This morning I saw some of the 8th graders getting on the bus to go to the high school. After graduation at St. Joseph’s Indian School, many of them will stay with our program and make the transition to our community’s public high school in the fall. Today part of that group was matched up with our current high school students. The rest will do the same tomorrow. They spend time shadowing, attending classes for a day and start familiarizing themselves with the facilities and the teachers.
Another part of their transition is that they’ve now earned high school privileges. That includes later bedtime and more freedom around campus. But they also have responsibilities, such as getting themselves up on their own with an alarm clock to get ready for school. Since they were excited about the change of pace, getting up on time wasn’t an issue.
The students at St. Joseph’s Indian School undoubtedly enjoyed the circus!
The circus is in town, and many of our Homes, especially the younger ones, were excited about the exotic animals and fun adventure. The most common favorites were the tigers, clowns and acrobats on bicycles.
Our Native American youngsters had such a blast at our annual Easter Egg Hunt!
The school was very quiet this morning, but once the homes opened at noon, the campus sprang to life as our American Indian students returned from Easter break. I took advantage of the morning quiet to work through a thick folder of strategic planning materials for next week. It has been four years since we developed our last plan. Reading through staff input on strengths we can build on and weaknesses we need to address, gives a good overview of where to focus our efforts.
The residential coordinators spent the afternoon hiding colorful plastic eggs around our St. Joseph’s Indian School campus. At 4:00 all the children who were back, got to take part in our annual Easter Egg Hunt. Grades 6-8 gathered at the field outside the Fisher Home, and grades 1-5 lined up outside the office.
Once they accomplished that mission, they brought their findings back to the Rec Center where they opened them to see which ones contained prize slips in addition to the small treats. Many lucky winners got to choose from a variety of lovely toys, games and stuffed animals. $10 Walmart gift cards that someone had donated were the coveted grand prizes. The kids all seemed to enjoy the adventure and everyone walked away a winner.
Yesterday, I spent several hours on the road for a couple of pastoral visits. One of our alumni is working through some difficult life issues and wanted to have someone to talk things over with. I mostly listened and encouraged. We can’t take the hurts away, but we sure can be supportive in people’s tough walk through life’s crosses.
I also visited an elderly couple from one of my former parishes I’ve kept in touch with over the years. The wife has been ill and homebound, and appreciated the company. We caught up over a few games of cards with plenty of conversation during the hands.
Today, I saw a few of our students at Easter Mass in Fort Thompson. When I don’t have duties at the school, I enjoy getting back to the Indian reservation communities. At church we had a nice mix of ages, which I often miss when I’m only in the school setting. Many young adults who’ve moved away were back to gather at the homestead with extended family for the holidays.
Fr. Anthony, Fr. Dominic and I all had a hand in preparing Easter dinner; shared in a relaxing way. I don’t cook very often, but when I have the time it’s actually enjoyable. Breaking bread and telling stories … sounds like somebody I know who makes Easter all that it is.
I went downtown to St. James parish to join the community in praying the Stations of the Cross at noontime. Reading and hearing the biblical account of the events on Good Friday gives me renewed appreciation each year.
Harry, 80-years-old, has been a St. Joseph’s Indian School donor for many years, but had never visited the school until today. With Easter break the campus was empty of both staff and students, but this was the one day that his daughter and son-in-law were able to bring him out for a visit. A tour isn’t as exciting when the students are away, but I showed them all that they wanted to look at, and get a better idea how the children live, study and play. He left a donation so he and his wife are remembered with a memorial brick in our walkway.
I like the quieter, sometimes more somber tone of Good Friday for recollection. Trying to get priorities right in my own life, and deepening my conscience contact with God. Prayer and fasting are good for the soul every now and again.
I made rounds of the development office, wishing staff a Happy Easter since everyone will have tomorrow off. This time of year, the incoming mail starts to slow down and they focus on cleaning up our lists, organizing materials and projects for the future. It’s our goal to answer every letter within 5 business days, and we’re able to do that pretty consistently.
I checked in on the maintenance staff on their break. On a very wet and dreary day, I found them to be tired of ‘rainy day’ projects and hoping to get back outside soon. They are just about finished with the Rooney Home remodel, and plan to have the students move in within the next week or so.
I spent time wandering the halls at school. 2:00 was the official dismissal time for Easter break, but only a handful of students after lunch. Some of our students have up to a four or five hour trip to get home, so their families came throughout the day to pick them up. As they came to the school office to check out I was able to meet and greet.
My praying for their health took on added meaning this year.
Tonight, I drove 30 miles west to Kennebec to preside at mass. To some who work in large urban churches, a crowd of two dozen might seem kind of sparse, but that represented about a third of the people who usually come on Sunday in the small, rural community. Parishioners came forward to help me reenact Jesus’ washing of his disciples’ feet, and remind us of the importance of serving others. Several people are ill and facing surgery, so we also celebrated the sacrament of the anointing of the sick. Many of the same people washed my feet in a figurative sense this past year as they have prayed and helped me through surgery and illness.
The American Indian youth learned a lot at St. Joseph’s Indian School from the police officers on Career Day.
Today was “Career Day” for our students. From the earliest grades we want our students to start dreaming of careers and exploring possibilities.
For the younger grades, we had workers visit the school and give presentations. A doctor from Indian Health Services was in the assembly room telling about her work in the clinic. When asked for questions, many of the students wanted to share their own bumps and bruises that might have earned them a trip to the doctor. In the school gym, a couple of police officers from the Bureau of Indian Affairs spoke about their work. They brought along a police dog with them, who was the biggest hit of the day with our students.
