St. Joseph’s – Page 41 – St. Joseph's Indian School

Having Fun & Keeping Fit

Keeping fit and strong is important to us at the health center, not just for the Lakota students, but for our employees as well.

Nurse Ronda has been a yoga instructor for years. Jeff, our PA, has been a wrestling coach in his spare time for as long as I’ve known him.

. Joseph’s Health Center team takes great care of the Lakota boys and girls! — Nurse Ronda (top left) is a yoga instructor. Jeff (center) coaches wrestling. Nurse Nancy (right) has now become a fitness instructor!

So, with a desire to keep myself fit as well, I have become a certified fitness instructor! I am offering aerobic exercise classes to St. Joseph’s employees after work a couple days a week. Fun and free. Can’t go wrong with that, right?

We’ll see how many hang in there till spring.

Have a wonderful day!

Sealing a win at home

We had two exciting junior high basketball games yesterday and today!

Last year’s team had a bumper crop of great players and went undefeated. This year, we have a much smaller group of eighth grade Lakota boys – both in number and in height – and it’s been a rebuilding year that takes lots of patience.

But yesterday, against the St. Francis Indian School Warriors, our St. Joseph’s kids erased an 8-point half time deficit, and rallied to win by a single point! Getting off the goose egg in the win column had the same excitement for the guys as though they’d won a tournament. I joined the Rooney Home (6^th-8^th grade boys) for supper afterwards and they replayed some of the exciting moments from the victory.

Today was another nail biter, this time against our cross-town rival Chamberlain Cubs. All of these students have gotten to know each other through our intercity basketball program, and have played both with and against each other many times. Several of the Cubs are children or grandchildren of our St. Joseph staff. It’s one of the games on our schedule where you need to get to the gym early if you want a close by parking spot. The lead changed hands countless times, and was tied with a minute to go. Chamberlain made their free throws down the stretch and pulled out a 3 point win. While our team was disappointed it couldn’t continue a winning streak, they hustled and gave it their all.

Congratulations to the Cubs, but wait until next year!

With my head spinning from looking at numbers on the budget sheet, I decided to take a break from the office and walk around campus to check out the activities. Our facilities crew is especially busy, with all kinds of projects in various states of completion.

The remodel of the William Home is nearly complete for the Lakota (Sioux) girls! — Tile is being put down for the kitchen and dining room floors in the William Home.

Our thrift store remodeling is on track for a March 1 opening and they’re putting in the finishing touches there. Next comes the work of moving all the clothes and household items from the old store to the new.
The kitchen and dining room floor in the William Home remodel is being laid.
The basement of the Benedictine building is getting the sprinklers for fire safety replaced.
Cabinets for the museum’s expanded gift shop arrived and are being installed.
A bathroom in the Rec Center is being remodeled to make it handicap accessible.

Our facilities manager, Tom, showed me blueprints of some other projects we will start when the weather turns warmer. We make budget plans a year ahead of time. It’s satisfying to see those plans coming to completion.

Super Bowl Party!

St. Joseph’s Sheehy Home was separated by Raven’s fans and 49ers fans. — San Francisco fans on the right, Baltimore fans on the left.

Ah yes. Time for post-Super Bowl Monday Morning Quarterbacking. What was done, what wasn’t done, what should have been done instead. I’m not talking about the game of course. I’m talking about the 5^th Annual High School Super Bowl party! In the past, Anita from Sheehy home has done much of the organizing for the party. When she suggested this as an activity for St. Joseph’s High School Student Leadership Group, they jumped at the chance. We have planned several events this year and have learned some important lessons through trial and error.

This was going to be our Comeback Kid moment.

We were going to show the world how great we could be.

