youth – Page 16 – St. Joseph's Indian School

Today’s guest blogger: LeRoy

Hello, I am LeRoy, St. Joseph’s Indian School’s Fleet Manager. The maintenance garage here at St. Joseph’s Indian School is a 3,600 square foot facility that has four stalls for working on vehicles and equipment. It was built in 1985. It also has a wash bay with a car wash. There are two hoists for lifting vehicles. The facility also has metal-cutting and welding equipment for fabricating many items for plant projects. The shop is well equipped with hand tools, diagnostic and testing equipment that is required for the many areas of repair that are performed.

The garage facility employees two full-time Technicians that maintain and repair over 70 vehicles for St. Joseph’s. Vehicle range from a 65 passenger bus, to pickups, suburbans, cars, vans and even Japanese mini trucks. In addition, there are 10 pieces of heavy equipment (such as road grader, pay loader, back hoe, etc.) and dozens of smaller construction and lawn care equipment items that are also maintained and repaired.

In the office, we keep records of all work performed and part used on all the vehicles and equipment. We record and keep record of fuel and vehicle mileage monthly. We buy and sell vehicles and equipment as needed. We assign all the vehicles and parking to all the various areas and departments. We have 12 vehicles (which include 4 minibuses) that stay at the garage and are for out-of-town travel for all departments. We keep the schedule for these vehicles and have them ready for travel every day.

I have been managing the garage and the fleet for eleven and a half years now, and my technician has been here for 15 years. I love my job and enjoy working with all the staff and students here at St. Joseph’s Indian School. Thanks to all that make it possible.

Today’s guest blogger: Julie

Hi, my name is Julie and I am the Clinical Services Director at St. Joseph’s Indian School. I have worked at St. Joseph’s since 1987. I began my work here as a Child Care Worker. I have also been a Residential Coordinator, Counselor for the college program that we had in Mitchell, South Dakota and a Family Service Counselor for 1^st– high school students.

I currently oversee the Clinical Department and the Health Center. During the summer months, the Health Center is not as busy as it is during the school year. We see less activity as there are fewer students on campus. We do however, provide services for the staff and their immediate family and have a nurse on call when students are here.

The Clinical Department is very busy during the summer months. The Family Service Counselors visit the homes of the students that are on their caseload. The reason for these visits is to remain in contact with the student and their parent/guardian to see how their summer is going and to see if they are in need of anything. The counselors are required to visit a number of their families over the summer, but they enjoy seeing and hearing about what is going on in their lives. The counselors will then update staff when the new school year begins in August.

The Family Service Counselors along with the Clinical Support/Admission staff will be working on admission files. Our admissions process begins with the parent/guardian filling out and sending in the application for St. Joseph’s Indian School. Once we receive the application, the student is put on our waiting list. These files are divided up over the summer months and the counselors go out to interview the student and their parent/guardian using our Social History form. Admission meetings are then held in July and August for student acceptance.

We hope and pray that you all are having a wonderful summer and thank you for your continued support.

Today’s guest blogger: Mike

Greetings to everyone from St. Joseph’s Indian School. The technology department has a very busy schedule during the summer months. Many hours are spent installing new computers, rebuilding older computers and making sure everything will work when the students and staff return for the new school year. Computers are put on a five-year rotation and the teachers are on the top of our list this year. They will be excited to see new computers when they return in the fall. Before that, we must take out the old computer, clean it up, vacuum it out, remove all the old data and rebuild it to be put back into a classroom for student use. These are used as standalone computers for educational games for the students.

We are also installing eight promethean boards in the school classrooms. Promethean boards are student interactive learning systems that greatly enhance student education. As you might be able to sense, the technology department builds some muscle in the summer!

Along with computer changes, there are many software changes that need to be made over the summer. We write a lot of our own computer programs here at St. Joseph’s Indian School. The programs range from keeping information on each student to tracking their educational progress. Creating our own computer programs, enable us to “tweak” the program to our exact needs. The summer is the time to make these changes. The list seems to grow each year with minor changes to some programs, adding a few reports to other programs or creating a whole new application for staff to use in the fall. Don’t forget the training on these new programs – we’ll be preparing for that as well.

Telephones are another responsibility for our department. Our current telephone switch is quite old so plans are underway to replace it. New telephones need to be setup to be compatible with the new system.

Since every piece of technology always works here, we don’t have to worry about technical support. What am I saying? Of course, it’s normal around here, there always seems to be something not working somewhere. We provide technical support for the entire campus which means days filled with nothing else. This can make our days very interesting and also very frustrating, but we enjoy it very much! We strive to be a very user-friendly technology department.