The older Lakota (Sioux) kids were fascinated while learning about movie theaters.
The older students traveled downtown to learn about some of the businesses. Our students get to go to the movies occasionally, but some today were particularly fascinated to see the projection room and the behind the scenes tour. They were treated to a bag of popcorn each after that visit.
Today, we had an afternoon break in the clouds and the sunshine came pouring down from the heavens. Campus came to life in a different way with lots of bikes and skateboards roaming the sidewalks.
I stopped in at Summerlee (4th-5th grade girls). They were “supercharging” the home before leaving for Easter break tomorrow. The houseparents asked me if I would be the judge of which of the 3 bathrooms looked the cleanest. I had to admit that all of the kids do a better job than I do, and it was a hard choice. But I hammed it up, running my finger across countertops and checking the corners before declaring a winner.
Before supper, I joined a group of girls shooting baskets. I started demonstrating my arsenal of odd shots – behind the backboard, bouncing the ball in, backwards free throws – a sign of too many hours of my youth shooting baskets and playing HORSE. But the girls enjoyed the variety, and tried a few trick shots of their own. Then I got a demonstration of the group floor routine they had learned during their last gymnastics workshop.
Tonight’s enrichment activities included softball field events – longest throw, most accurate, furthest hit … the kids enjoyed the chance to be outdoors for a taste of spring.
I’ve stopped by the high school tutoring center each of the past two days, and found it filled with our kids hitting the books. It’s getting to be midterm time and lots of school work is due before Easter. Our American Indian students are realizing what it takes to succeed, and I’m glad to see them putting in the effort and getting help where they need it.
Miles who is on our high school staff was celebrating his birthday. We have security cameras in the hallways of the homes and one of Miles’ duties is to review the tapes and make sure no one is wondering where they’re not supposed to be. He had to laugh that on the tapes a few of the students poked their head into the hallway just a little past curfew and held up sings reading, “Happy Birthday Miles”. They know we’re watching for their safety.
Three of our SCJs from Indonesia are visiting the area for Easter and staying on the Lower Brule Indian Reservation. Vincent, Donatus and Anthony called to see if they could tour St. Joseph’s Indian School and I enjoyed their company. We visited a few classrooms, and they taught our students greetings in Indonesian in exchange for learning the Lakota phrase hihani waste – good day. I left them at the Akta Lakota Museum & Culture Center where they could learn about history, culture and look at the contemporary art at their own pace.
Mike, our Food Service Director and his staff make sure our school lunches are not only tasty, but nutritious.
St. Joseph’s Indian School has received the Silver Award for the Healthier US Challenge. This recognizes schools that are creating healthier school environments through their promotion of good nutrition in the National School Lunch Program and physical activity including nutrition education in the school. St Joseph’s Indian School is the first school in South Dakota to apply and receive this award under the new standards. St. Joseph’s Indian School will receive an award plaque and Banner from the USDA and a monetary award of $1,000.
Congratulations!
Heading into Easter break, we’ve had our usual share of student discipline issues. It’s easy to look at the list of students on restriction or supervision and get discouraged. But one of our family service counselors was telling me about a student whose father died by suicide several years ago. The student is only now able to start opening up about the pain the dad’s loss caused the family. Working through the loss has helped the student turn things around in a positive way. Instead of constantly being in trouble, they are now building on successes and good behavior. The student remarked to the counselor, “ I didn’t realize how good being good could feel”!
It’s Palm Sunday. It was my turn to preach, which of course I did, but Palm Sunday has enough ritual and story to carry its own weight. The passion story inspires me to not give up when the going gets tough, and I hope our students hear that same message. The gospel is long and split up into parts, and I appreciated the high school students who were willing to take some of the parts and help dramatize it.
When the younger students even quit waving the palm branches during that time I could tell they were paying attention better because other students were proclaiming the readings.
This afternoon I got in some exercise in the Rec Center. I shot baskets with 4th graders. We didn’t do a whole lot of talking, but they appreciated a few pointers, and the shared activity was relaxing and quality time for me.
When I arrived at Stevens Home (6th-8th grade girls) the house was uncharacteristically quiet – reading time! Each student can read anything they’re interested in, but has to spend ½ hour of reading each day. Because they wanted to have evening Rec time, they voted on the afternoon to turn the pages. Girls were scattered into all three common areas, some curled up in chairs, some on the couch, still others lying on the floor – all intently reading. Wanda banished me into the kitchen to chat with Frank who was cooking supper. I reemerged for their house meeting which consisted mostly of coordinating the week’s upcoming activities. Then we sat to a good meal for a cold day – homemade chicken noodle soup. Shared with that crew it was indeed good for the soul.
Despite snow and slushy weather yesterday here in Chamberlain, South Dakota, ten FAST (Families and Schools Together) families made it here for the last day of our spring session and for the graduation ceremony. Our Chalk Hills Singers led the procession with a drum song, and the families were proud to pose together for a family photo as each received their certificates. While I’ve observed the ceremony many times, I’m reminded of how much it means anew to our families who participate. Through this program they can take part is quality activities, celebrate times of togetherness and receive positive recognition as a family.
Donors from the East Coast who have supported St. Joseph’s Indian School for over ten years were passing through and dropped by unexpectedly. They wanted to see the our campus for the first time before giving me 4 boxes of chocolates to share with the kids and a check almost large enough to cover half a houseparent’s annual salary. I am amazed at the generosity that comes seemingly out of the blue – which always causes me to rededicate myself to building strong programs for our students. We visited a couple of homes and had the students give us a lively tour. Then our guests hit the road for their next leg of their journey.
