Tag: youth

What started with picking up trash…

Hello everyone! My name is Kelli, Planned Giving Summer Intern at St. Joseph’s Indian School.

Lakota boy imitating snake
A Lakota boy imitates his favorite animal—a snake!

A few days ago, I was able to spend some time with the youth of the Lower Brule Indian Reservation at the St. Joseph’s Rising Eagle Day Camp here in Chamberlain, South Dakota. On this particular morning, they were imitating animal movements and practicing summersaults and cartwheels on the football field. Their giggles and smiles made me take a trip down memory lane to two years ago when I was a camp counselor at the St. Joseph’s Rising Eagle Day Camp.

Although every day brought many joys and wonderful experiences, one day in particular still stands out in my mind.

On this particular day, one of our St. Joseph’s staff was reading a Native American children’s story to the kids. While The Rough-Face Girl was being read, nearly all of the children were listening quietly, but one little boy was not following the rules and was being disruptive to everybody else.

Feeling like he may need to burn some energy, I grabbed a plastic bag and told him to follow me outside—we were going to go pick up some trash.

For the first few minutes, the young boy was quite unruly. However, when he saw how much fun he could make the situation, he began to laugh, smile and run around—the first time I had ever seen this young boy so alive and carefree.

His smile and laugh were contagious and I began to get into the game he created out of his own imagination. “Kelli, hold the trash bag really high!” I would hear, so I would hold it above my head and he would aim, shoot, and SCOREEEEEE! A silly celebratory dance and lots of cheering would always follow.

Two girls partner log roll
Two young Lakota girls practice partner log rolling.

After about 20 minutes or so, I asked the young boy if he would like to go back inside and be on his best behavior.

He replied yes, gave me a huge hug, began to cry, and thanked me for spending time with him because “no one ever spends time with me.”

This little boy was my best friend the remainder of the Rising Eagle Day Camp. He was usually one of the first ones on the bus bright and early and one of the last to walk back to his house. He was my right-hand man and was often given certain ‘duties’ to help me with.

The young boy who had multiple disciplinary problems on his first day never had an issue again.

Thank you for allowing me to pick up trash and spend quality time with young Lakota Sioux children. Although picking up trash is a messy and sometimes stinky job, I am so grateful for this young boy and the opportunity I had to make a little friend that changed my life forever.

Graduation Celebrations

Sunday, five of our St. Joseph’s students and 65 of their Chamberlain High School classmates celebrated graduation as the Class of 2013. It seemed the whole community was packed into the armory.

St. Joseph’s Indian School provides education and residential care for Lakota children in grades 1-12.
Five St. Joseph’s students graduated with the Chamberlain High School Class of 2013.

The school choir and band performed some nice selections. The main event, however, was simply these youth proudly walking up the aisle accompanied by flashing cameras and rolling camcorders to mark this transitional time in their lives. We pray and hope for a wonderful future where their gifts and abilities can help meet the world’s needs.

We had some controversy with this year’s graduation. Chris, one of our St. Joseph’s seniors presented a petition to the school board to add a Lakota Honor song to the graduation ceremony to add a cultural element and to honor all the graduates.

Disappointingly, the school board turned it down. Community members from town and the nearby reservations held signs of protest across the street, gathered around a drum to respectfully played an Honor Song as their tribute to graduates filing out of the auditorium.

Afterwards, I attended some of the many receptions held all over town. Besides our St. Joseph’s students, several staff had children graduating, and I wanted to offer special congratulations to them.

Coleman’s parents have been houseparents on campus for many years. While Coleman didn’t attend St. Joseph’s Indian School, I watched him grow up with our kids in the Pinger Home. It truly felt like one of our own had reached this milestone.

I also knew some area graduates from the parishes I used to pastor. Kids I knew as first graders have now received diplomas and are preparing to go off and make their mark on the world.

A few days before graduation…

Wednesday

When I come out of morning mass in the winter and walk past Wisdom Circle, the playground is empty. With the warmer weather, however, it has been filled with the laughter of the Lakota children squeezing in some play time before the school day starts.