Today’s guest blogger: Robyn

Good Morning! My name is Robyn and I am a Family Service Counselor at St. Joseph’s Indian School. I work with 6^th-12^th grade girls and have been a counselor here for the past 7 years. The past few weeks have been quite busy. I was able to visit some of the students that I work with down in Marty, South Dakota. Marty is a little Native American Indian Reservation community about two hours south of Chamberlain, not too far from the Missouri River. It was so good to see the students’ smiling faces. I really enjoy having the opportunity to visit with families. Next week I will be traveling to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and Rosebud Indian Reservation, both located in South Dakota. I have also been working on admission files for the upcoming school year. We have been busy requesting school and medical records and conducting interviews with families.

We continue to get rain and the Missouri River continues to rise. The flooding remains in the local area and people have been pulling together to help and support each other. St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus is on the river, but has not flooded. More than likely, the water will not reach any of our buildings or roadways. It is quite a sight to see the waters continue to spread.

We appreciate your continued support and are very blessed to have such wonderful people invested in St. Joseph’s Indian School. I am so fortunate to be part of an organization that is making a difference in the lives of American Indian children and families that we serve. It is truly a gift to be able to follow your passion and calling from God. Thank you for continuing to provide me with that opportunity.

Today’s guest blogger: Amanda

Hello everyone from Amanda. I am a Family Service Counselor here at St. Joseph’s Indian School; my caseload consists of about 20 6^th-12^th grade girls. This is my second summer here at St. Joseph’s and I must say I love everything about working here. During the school year there is a nice hustle and bustle with students and staff; however, in the summer things are more laid back. During the school year I am often busy seeing students for individual sessions, conducting counseling groups, attending meetings, keeping in touch with staff and visiting homes. During the summer, I along with the other family service counselors,visit our students at home along with interview prospective students for our admissions process.

A few of the students I work with stayed on campus for the summer programs offered; however, they are all now at home. One of the students who will be a senior next year completed and passed driver’s education. She was so excited that she passed and looks forward to cruising around next year. We are starting to look at life after high school. She is excited yet scared to think about leaving St. Joseph’s Indian School and being on her own. Another one of the students I work with returned last week from the Germany Exchange Program. She along with another student and staff were in Germany for about three weeks. She had so many wonderful stories to share along with pictures. She described her trip as a once in a life time opportunity and she was very grateful that she was chosen to represent St. Joseph’s Indian School!

Last week, I traveled to Rapid City, South Dakota to visit two of the students I work with and their families. Summer travel is one of my favorite things to do. It is nice to see the students in their home environment and hear about the different things that they have done or are planning to do. I also made a trip to the Lower Brule Indian Reservation to visit five students and interview four children for admissions. Some of my students asked how much longer break was because they were ready to come back to St. Joseph’s Indian School. One of the students I work with said,

Being at home for so long was too boring and the temptation to give in to peer pressure was getting hard and hard to turn down.

I spoke with the student about the things she wanted to accomplish in her life along with how she has seen firsthand the consequences of using drugs and alcohol. We brainstormed a plan of action to help her resist giving in peer pressure.

Yesterday, I traveled to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and Wanblee to visit one of my students and interview four students for admissions. It was great to sit down and chat with my student and her guardian. We established a game plan together to help her raise her grades and be more motivated. The drive to Pine Ridge is breath taking; it makes you think of all the history the South Dakota Badlands hold.

Today I was supposed to travel to Eagle Butte to visit a family. However, due to the recent rain and high river we canceled our trip for safety reasons. I will be volunteering to help fill sandbags this afternoon to help ensure that businesses and homes in town stay dry. Thank you for your time and God Bless!

Today’s guest blogger: Jean

Hello! My name is Jean and I am the Residential Coordinator for the 4^th & 5^th grade homes. I came to St. Joseph’s Indian School planning to volunteer for a year or two, but the children and staff proved to be too great of a lure and 31 years later, I’m still here!

There have been many changes over the years, one of which was the addition of the Summer Break Home, which is offered to our students who will be in the second through eighth grades next school year. Part of my job is to help supervise this break home. We have 11 students with us this summer. Unlike most years, all of the students this summer are from the younger grades. They are excited to do almost anything we can come up with! These students are here for a variety of reasons, ranging from an educational need to the desire to continue to be in a setting where they are comfortable and secure.

The kids in the St. Joseph’s Indian School’s summer homes are having a great summer!