We’ve been working together long enough that we can play to each other’s strengths. We coordinated a menu with contributions from each high school home. Dawson loves to be helpful and is eager to jump in, but he often takes on too many tasks and can’t do it all. He was allowed to take on two tasks. He picked up the pop for Giles home and hand delivered invitations to the eighth grade homes, high school staff and homes. Andrew knows that he gets busy, so he picked a task that he could do immediately and be done. He called up and secured a large-screen TV for the Raven’s room. Erica is good at contacting people through e-mails, so she did some coordinating of donations. Leahanna likes hands-on tasks, so she counted out the M&Ms for our guessing game. Chris loves to orchestrate and organize. He took care of designing and printing the invitations. The kids helped me make a list of snacks and prizes that would not be “lame.” Everyone agreed to stay and help clean up afterwards.

Come Sunday evening, we were ready.

Sort of.

All the assigned tasks were covered, except for decorating. (Note to self: next year assign a set-up crew as well as a clean-up crew.) We had plenty of food. We had plenty of pop, water and Gatorade. We had games for the non-football fans. We had cool prizes. (Note to self: the punch balls were noisy and obnoxious, especially when the kids started bouncing them off of each other. Get more next year.)

Patrick acted as referee, blowing his whistle whenever there was a touchdown, interception, field goal, etc., and drawing names for prizes. (Note to self: get him a smaller whistle, or don’t let the teams make so many touchdowns. Ouch!) We had 40 students and 20 adults over the course of the evening. This includes a dozen eighth graders who were getting a taste of life in the high school homes. Everyone seemed to have a good time – 49ers fans being the exception, but that wasn’t the group’s fault.

St. Joseph’s Super Bowl party quieted down during halftime. — The Raven’s fans at St. Joseph’s relax during halftime.

House parents did a lot of behind-the-scenes management, from cooking the taco meat and hot wings, to making the veggie trays, to securing coolers, and surreptitiously throwing cans into the recycling bin. But at the end of the night, the kids made short work of taking trash out, sweeping floors and rearranging furniture.

One challenge our team faces this year as a group is commitment. Sometimes members don’t attend meetings or don’t contribute. Sometimes members agree to contribute with great enthusiasm, but time flies and agreements are forgotten. Sometimes, opportunities to grow and serve just don’t take root at all – maybe because of apathy or maybe because some ideas just aren’t as brilliant in the cold light of day as they are on paper.

Some plans get supplanted by more attractive, immediate pleasures like Facebook, basketball games, and afternoon naps. Some commitments get choked out by worries, fears, and problems. Who can think ahead when a loved one back home is ill or the news is full of stories about the end of the world?

Positive opportunities even compete with each other—school, jobs, sports, theater, college visits. A person can get pretty overwhelmed! But every so often, an idea takes root and grows. A small, dedicated core group maintains their determination and focus. They coax their peers into coming along. Sometimes we end up with something unexpectedly special.

The Lakota students cheer for their favorite team during the Super Bowl. — Go Ravens!

So this Monday, I can say that I am proud of my team and their performance. They showed dedication and commitment. They overcame a tough start, and finished the season on a high note. Sometimes they made me kind of nervous, and I wondered if they were going to pull it off. They hung in there! And of course, they have an awesome fan base. This team has dedicated supporters from all over the country. We couldn’t have done this without them cheering us on and having faith in us. Thank you, and thank God!

By the way, who won? I didn’t really have a chance to watch the game….

Claire

A weekend update from Fr. Anthony

Greetings once again!

Fr. Steve is away on a Donor Luncheon to the Santa Barbara, California area, which gives me another chance to share with you what’s been happening here at St. Joseph’s. Initially it seemed like a quiet weekend, but, upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a normal hectic pace with activities happening all over the place!

As you may be aware, last week was Catholic Schools Week around the country. Fr. Steve and I helped with the spelling bee contest for each of the classes in the elementary program. There was a lot of reflection on ‘i before e, except after c,’ and the Lakota students did a great job!

Three of our students will be taking part in the contest that crowns a national champion in Washington, D.C. and the others will take part in a state-wide contest later this month in Mitchell, South Dakota.

The fourth and fifth grades sponsored a Catholic School’s Week food drive to gather items to benefit a local domestic violence shelter and St. James’ parish, which is the local Catholic Church in Chamberlain and is also staffed by an SCJ (Priest of the Sacred Heart).

