Dear Friend,

I pray that you are continuing to enjoy the joys of the just-passed Christmas Season and that your New Year is happy and prosperous. I am so grateful that you continue to support the many Indian children who count on us each day for a life-changing education.

You will find an article about a subject that is near to my heart, the preservation of indigenous languages, most particularly, the Crow and Cheyenne languages, using the newest technology. I have personally seen the dramatic decline in the vitality of both languages since I was a child, even in my own family. Without intervention, these two languages which hold within them a unique and valuable world view will disappear in the matter of a couple of generations.

And speaking of tech-savvy students, the students that you support at our school are using technology to put together some very interesting documentaries.

When we began our Mentoring Program a decade ago, few other schools had programs to support students after graduation from high school. At St. Labre, many of our graduates have benefited. You will read the story of one student in this e-newsletter.

St. Labre is blessed by the presence of three Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth. I am so grateful that Sister Bernadette, Sister Katherine, and Sister Jean are at St. Labre. You can read about them today.

If you have ever wanted to visit St. Labre to see with your own eyes what you help make possible, you might consider putting your name into the raffle for a chance to win a seat on our 2011 St. Labre Donor Tour. I’d love to have you visit.

In closing, thank you once again for your generous and sacrificial giving without which the future would not be so bright for nearly 700 students from the Northern Cheyenne and Crow Indian reservations.

Ahó (Thank You),

Curtis Yarlott

I met Martin on my very first day at St. Labre. Martin and his cousin Maurice were biking around St. Joseph Village on the St. Labre campus and stopped to talk to me while I was unpacking my truck after driving from Minnesota. Pretty soon they were helping me move things into my house. The first photograph I took in Montana was of Martin and Maurice in front of my house. I have been friends with Martin and his family ever since, playing basketball on the dirt-packed court in back of his house, or fishing for giant catfish on the Tongue River.

Martin’s difficulties in life have been intense. He withdrew from the University of Montana a few years ago. I made several visits to his home north of Ashland along the Tongue River, to see if I could help get him back in school. Martin was torn between staying home and helping out with his younger siblings and going back to college. He turned to me and said, “I need to get out of here before I can never get out of here. Don’t give up on me, Dave.”

The best part of the story is Martin didn’t give up either. He completed his course work in the fall of 2010 and earned a bachelor’s degree in Native American Studies. Martin concludes: Dave was able to help me start again here at MSU-Billings and he’s been there when I needed a place to stay or something to eat. He’s provided me with the big brother/instructor role that I have needed in my life.

On cold, clear winter days, eagles can often be seen soaring on the thermals as they look for prey in the snow below. Caleb’s depiction shows one doing exactly that. He aptly entitled his creation, “Soars with the Wind.”

Caleb, a seventh grader at St. Charles Mission School, says that he likes to draw a lot, especially animals. His two favorite ones are eagles and wolves. At home he enjoys playing his guitar and says he does OK but wants to get better. He likes school, especially his art classes.

A grant provided by the 4-H Children and Youth of Families at Risk program (CYFAR) has provided some exciting film projects for Jack Joyce’s science classes at Pretty Eagle Catholic Academy, one of St. Labre’s Crow Indian Reservation schools located about 85 miles west of the main campus.

Perhaps the most poignant and heartrending story filmed was that of the mystery behind the remains of Pretty Eagle, the Crow chief whose tireless efforts led to the building of the school in 1887.

In 2003, principal emeritus, Art Pitts had researched and published in the Morning Star how Pretty Eagle’s bones happened to end up in the New York City American Museum of Natural History. When the chief died in 1904, he was given a “wagon burial,” meaning his remains were wrapped and placed in a wagon. Sometime during the next fifteen to twenty years his burial site was ransacked and his remains disappeared.

When the students read the account, they were immediately interested in putting together a film documenting the entire episode from the discovery of Pretty Eagle’s skull at the museum to his final burial at Pretty Eagle Point in the Bighorn Mountains.

The film has become a success. A request recently came from Montana State University to show it to their graduate students in film making. Tony, an eighth grade student, is currently working on a robotic design that can insert a stent into a clogged artery. He has hopes of building on his science classes at Pretty Eagle to propel him into a science career. Isaiah, a sixth grader, talked about his trip to a San Francisco science competition last summer to demonstrate his sensor dipping robot that can measure the pH and heat content of fluids. Currently, he is working with two other students on how to build a safer football helmet.

For his part, Jack Joyce is enjoying the rewards of the film making class. He observes, “The kids are learning public speaking skills, how to develop a film narrative, programming computers and generally higher level critical thinking skills.”

With some of the projects going on in the class now, the sky seems the limit for these Pretty Eagle film and science students. Isaiah inferred as much when asked what he learned in San Francisco: “You can do lots of things in life if you keep working hard at it.”

If you think Nintendo is just another video game, think again. Thornton Media, Inc. has adapted the portable devices to help young Northern Cheyenne and Crow students learn, relearn or retain their Native languages.

One point is clear: today’s students are technologically savvy. If it can be done on a computer or similar device, their ability is as keen as their curiosity is to figure out the requirements of the problem.

Roanne Hill, the Crow language instructor, thinks the Nintendo units are the right fit for kids who can take them home and get their families interested as well. “Our language is being spoken less and less in the homes. Surely, this program will help,” she speculates.

Currently, both the Cheyenne and Crow languages are incorporated into the Nintendo units for students with low apprehension of their Native language. Roanne and Adeline Fox, the Cheyenne language instructor, took training at the Thornton Media workshop in Palm Springs, California, last spring. Both came away with a brand new perspective on teaching their mother tongues.

“It was very educational,” Adeline reflects. “I’m not an IT (Information Technology) person, but I learned a lot. I think this will give our Cheyenne students more attention to their language.”