Spring has finally arrived on the South Dakota Prairie! The flowers and bushes on campus are filled with fragrant and colorful blossoms. We seemingly went from winter to summer, skipping spring altogether, though we know our temperature swings will still be wild for some time to come.

Our Native American students from fifth through eighth grades have a chance to learn to play musical instruments. Yesterday, we gathered in Our Lady of the Sioux chapel to hear the fruits of their practice as they held a recital. Their skills are still pretty basic, but I admired their courage to get in front of their peers and risk hitting the wrong chord or note. We heard six piano solos, four guitars, two flutes, and clarinet and a drum. Some of the songs were very short. I was disappointed one of my old folk favorites, Oh Suzanna, finished before the rousing chorus. But you’ve got to love the kids for trying!

The Lakota children at St. Joseph’s have the opportunity to take music lessons.
Caden and Richie worked hard on their guitar pieces for the music recital.

After that, we held a farewell gathering in the Rec Center for St. Joseph’s Child Services staff who are retiring or moving on to new things. Huge cardboard greeting cards were laid out for everyone to sign, while looking over pictures and remembering. After everyone grabbed some refreshments, each of those staff were called forward, given a gift, and the opportunity to say a few words.

Steve started as a houseparent, but since I’ve been at St. Joseph’s Indian School, has been the lead tutor at our High School Learning Center. With a concerted effort from students and staff, the collective grade point average of St. Joseph’s high school students has gone up almost a full point over the last four years!

Gary and Marty guided high school girls for the past two years, and Anita has mentored our young men for the past four.

Frank and Wanda have been houseparents for 26 years!!! They are retiring to spend more time with their own children and grandchildren. Over the years they’ve parented so many St. Joseph’s kids who consider them family. They were each wrapped in a Lakota star quilt as a sign of honor and appreciation. Many tears and tons of hugs followed. We pray for all those moving on to new adventures.

St. Joseph’s high school students finish classes at the end of this week. Elijah, one of our seniors, had high enough grades to be exempted from his finals and is completely done. This evening, our houseparents organized a back yard end-of-the-year cook out. Hot dogs and hamburgers taste mighty good when shared in the beautiful outdoors with good friends, conversation, and a few games thrown in to boot.

With the help of the local ministerial association, Chamberlain High

School organized their Baccalaureate Ceremony this evening. We hosted the service in our Lady of the Sioux Chapel. Area pastors offered some words of prayer, but all of the readings and music were organized by the students. The evening was uplifting as we prayed for God’s help for all the youth of our community who are transitioning on to the next stages of their education and careers.

Cleaning, packing, preparing for the move

Hello again from the William Home’s fourth and fifth grade Lakota girls!

It has been an exciting time recently as we have been packing, cleaning, and preparing for our move back in to the newly renovated William Home.  We are in and the girls are so excited!

It is bittersweet for the fifth graders, since they will only get to be in for a short time before summer break begins. Next year, they will move to the older community of sixth, seventh and eighth-grade students on St. Joseph’s campus.

We recently took our annual home trip to Rapid City, South Dakota and visited and indoor water park.  These girls can go up and down those stairs on the slides for hours!  Oh, the joy of youth…

As we wind down the year at St. Joseph’s Indian School, we would like to thank all of our benefactors who make the work we do with Native American children possible.  God bless and have a great summer.

St. Joseph’s Indian School recently completed renovations on the William Home.
The girls in the newly renovated William Home do their homework at the kitchen counter.

Giving back to the community

Earlier this year, St. Joseph’s Daughters of Tradition group was given the task of coming up with ideas for a service learning project as a way to give back to the community.  The Native American youth in the group decided they wanted to raise money for the Humane Society in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Recently, they headed to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to complete the project!