Afra Home (first, second and third grade girls) went to Lower Brule, South Dakota as part of their social outreach program. They attended Mass and then served the community with cookies and juice. Each student home does some sort of outreach activity for an entity in the local area. As many of our Native American students come from the Crow Creek and Lower Brule Indian Reservations, they like to go back and do something for the elders and their families at home.

On Friday, one of our eighth-grade students, Cassidy, went with the Chamberlain High School gymnastic team to a meet in Wall, South Dakota – home of the famous Wall Drug Store! Chamberlain has a very good team and Cassidy has been part of the JV squad for the past two years. They are looking forward to qualifying for the state competition.

If you recall, I had mentioned that Chamberlain High School had taken part in the state-wide one act play competition. Each team must set the stage, perform and take down their set in 45 minutes or less. This year, they did a play by Mark Twain that dealt with trying to improve prices for an artist’s work by putting out the word he was dead. They performed the play at the regional competition in Pierre, South Dakota, and qualified for the state finals.

Their time slot was 8:00 AM this past Saturday morning. One cast member said it took several alarm clocks to make sure he got up in time! Despite the early time, they gave it their all and won a superior rating. One of the leads, Chris, a St. Joseph’s senior, was singled out for extensive praise by the judges.

Sunday was the feast of St. Blasé, and we had the traditional blessing of the throats for the students and staff at our Sunday morning Mass. In giving the blessing, we ask St. Blasé to intercede and protect those who receive the blessing from any aliment of the throat or other illness.

It was probably good that we did that since there was a lot of screaming and hollering during the Super Bowl later that day. One of our high school homes hosted a Super Bowl party for the other high school homes, and also invited the eighth graders to attend. They split the fans of the two teams so each could cheer watching their own TV. There was a lot of good-natured ribbing back and forth and things really got excited and loud when the 49’ers made their late run to try and catch the Ravens. All sorts of crazy contests—like number of M&Ms in a jar and gag prizes for whenever something special happened in the game – added to the fun.

Saturday gave our fourth, fifth and sixth grade boys’ basketball teams a chance to play their counterparts from Chamberlain. We play each other twice per season, with each side providing the officials for one of the games. This time they were from Chamberlain, which may explain why the swept all three games. The games were close and a good crowd attended.

The weather was crazy as well. On Thursday many areas of the State called off school because the weather was in the minus 30 degree range! Yet, by Sunday, we were back up to the mid 40’s with lots of melting.

I hope you all have a great week ahead and that our loving God will continue to bless and protect you now and always! We are grateful for your interest in and concern for St. Joseph’s and the programs we offer for the Lakota (Sioux) children. Pilamaya – thank you!

Campus Competitions

Lakota students at St. Joseph’s Indian School participate in the annual spelling bee. — Students participate in the annual spelling bee contest.

We held two competitive events on campus yesterday. The first began at 11:30, when several of our staff squared off in our annual chili/non-chili cooking contest. Three recipes gained a ribbon and bragging rights, but everyone on campus was a winner when we got to sample many tasty efforts. I had 11:30 mass, and by the time I reached the tables at noon the early lunch crowd had polished off the top three pots. But the others I sampled were hearty on a cold day and quite delicious. Human resources pulled out some colorful piñatas and recorded fiesta music set a fun tone. We laughed about the Kleenex on the table for runny noses and the bottles of antacids for those who found the samples to hot. It gave staff from different areas on campus the chance to mingle in a way that doesn’t happen often enough.

Then at 1:00 the real drama began as the top six spellers in each grade (determined by an earlier competition in their classrooms) participated in the annual Spelling Bee. Fr. Anthony and I were the word givers, and alternated between the grades. Some words I was glad when the students asked for a definition, because that enlightened me too! A few of the matches ended quickly. When it got down to the final two in 7^th and 8^th grade the rounds went on a long time. When one of the students had a chance to win, it seemed they would miss the second word and give their opponent another chance. The winners now advance to the regional competition in Mitchell.

