Report Cards! Need I say more? Every teacher can tell you these take a huge amount of time. Especially when they are not formatted correctly and take 1 night of making them into quarter system report cards, and several nights of entering grades. The report cards here are based on Common Core Standards so there isn’t just 1 grade for each subject but a grade for each standard under each subject (multiply that by 25 children). Many standards we have not begun working with so there was no grade. I only gave grades for standards I had 3 data points for. Still, it was a huge amount of work. Since I do not have access to a computer system here for attendance, I then had to with for a report to be generated for that portion of the cards. This took a major portion of my time. I did not get a post-off for 2 weeks. I apologize, it just wasn’t the priority my report cards were!

I got the report cards out just in time to hand out to parents. I then raced out the door for a trip home for the 25th anniversary of the partnership with Girls Inc. called Operation Smart. It is a program done each semester at CSM by our sophomore-level students. Young women come to CSM from Girls Inc. each Tuesday and Thursday after school for enrichment activities in math, science, and relevant technology. Home this weekend was a race to see how much could be squeezed into one 4-day weekend. I must say I got to see quite a few people and spent little time resting. I did not get everything done on my list, so I will have to keep plugging away tasks. Once again, my friends Scott and Keri housed me on Wednesday night so I could cut time off my Thursday drive. Keri and I compared notes on report card generation. I also got to see my girls and have dinner with them on Friday night. Jeff and I got to spend some quality time together doing wonderful things like unloading and loading my car, and watching the Huskers pull out a victory over Purdue. (Oh, the luxury of getting my nails done, a haircut, and a real grocery store!!)

I have not reported on the Nursing faculty and student trip. Students and 2 faculty members from CSM were here 2 weeks ago as an alternative fall break trip. They conducted a health fair for the elementary students at Crazy Horse, made a healthy snack with my 5th graders, and did a group meeting with college-bound high schoolers on what it takes to go to college. We had a community dinner at Bob and Mary’s building since there was a group here from Minnesota as well that week. The school provided the nurses a house just down the street from my apartment. It was so good to have someone here from home again. I also laughed like I have not laughed in a long time. The students were so good for my soul. Driving in the Black Hills in a large white van was interesting, and I was glad I was not driving.

I will only have to say Needles Highway to Jen and Tracey, my professor friends and I know we will all dissolve into a fit of giggles. Thank you to all who come up to Wanblee for the time you spent on this trip. I hope it has inspired a spring break trip as well. We did a bit of touring and had some wonderful discussions on the poverty so present here. The students were shocked at their trip to Wanblee Mart. We discovered a wonderful hamburger joint just outside of Rapid City and I will return there with Jeff the next time he is here.

The group from Minnesota got the water line into the building. All the bunk beds are assembled. Mary is one happy camper. She has a flushing toilet and while I was home this weekend cabinets and a real kitchen appeared. Bob is faithfully working on a full bathroom complete with a shower. They are now progressing towards getting the dormitory ready for guests. I hear we may have a group here from Messiah Lutheran again in November. Maybe we can get some of the clothing and pantry assembled upstairs. If anyone out there has clothing racks or strong shelving units we could use both for upstairs.

Jeff is coming up the weekend of Veterans Day. He is hoping to finish clearing out our guest room and the church storage area. We will see how much he can pack into that trip. I will love having him here, less pull on my time than when I am home in Omaha. Contact him if you have something to send. He is becoming quite the gatherer of materials.

I raced to get back on Sunday for a 3:00 meeting at the school only to arrive in Wanblee to a phone text telling me there would be no school on Monday. There was a funeral and the school is the only place big enough. We unloaded my car at the building and then I came home and collapsed. I spent today stitching and baking.

Tomorrow is Halloween. My students will be performing a reader’s theatre of The Hallo-Weiner by Dav Pilkey. Thank you to Jeff for scanning book illustrations for me this weekend while I raced around like a mad woman. It will be fun to see them perform this. I hope our Dogs and Cat chorus pull off their parts. They tend to not ham it up as much as I would like! We will also have a caramel apple feast and watch Goonies in the afternoon for our party. After school will be a trunk or treat in the school parking lot and a carnival at the college. So, kids here should have a Happy Halloween. I need to get off to bed so I can handle those live wires tomorrow.

It is cold here and feels like it could snow. The wind is really blowing and the clouds are heavy. I hope it holds off until after tomorrow. I am dressing in a witch costume tomorrow for school. I know some of the children will be in costume as well. Many do not have costumes, I am told it is not a big deal here. They trick or treat as they are.

It was hard to return this time. I found it felt really good to be back at CSM and I am looking forward to teaching next semester. I miss home! I miss my family and friends. Keep me in your prayers as I go forward. I know that what I am doing here is worthwhile, I know it is where I am supposed to be, yet I am tiring. I am praying they will hire a teacher. We need to do a transition with these children before I leave in December. I would like to know my kids are settled in before I leave. They keep asking if I am going to stay. I tell them honestly that I will not. I need to return home to my life in Omaha. I worry that they will have a string of subs next semester, and lose the learning we have gained. It weighs heavily on my heart.