Our Lakota (Sioux) girls decided to donate to the Humane Society. To raise money, the girls planned a walking taco and bake sale.  The girls did all of the baking for the bake sale and group leaders assisted in getting the taco meat ready for the walking tacos.  The girls had two different sales and raised over $200.00 to donate to the Humane Society.  They were very proud of themselves!

While at the Humane Society, the girls were able to tour the facility, walk dogs and spend some time with the cats.  The girls really enjoyed themselves and if they had been able to, I think a few of them would have come home with new pets!  They did a great job and represented St. Joseph’s Indian School very well.  The Human Society was very pleased with their generous donation.

St. Joseph’s Daughters of Tradition group meets two times per month. This is a great place for the girls to talk about any issues they are having.  The group begins with a “Talking Circle,” which gives every girl a chance to talk about how they are doing and voice any issues or concerns they have.  The girls are very engaged in the group and enjoy the time they get to spend together and the opportunity to share concerns with their peers.

As one of the leaders of the group, I am so very pleased with the girls and their effort in the service learning project!

Julie

Family Service Counselor

St. Joseph’s Annual Sobriety Walk

The Lakota students danced along with the drummers.
The Lakota students really got moving when the drummers performed “YMCA.”

St. Joseph’s Substance Abuse Prevention Committee (SAPC) sponsored our annual Spring Sobriety Celebration on the afternoon of April 26. Sheltered Reality, a choreographed drumming group, kicked off the celebration by entertaining our Native American students, their families and St. Joseph’s staff.

Native American families joined their students for St. Joseph’s Sobriety Walk.
St. Joseph’s students, their families and staff get ready to begin the Sobriety Walk.

Sheltered Reality (SR) has dedicated itself to being a youth-oriented project since 1996. Youth members in SR use music and education to reach out to audiences, motivating them to advocate for those in need, especially children and families. SR shared their Steps of Success to teach personal empowerment and character building. The Steps are:

  1. Take a Chance!
  2. Be Willing to Do Whatever it Takes!
  3. Never Give Up!
  4. Believe in Yourself!
  5. Be a Friend and Empower Others to Succeed!

SR demonstrated these steps by pulling students (and even a few staff members!) from the audience and teaching them various drumming routines. In just a short time, students and staff were taking what they learned and working with members of SR to perform some impressive music!

Older Lakota students served as leaders for each of the four walking groups.
Selena, Daryl and Ashley lead the group back to St. Joseph’s Campus.

Following the SR performance, everyone took a stand against drugs by walking in our 18th Annual Sobriety Walk. We were blessed with a perfect spring day!

The Lakota students, their families and staff left St. Joseph’s Indian School and headed downtown Chamberlain, where they split into four groups, representing each of the Four Directions.

Sheltered Reality, a choreographed drumming group, performed during St. Joseph’s 18th Annual Spring Sobriety Celebration.
Sheltered Reality chose students and staff from the audience to drum a few numbers with them.

Dance, Dance!

Hello from 6-7-8th grade Residential!

‘Twas the day of the dance, when all across campus

Students were primping in anticipation

The hairstyles and clothes were donned with care

In hopes of meeting that someone special there

Last year, St. Joseph’s Indian School started the tradition of hosting a dance for our sixth, seventh and eighth grade Lakota students.  We invite the Chamberlain public school students to campus to join with our students at the dance, which helps build community among them.

As part of St. Joseph’s strategic plan, we are being challenged to provide more opportunities to build relationships between our students and students from the local public school.  We believe this will help them in many ways but specifically, once they reach high school, better relationships will make that transition smoother.  Hosting community dances like this is a great way to help youth get to know one another.  It also gives the students a chance to use their social skills and practice mastery in that area.

St. Joseph’s Lakota students invited Chamberlain students to their dance in an effort to build relationships.
The Lakota students had a great time dancing the night away!

Watching the process during the dance is fun for me and very similar, I think, to everyone’s experience at junior high dances. At first, all the students stand to the side looking at each other shyly.  They all seem to be hesitant to get out on the floor and strut their stuff.