I was at the Hogebach Home (high school girls’ home) last evening when the phone rang. Trinity answered the phone and once she hung up, broke into Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus.” What happened? – because of dangerous cold and wind chill, Chamberlain Public schools called for a 2 hour late start. Almost every high school kid I know would rejoice with a couple extra hours to sleep in. How cold was it? When the William Home (4^th-5^th) grade girls walked home from the Rec Center after swimming, their hair was frozen in the time it took to walk 2 blocks.

Since our kids live on campus, and the snow isn’t deep enough to cause problems, we pressed on with our regular school day today. Recess was indoors. When we get a long stretch of cold I notice the students getting cabin fever, but our weather has had enough ups and downs that they haven’t had to stay inside for more than a couple of days.

We’re working on budgets and had to submit our list of planned capital expenses for fiscal year 2014. Because our staff have so many good ideas for improvements, our wish list is always quite long. Then we have to prioritize and decide what we can afford, what our facilities crew has time to get done, and what is most pressing, especially where safety and preventative maintenance are concerned. Our costliest projects will be the next phase of our campus drainage upgrade, and the tuck pointing of several of our large older brick buildings. Perhaps the ones I’m happiest to see are the remodeling of the last two homes on our list, Afra (1^st-3^rd girls) and Raphael (1^st– 3^rd boys). I know the houseparents who live with the children in those two homes have been envious of the improvements we’ve made to all the other homes, and excitedly await similar upgrades and improvements.

Catholic Schools Week begins

We began Catholic Schools week with all the staff and students assembled in the Rec Center this morning for prayer. Bright yellow and blue balloons in yellow and blue (St. Joseph’s school colors) added a festive atmosphere to the stage.

This year’s theme is Raising the Standard. We try to do that, not just with academic excellence, but by forming ourselves and our Lakota (Sioux) students in all-around ways. Each attendee received a rubber bracelets with the words “body mind, heart and spirit,” engraved on them. Those are the holistic areas of child development and our own personal staff development on which we focus.

A good number of teachers and houseparents were out sick today. We’re getting the wave of flu and colds that hit other areas hard earlier. Our students have generally been staying healthier than our staff, but the health center has also seen a slight uptick in patients. We had a few subs in the school, but also had the help of some “student teachers.”

As part of Catholic schools week, some students in each classroom were given the chance to stand on the other side of the desk and address their Native American peers. Some gave out spelling words, others taught a few math problems. . . Maybe it gave them a better appreciation for the work their teachers do.

My hope is that their experience in the classroom here will light the spark that will one day draw a few of them back to the classroom as educators.

After school, I went to Fisher Home (6^th– 8^th grade boys) for supper. The guys had come in from the playground and were kicking back watching cartoons before supper. I always want to have dynamic conversations with students, but like many adults I get lots of one word answers when I ask “how was your day?” or “What did you do in school today?”

Building relationships with youth, especially those who come to us from difficult home situations or poverty, takes patience. I’ve learned to let young people talk about what they want to talk about and unfold their tale in their own time and way. Sometimes you have to sit through Sponge Bob and build rapport to set the stage for later. Around the supper table, the boys were relaxed and more talkative without much prompting and I did enjoy that time.

Icy roads canceled tonight’s basketball game, making it a good night to stay in and read a book. I don’t mind wintry weather that forces me to slow down and nurture my quieter, introverted side, as long as I know all the students and travelers are safely home.

Everyone deserves a chance to shine

The Lakota girls participated in a community hair shop this weekend, and everyone got a new ‘do! — Araya and Aralyn giggle in anticipation of curly, bouncy hair!

Yesterday, we had a Community Hair Shop to teach staff and students about braiding and decorating hair. We saw lots of cute new do’s sported around campus, and people enjoyed the time thoroughly. I promised one of our other bloggers I wouldn’t say much, and let them add more pictures and descriptions of those events.

