifth graders went to St. James to deliver the goods in person. We collected four tubs of toiletries and food items!
We got to see the pantry and Fr. Guy explained to the students how it works. Fr. Guy was very grateful for the donation. St. Joseph’s students were excited about the project and hope to do it again sometime.
Statistics tell us we feel happier or better about ourselves when we are able to give to others. I feel projects like these give our Native American students the opportunities to get such a feeling. Many were excited to go with their houseparents or counselors to pick out items to put in the tubs.
Fr. Guy’s excitement about our gifts made it even better!
I hope each of you who are benefactors feel the same joy in giving to the Lakota (Sioux) children. Like Fr. Guy, we are very thankful and I hope you get a sense of how excited we are by your generosity. In this season that expresses the kindest and biggest gift of all, Christ’s sacrifice, may we all be motivated to give of ourselves for others.
St. Joseph’s second graders used a Promethean Board to watch the announcement of the new Pope.
I’d just come back to the office after lunch yesterday when I heard rumors of white smoke coming from the Vatican. I called St. Joseph’s principal, Kathleen, to let her know. With the Promethean Boards we have in many of the classrooms, teachers can transfer images and programs from their computer to the big screen, so students got to watch the unfolding announcement live. I visited several of the classrooms, and the kids had tons of questions.
“Why the smoke?” – so I explained the voting process.
“Who are those people in the funny uniforms?” – and we learned about the Swiss Guard.
“When are you going to become Pope?” – I took a pass on that one.
And, as curiosity and impatience both grew, “What is the pope doing now and when is he going to come out?”
I enjoyed sharing this special moment in history with our Lakota students. People have been asking me about my first impressions of the new Pope Francis. I am encouraged that he has a reputation for reaching out to the poor in his diocese in Argentina. Choosing the name Francis raises the hope that he will be able to lead followers to strengthen and rebuild the church where it is broken, work for peace in our troubled world, and reach out with greater charity to those in need.