The students start off the day with Summer School from 8:30 until 11:30. This is staffed by our Title 1 teachers and they are able to work with the students in small groups on academic needs or on reinforcing the learning that took place during the school year. They went on a field trip last week to the Lewis and Clark rest area in Chamberlain, South Dakota – right on Interstate 90. This is a great place to check out if you are in the area. The students could walk outside from the mezzanine level into a replica of the keelboat or longboat, in which Lewis and Clark traveled up the Missouri River as they demonstrated the possibility of overland travel to the Pacific Coast. The students and teachers also enjoyed a hike in the hills behind the rest area.

On school days, lunch is served in the Dining Hall. The students enjoy visiting with their friends who are attending the Rising Eagle Day Camp, who also eat lunch there. A lot of our other students from the Lower Brule Indian Reservation and Crow Creek Indian Reservation, who went home for the summer, come back for the camp.

Our Native American youngsters love roasting marshmallows! — Our Lakota (Sioux) youngsters love roasting marshmallows!

The afternoons, evening and weekends are filled with outside activities. The students enjoy swimming at the Chamberlain pool (which boasts diving boards and slides), playing in the park, hikes, cooking outside and some trips out-of-town. The students have already enjoyed a trip to the Great Plains Zoo in Sioux Falls and a trip to the Mitchell Aquatic Center with their houseparents. Some friends of St. Joseph’s recently gifted the students with a number of summer activity items ranging from bug spray and sunscreen to giant marshmallows and squirt guns. Talk about a fun time!

The staff for the break home consists of houseparents who may work with a different age group during the school year. Lisa, who normally works with sixth through eighth grade girls, said today that she has a whole new respect for those who work with the younger students! I think we have set a new record for using band-aids this summer. Between bike riding and skateboarding, we have gone through a lot of them. When I saw the students at lunch yesterday, they were proudly showing off their scrapes and battle scars!

Thank you all for your prayers and support. The students remember you daily in their prayers, also!

Today’s guest blogger: Melissa

Greetings from St. Joseph’s Indian School! My name is Melissa and I’ve worked in the Human Resources Department for the past 13 years.

Although it is summer, campus is buzzing. During this time of year, we add quite a few seasonal staff to work as counselors at our summer camp, help out in the museum and assist taking care of our grounds. This is also the time of year we recruit for any teachers, houseparents and family service counselors that may not be returning. Luckily, the majority of our staff is coming back, and we have very few holes to fill. This is beneficial to our students because relationship building with their houseparents, teachers and counselors is very important.

Other responsibilities that I have, besides recruiting, are working with insurance benefits and employee recognition. This makes every day different and new. For example, in the summer we make root beer floats for our maintenance staff. Summer s tend to get hot in South Dakota and our maintenance staff put in a lot of time modeling the campus homes for our students. It’s always rewarding to do something that will brighten a person’s day.

I feel very fortunate to work in the human resources department at St. Joseph’s Indian School. It is always a blessing when the people you work with are more like family than co-workers.

If you are interested in employment at St. Joseph’s Indian School, let me know…I can be reached by phone at 800.568.4434 or e-mail hrdept@stjo.org.

Have a good week ! 🙂

Today’s guest blogger: Mary Jane

Good morning! My name is Mary Jane, I am Outreach/PQI Director at St. Joseph’s Indian School.

The bookmobile just returned to St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus Thursday evening. We traveled to 14 Indian Reservation communities up north. During that time, we visited with roughly 120 children and gave out 360 books! (Each of the children selected one new and two used books for themselves.)

During the trip I had the privilege of visiting with several former students. One of the women, Esther from Kenel, graduated at St. Joseph’s Indian School in 1939. She had gone to school here for 4 years.

As she describes her time here,

St. Joe’s was my home for 4 years, the best years of my life. That’s where I learned to cook. I got to work in the kitchen all four of my years there. It was the best, I was able to try everything we made before the other kids. I wanted to stay on and work there but I wasn’t old enough. So I went to Marty for several years.

Esther said she is 91 years young. She has many, many of her grand and great-grand children living with her in her home in Kenel. We look forward to our return visit there to chat with Esther some more.

Our bookmobile heads to Lower Brule Indian Reservation this afternoon. On Monday we head south to the Rosebud and Pine Ridge Indian Reservations.

Today’s guest blogger: Steve

Hello everyone. I am Steve the High School Tutor/Adviser at St. Joseph’s Indian School and like Scott, I’m a first time blogger!

During the first three weeks of June, I am usually working with our Freshman Orientation Program, that Jenny told you about earlier this week. This year however, I was selected to be the chaperone for the student exchange program with our sister school in Germany, Gymnasium Leoninum Handrup. This school is also administered by the Priests of the Sacred Heart and has over twelve hundred students in grades five through twelve.