Last night, I filled in for mass at St. James parish in downtown Chamberlain. Fr. Guy, the regular pastor, needed to be away attending to his ill father. Three of the pews were filled with very familiar folks – high school students from our St. Joseph’s program. Our older Lakota students enjoy going downtown for church when they don’t have a ballgame or something going on Saturday night. One big draw is that it gives them the chance to sleep in Sunday morning. But, I also know they enjoy taking part in the local community, and mingling with classmates and teachers from the public high school they attend.

I saw the rest of our crew Sunday morning in Our Lady of the Sioux Chapel. During the announcements Steve, our HS academic advisor, awarded the traveling academic trophies to Hogebach (HS girls) for the highest overall GPA, and to Carola (HS boys), for the fewest missing or late assignments.

There was also plenty of basketball today! Besides our girls intercity games, the Knights of Columbus and Jaycees teamed up to sponsor a Free Throw and Hot Shot contest. I saw several of our students proudly displaying trophies they’d won.

Jashon (10), Wankiya (11) and Trenton (14) took first place in their age group and will advance to the next level of state competition in two weeks!

I ran into four girls from the Afra Home (1^st-3^rd grade girls) walking home with their houseparent, Alice, from a trip to the dollar store where they spend some of their allowance. Mariah held out a rubber ball that bounced very high. Neveah, Loverine and Kyla clutched colorful journals they were planning to write their life stories in.

One of the books was titled, “Everyone deserves the chance to shine.”

That’s my hope for each of our students, and brought a smile to my face.

Unveiling a mural

At the end of the school day we unveiled a new mural in St. Joseph’s art room. Markus Tracy was the artist-in-residence who worked with our Native American students for the past two weeks. They worked to create a concept and bring it to life on the classroom wall.

Seventh grader Kaitlyn and one of St. Joseph’s youngest students, second grader Gavin, had their designs and ideas incorporated into the work. Fifth grader Justina saw part of a poem she wrote included in the design.

A cloth covered the wall, and our Chalk Hills Singers drum group sang an honor song to begin the festivities. Gavin and Kaitlyn then (to the roll of a drum) dramatically pulled off the cover and unveiled the work!

St. Joseph’s art room has a new mural, thanks to the Lakota children and artist Markus Tracy. — The Lakota students worked with artist Markus Tracy to create a mural for the art room.

The mural was painted in a way that the rising sun coming into the classroom window each morning from the East will be part of the art – a dynamic living piece as it arcs its way across the room.

Afterwards, attendees could snack on fresh vegetables, cheese and crackers. Talking to the artists, they were very proud about what they helped accomplish. Hopefully it will stimulate their creativity and imagination for many more beautiful efforts.

Returning to campus after a donor event

We’ve just returned from our Sarasota donor luncheon trip. After walking along the beach barefooted and enjoying supper at a an outdoor sidewalk café, coming home to -5 degrees and scraping snow and ice off the windshield was quite a shock to the system!

Why couldn’t I get any sympathy from the staff who were here all along facing the frigid wintry blast?

To make matters worse, a semi truck slid into an electrical pole and knocked out power for an hour Sunday night. At St. Joseph’s, we have a fuel-powered backup generator, and were able to keep key areas of campus warm until the power company got things squared away. In the winter, I say regular prayers for those who work in the cold to keep us safe and warm.

There was a big crowd in the gym last night for fourth, fifth and sixth grade boys basketball games against Chamberlain. When we have three games like that, the other Lakota children come and go for supper, homework and other activities, but everyone stops by for a few quarters to cheer the teams on.

It was also the debut of St. Joseph’s cheerleading squad. They added spirited encouragement and got the stands more involved. Their new pom poms added to their look, and they wildly waved them at exciting moments throughout the night.

All the games were very close, with Chamberlain winning the first two and our St. Joseph’s students prevailing in the nightcap. In a few years, many of these boys will be competing alongside each other instead of against one another, and we work hard to build good sportsmanship.

