First day of school

This morning is our first day of school at De La Salle Blackfeet School.  We arrived around 7:30am and very shortly after many students began trickling in.  The school has breakfast foods available for the students and many of the students ate.  Every single student here is a Blackfeet Indian and the poverty is palpable.  Bro. Ray took us for a quick ride around Browning yesterday and the houses are in very rough shape.  They are essentially trailer homes and they are all clustered together.  There are tons of dogs that roam the streets as everyone wants a dog but few want them in the house!  Bro. Ray said there were a lot more in the past but they now have an annual clinic to spay or neuter the dogs.

Downtown Browning

Most of the surrounding area is very desolate but Browning is a little built up (I stress little!).  The town sprung up about 100 years ago because this is where the Indian agent lived and set up shop and so the Blackfeet would have to come here every month to get their food allotment from the government.  One of the unfortunate realities is that alcohol and drugs are prevalent, so much so that the final line of the school's daily prayer is something like "Keep me safe from alcohol and drugs."

Little Flower Parish (the school is to the right of the church)

Each school day begins with an assembly in the gym.  On Mondays they set chairs up in the gym in the shape of a rosary bead and the entire school prays the Divine Mercy Chaplet.  When the pastor of Little Flower Parish arrived here over 30 years ago he was saying more funerals than anything else, especially for young people who would commit suicide.  So the parish started praying the Divine Mercy chaplet and they didn't have a funeral for four months.  Thus this prayer is very much a part of the fabric of the school/parish.


Each student takes a turn saying the prayer of the chaplet and they pass a candle to the next student who says the next part of the prayer until it makes it all the way around.

Before they prayed the chaplet, four boys led everyone in a brief prayer, the pledge of allegiance, and the playing of a traditional Indian song.  Like all Lasallian schools, their prayer begins with "Let us remember that we are in the holy presence of God" and concludes with "Saint John Baptist de la Salle - - - pray for us...Live Jesus in our hearts - - - forever."  We have incorporated this into our daily prayers at Trinity High School as well and it was so comforting to have that commonality 2,500 miles away from home.

As I write this all of the students are in class and our students are sitting in on each class (2 Trinity students per class except for 8th grade which has 1 of our students).  Their jobs are to observe and to help the kids if need be.  I think today will be more of a observation day for our students to get a feel for the school.  Ms. Foley is working with the theology teacher on music and I will be roaming and blogging.  One day this week I will go on a field trip with some classes to the Boone and Crockett Club (founded by one of my favorite presidents, Teddy Roosevelt!).  I am very excited to take part in that.

Here we go...lots more to come.

photo credits: Wikipedia