Two of our students, D’Kera and Trinity, along with my wife Jan (who retired last year after teaching at St. Joseph’s Indian School for twenty years) and I left Sioux Falls, South Dakota on May 26^th on a sixteen hour trip to Northern Germany. We barely made our connection in Chicago, and unfortunately our luggage did not! It arrived the next day, but too late to supply the girls with any warm clothes for our visit to an amusement park in the Netherlands on a cool and sometimes rainy day. Interestingly, the theme of the park was the American Wild West. The girls noted that they did not have the Native American culture exactly right, it was more like a Hollywood version. Everyone managed to have fun despite the weather, although some of us older visitors skipped several of the wilder rides.

D’Kera, Trinity, Steve and his wife had a great time in Germany! — Steve and the others from St. Joseph’s Indian School had a great time!

Our time in Germany was a mixture of classroom presentations, sightseeing excursions and time spent visiting with teachers and students. D’Kera and Trinity stayed with the families of Anna and Kerstin, and Jan and I stayed at the Monastery which is attached to the school. Our hosts generally spoke English very well, which was a blessing because despite the best of intentions, our German was pretty primitive.

We spent time in the cities of Bremen, Osnabruck, Muenster, Cloppenburg, Pappenburg, Hamburg, Lingen and Berlin. We took a trip to the North Sea, had a tour of the Meyer –Werf shipbuilding facility where they make Cruise Line behemoths that are too large to fit in the Panama Canal and saw remnants of the Berlin Wall as well as Checkpoint Charlie. We toured three Castles and saw several old churches and Cathedrals, celebrating Mass (in German) on Ascension Thursday in the Cathedral of Osnabruck which is over one thousand years old. We attended Anna’s confirmation Mass in Furstenau also in German, of course.

The sights, the sounds and the food were wonderful, but were not as impressive as the generosity and warmth shown to us by the students, teachers, priests and families. Because of this, we got to experience the German culture in a way that is not possible for the average visitor to Germany. We are very grateful to all of our hosts and are looking forward to returning their kindness when Anna and Kerstin visit our school in October along with their chaperone.

We just arrived back at St. Joseph’s late Tuesday evening and are gradually adjusting to time change.

On the road with Fr. Steve

I hope the many guest bloggers we’ve been featuring are helping you gain a fuller view of what is going on around campus this summer. I started a long road trip this past week for meetings and donor luncheons, and now will continue time away for vacation, retreat and SCJ community meetings.

Last week many of our staff and Board of Directors participated in a two-day strategic planning retreat. It’s been four years since our last plan. One reason for St. Josephs’ Indian School’s quality programming is that we regularly take a look at ourselves and see where we need to improve and grow. We have much more work to do over the coming months, but began brainstorming in four areas – student achievement, staff development, financial viability and collaboration with key partners, like students’ families and tribes.

What I appreciate most about these efforts is that as director, I can enlist the energy, ideas and passion of others, so that it’s not my plan, but our plan of where we can go in the future.

I drove to Chicago and Oakbrook, Illinois, where we had two lively and well attended donor appreciation luncheons. When part of a crowd, I find myself wishing for more time with each individual, because we have so many caring people who are part of our tiyospaye – extended family.

One woman showed me a prayer card from St. Joseph’s Indian School in 1954, when she was 12 years old – 57 years ago!

When I pointed that out to the rest of the group, another woman told us that she remembers her family starting out in the 1940’s by sending clothes for our Native American children. We also had new friends, who asked good questions and our excited to participate in our efforts.

One long time friend Ray, got tickets for our St. Joseph’s Indian School’s crew to attend a White Sox game. Other fun activities for our two high school students, Nick and Shawn, included the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier, lots of good food, and walking around the Chicago Loop to see the astounding variety of people, buildings and activities.

My SCJ community has a house of studies in Chicago, and I stayed on for a meeting of our vocation and formation meeting. People often talk about the shortage of vocations and the need for more vocations. Brother Duane reflected that the real key is not more, but good quality vocations, and for each member of the Congregation to strive to live our charism of helping others know of God’s love to our fullest ability. One entertaining part of the meeting was to look at various videos found on YouTube that “advertise” religious life. I pray that my work and life do attract others to join us.

On Monday night I came home to Indiana, for time with mom and dad, and my own tiyospaye – extended family. I love the work at St. Joseph’s Indian School, and know that time away for rest, recreation and family relationships will help me carry on that important work when I return with more patience, insight and enthusiasm.

I’ll periodically check in on the blog while on the road. In the meantime, enjoy all the updates from a good variety of staff who make St. Joseph’s Indian School all that it is.