While I missed the weekend performances of the high school’s one act play, I did get home in time to enjoy their last dress rehearsal before they took it to Pierre for the regional competition. There they received a first place rating, and will continue on to the state competition.

Congratulations!

I’m glad and proud when our Native American students have opportunities to participate in arts activities.

After being gone from campus for a few days, I made the rounds to different departments and checked on how things are going around campus. The warehouse was stacked with bales of cardboard and shredded paper ready to be trucked off for recycling. While we actually earn a few dollars over the course of the year for doing so, the big benefit is that it doesn’t just go to the landfill as garbage, but can be reused and we help do our part for the environment. That was one of the goals of our last strategic plan.

For our current plan, we’re holding more listening meetings with staff again this week. It’s been time consuming; over two weeks I’ve met with 15 different small groups for an hour each. But we’ve heard good ideas and answered questions as we try to move forward with improving student achievement and success, and a host of other goals.

Over and over again, I appreciated how committed and passionate our staff is about trying to improve in every area on campus.

We had a farewell for Amy K, who is leaving her job in the mail processing room to go back to school. It’s always sad when part of our community moves on, but I’m happy when people take the chance to improve their education and set themselves up for better opportunities. We wish her all the best!

Basketball games, one-act plays, and cold weather

Dear Friends of St. Joseph’s,

I have the privilege of sharing some insights as to what has happened here at St. Joseph’s over the weekend since Fr. Steve and some students and staff have been at a donor luncheon in Florida.

The weekend began with the Chamberlain High School’s boys’ basketball teams taking on the Mt. Vernon/Plankinton Titans. The schedule offered the chance for the “C” team, junior varsity and varsity to play. The Cubs were able to win all three games with the help of the 11 St. Joseph’s students on the “C” and junior varsity teams, plus two more on the varsity. High school games highlight the impact the inter-city basketball program, sponsored by St. Joseph’s. You can see the interaction that took place in younger grades paying off as the St. Joseph’s and local Chamberlain students now play together.

This was also the opening weekend for the girls’ inter-city basketball program on St. Joseph’s campus. Again, a good mixture of St. Joseph’s students and players from the Chamberlain area played some good games before a good-sized crowd of spectators.

Chamberlain High School also presented its one act play, Mark Twain’s “Is He Dead?,” which will be their entry in the state competition this coming Wednesday. One of St. Joseph’s students, Christopher, had one of the lead roles and several other students were active behind the scenes. The performance lasted about an hour, but we were told at the start that the rules of state competition require that a one-act play must be completed within 45 minutes. They will have to do some further cuts, but they wanted the local public to see the ‘full’ performance, which brought laughter and enjoyment as we watched the play unfold and deal with trying to make an artist ‘famous’ and thus his paintings more expensive by faking his death.

This coming week, the Lakota children in grade school will continue to benefit from the continued presence of our Artist in Residence, Mr. Markus Tracy, who completes his two-week commitment to St. Joseph’s this Friday. He is working with our students to produce a mural in the school.

This past Saturday was the second week of our bowling season. The sixth, seventh and eighth graders sign up and then are assigned to teams headed by various staff members, several of whom are on bowling teams in Chamberlain. We bowl two games and try to help the students learn and improve their bowling skills. It is a popular event.

The weather let us down a bit in that it was forecast to be very cold (single digits and below zero!), which is one reason why I think Fr. Steve scheduled the donor luncheon for Florida (Ha!), but it has not been as bad as predicted, nor did we get any more snow.

What snow we had at Christmas is mostly gone now, which has been frustrating for our Native American students since many of them received snow boards from Santa and our benefactors, but have not been able to use them. During recess, many of the younger students have been sliding down the hill on their stomachs looking like a bunch of seals!

In closing, I would like to say pilamaya – thank you – for your generosity towards the Lakota boys and girls at Christmas. It was a joy to go from home to home to witness the students opening their gifts. There was lots of excitement and many ooh’s and aah’s.

May the Great Spirit continue to bless and reward you as the new year unfolds.

Sincerely,

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain