Welcome back, St. Joseph’s Alum!

Earlier in June, St. Joseph’s held its first annual Alumni & Staff Reunion!

Both former students and staff enjoyed the day as we visited and renewed friendships. We talked about our time at St. Joseph’s Indian School and shared what we are doing today. It was wonderful to catch up!

Other activities included lunch, campus tours and going through hundreds of old pictures! We had a total of 19 alumni along with some members of their families and 15 staff members, past and present. The day went by fast.

We had students scattered throughout six different decades:

• Jerry came from Elk River, Minnesota. He remembered weeding the gardens and gathering the crops! He graduated from St. Joseph’s in 1959.
• Ron came from Eagle Butte, South Dakota and attended St. Joseph’s in 1963-64. He is currently a maintenance mechanic. Ron’s three sons also attended St. Joseph’s in the 1990’s.

The 1970’s:

o   Crystal graduated from St. Joseph’s in 1979. She works in customer service in Mitchell, South Dakota. Crystal visits campus frequently.

 

o   Madeline works with students in the recreation department at Crow Creek Tribal School north of Chamberlain. She returns to campus at least twice a year.

 

o   Rose is from Pierre and works at Walmart. Rose visits campus on a regular basis.

 

o   LeeAnn is from Rapid City. She is self-employed, running her own house cleaning service. She returns every year for St. Joseph’s annual powwow.

 

o   Terri is from Mission, South Dakota and is a self-employed domestic engineer. Terri came with her husband and their son. Terri has been back to St. Joseph’s, but not for over 10 years.

 

o   Stanley attended with his two sisters, Madeline and Janice.

 

The 1980’s:

• Muffy lives in Stephan, South Dakota, north of Chamberlain. She works in the recreation program at Crow Creek Tribal School. She returns to campus several times during the school year. Muffy graduated from Chamberlain High School through St. Joseph’s High School program.

 

• Nancy lives in Chamberlain, South Dakota and is the manager at Subway. She comes back to campus for various events and has taken part in our career day program.

 

• Janice lives in Rapid City, South Dakota and is a full time student. She has received awards through St. Joseph’s scholarship program. She plans to obtain her two year degree this spring and go on to law school.

 

• Claudia lives in Reliance, South Dakota. She is a youth counselor and also takes online classes. She also receives scholarships through St. Joseph’s program.

 

• Terry lives in Aberdeen, South Dakota. He works in a warehouse and is a delivery driver. This was his first visit back to St. Joseph’s Indian School after graduating in 1988.

 

The 1990’s:

o   Glenn lives in Chamberlain, South Dakota and is a custodian at St. Joseph’s. His two daughters currently attend St. Joseph’s.

 

o   Destiny is from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She is a homemaker. She has returned to campus on several occasions to visit with our junior high and high school students. She was part of our high school program.

 

o   L’Jay is from Ridgeview, South Dakota. He works in Eagle Butte as a supply technician.

 

o   Chad is from Dupree, South Dakota. He works as a construction foreman in the Eagle Butte area.

Students from the 2000’s:

 

o   Tyler lives in Chamberlain, South Dakota and works at McDonald’s.

 

o   Katrina lives in Chamberlain, South Dakota and is a full time mother.

 

At the end of the day, everyone expressed how glad they were to have come, vowing to bring other friends and alumni back to campus for the next reunion!

 

Mary Jane, Alumni Liaison