St. Joseph’s older Native American students help with activities for younger students.
Chris, a St. Joseph’s senior, and Andrea, a St. Joseph’s alumnae, served as DJ’s for the junior high dance.

After a couple of songs, however, a few of the girls get brave and start dancing. Before long, more and more are joining in on the floor.  By the end of the night, everyone has gotten on the floor at least once. The students’ process of slowly warming up and finally dancing demonstrates growth in the area of independence.

As usual, when the lights came on at the end, there was a collective moan from the crowd wanting more music and more dancing!

Chris, one of our high school seniors, and alumnae Andrea provided the DJ service for the dance. They did a great job getting the students on the floor dancing and involved.

The admission fee to the dance was $2 or two cans of food at the door.  We were able to collect 156 food items for the local food pantry and around $30 at the door to donate to a local charity.  This speaks to the Lakota (Sioux) value of generosity and helping our community when we can.

All these lessons are very important and piece of what we try to teach our students every day at St. Joseph’s Indian School. These experiences give the students an opportunity to learn firsthand lessons that we hope stay with them for life.

Without your support and prayers, none of this would possible. Thanks to all that support our work.  We couldn’t do it with you!

Frank W.

Residential Coordinator

A week in review

Last week, I was talking to one of St. Joseph’s newer employees who is also quite young. What impressed me most was his expressed desire to make a difference. Sometimes, my generation complains about the younger generation. Too often, we underestimate youth who very much want to be part of a group that has high ideals and wants to address the problems of the world in a meaningful way. That fresh attitude and enthusiasm helps light the fire under me and spurs me on.

That evening, hot dogs for supper at Giles Home (high school boys) wasn’t a gourmet feast, but the satisfying conversation and connection with the guys there was good food for the soul. The whole house is made up of freshmen. As they sprint toward the school year’s finish line, they’re finding their way together.  They all have their days where they are moody and flighty teenagers, but I notice a maturing and growth – satisfying to see.

…

Mike, one of our Family Service Counselors shared he was having a difficult time getting information to the family of a Lakota student who has been accepted into our high school program. The family struggles with the basics, and last month didn’t have the money to pay the deposit on the Post Office box rent. The same happens with dropped phone coverage or even loss of home utilities when times get hard.

Wednesday

I joined 24 students who had achieved perfect attendance for a trip downtown to see the movie “The Croods.”

This cave family didn’t live up to my favorite, the Flintstones, but the kids enjoyed the movie and the outing.

–        As an adult, do you still enjoy animated movies from time to time?

The Summerlee Home (fourth and fifth grade girls) was my supper stop. My table got talking about cooking – dishes they can prepare (mostly involving noodles or eggs) and favorites from home, like fry bread and smothered burritos.

These girls just moved back into the newly remodeled home a few weeks ago, and showed me how they’d decorated to give the rooms a homey feel. They like dinosaurs, and a model T-Rex was perched on an end table. The T-Rex was wearing an improvised Easter bonnet, complete with homemade rabbit ears to be in the spirit of the season!

Kids can be fun and creative that way, and so can our houseparents. Cante wanted me to check out the guest bathroom, since that was her weekly responsibility and she worked hard to clean it. With the home so new, they take extra pride in keeping it looking good.

Thursday

The priests, sisters, and permanent deacon who live on nearby Indian Reservations and serve on the Lower Brule and Crow Creek Pastoral team make up an important part of our outreach ministry.

I attended their team meeting and we discussed some long range strategic planning to address the pressing social needs they meet every day. I enjoyed being a part of the opening round of sharing again.

Recent snows and ice kept attendance down in some of the missions. Fr. Hendrik actually slid off the road and had to be towed out by parishioners behind him who happened to have chains in their pickup truck.

Fr. Vincent took Fr. Jose for his first experience of a Native American funeral yesterday. They left at 8 a.m. and didn’t get home until 4 p.m., which is not unusual. Native Americans observe much more cultural ritual surrounding death and burial.

Last week before break…

Monday

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!

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 (6th– 8th 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.