Roanne agrees. “This is going to be really valuable. Using technology to help our kids retain their languages will improve the chances of success, but it does take some time to get the programs up and running. We all have a lot to learn.”

Students also commented about the Nintendo development. Kyle, a Northern Cheyenne senior, says, “The use of technology is a big step forward in learning our language.” Jamie, a junior, feels the urgency expressed by Roanne: “This is really important because our language is disappearing.”

Time and knowledge are keys to the success of the program. As the students fly through the lower levels of instruction, more complex cartridges will need to be developed to challenge them. The teachers, with the help of the St. Labre IT staff, will need to constantly input more lessons, lessons that are not available in textbooks. The language initiative, training for the teachers, and the Nintendo devices were provided through a grant from the O.P. and W.E. Edwards Foundation. Our profound thanks to the Foundation for providing the funding to initiate the St. Labre Native Language instruction.

The 2011 St. Labre Donor Tour is a mere nine months from now. If you haven’t been to the schools or experienced some of the premier attractions of the Intermountain West, then this tour is for you. In addition to the schools, you will marvel at the natural wonderland of Yellowstone National Park. You’ll delight in the Old West towns of Cody, Wyoming, and Deadwood, South Dakota. And once you’ve seen it, you will never forget the wide open spaces and the “Big Sky” Montana is famous for.

Best of all, you will visit St. Labre Indian School, talk to staff and students, and see for yourself the miracle you help to sustain here. Call Jeff Peterson or one of his associates at 1-855-204-7719 today for a complete itinerary and cost breakdown. Along with scores of others who’ve been on the tour, you will say it was truly a trip of a lifetime.

Today our campus is graced by the presence of three Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, Kansas. Among them they have over 150 years of experience in Catholic education, health care and ministry. And given their long successful careers, St. Labre is blessed to have them aboard with their sleeves rolled up and work on their minds.

Sister Katherine Franchett, SCL, has a long history with St. Labre. And a longer one as an educator. She began her first teaching assignment in 1959. Before long, she became superintendent of the Diocese of Great Falls/Billings Catholic Schools, and the same for the Diocese of Helena in the western third of the state.

It was during the thirteen years she served in these roles that her interest in Native American culture and educational challenges increased. She recognized the strong spiritual tradition of Native Americans and wanted to be certain that was incorporated into the Catholic culture of the schools. Before long the Bishop asked her to serve on the St. Labre Board of Directors, which she did for six years, three as chairperson. In l999, she was called to service for her Congregation and lived in Leavenworth until her return to Montana last July. Her title is data analyst, a modern translation of the age old job of analyzing the curriculum and practices of the schools and helping staff committees set goals.

Sister Bernadette Helfert, SCL, has been at St. Labre since 2003. When she arrived on campus as the first Director of Mission and Ministry, it had been thirteen years since the last nun had left to go into retirement. Like Sister Katherine, Sister Bernadette was no stranger to St. Labre. Beginning in l997, she was assigned the position of mission integration of three Montana hospitals under the auspices of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth. It was during this time, she became acquainted with Curtis Yarlott and soon she was not only on the St. Labre Board of Directors, she was serving as chairperson. This responsibility continued from l997-2003.

As Director of Mission and Ministry, Sister Bernadette’s primary role is, in her words, “to give intentional focus to the mission and values of the school. The tendency to lose sight of that core concern in institutions run primarily by lay people must be addressed in a positive and dynamic manner. And no less important is making certain that Native culture is not only respected within the Church structure but also incorporated.”

Sister Jean Lind, SCL, is the third sister in this group, having arrived at St. Labre in 2007. Unlike Sisters Katherine and Bernadette, her career has primarily been in nursing and hospital ministry. She began formation in 1952 and worked as a nurse in the Sisters’ hospitals for the next 23 years. She also worked for eight years in the Mother House as coordinator for those who lived there. Her work at St. Labre is among the elderly. She visits them in Lame Deer and in Miles City at Holy Rosary Health Care Center.

While their presence on the campus is most definitely a stabilizing and positive influence, they wonder what future developments will bring to the school. At the close of the interview, all three expressed their gratitude to the benefactors who make the schools possible. Sister Jean said it best: “We have so many gifts here. We must continue to be accountable for all the wonderful blessings we receive.” The staff and students at St. Labre feel blessed to have these dedicated, experienced Sisters of Charity to guide our work and light our path.

reflects his love for the season. He might as well love it because his home up Muddy Creek in the foothills of the Wolf Mountains gets plenty of winter every year. No wonder he stays in the St. Labre dormitory during the week. If he didn’t, there would be days when he simply couldn’t make it to school. Track, football and cheerleading are some of Jesse’s extra-curricular activities, and he still finds time twice a week to serve as an English tutor in the elementary school and in the dormitory during the evenings. His favorite academic subject is American History. However, he has a penchant and, apparently, a gift for poetry. One of his creations was recently published in a journal with honors.

His plans for the future include a stint in the Air Force as a para–rescue soldier. After that he wants to go to college, or, if things work out, he might try for an Air Force Academy appointment and combine his college and career aspirations into one bundle. For now Jesse is content to ponder his future, and enjoy the Montana winter.

From time to time, opportunities arise for St. Labre donors to double their donations through various matching gift possibilities. Back in the fall, for example, a couple from New Jersey said they would donate $50,000 toward the expense of the new dormitory, but they wanted to put it out as a matching challenge so others could give an amount with which they were comfortable to turn the $50,000 into $100,000. That’s just one way of presenting a matching gift option.

The most common means of obtaining matching gifts, however, is through America’s businesses. Over the years we have had a number of our donors send gifts and let us know a matching amount would be coming from their employer. By most estimates, there are hundreds of companies that have matching gift programs for their employees. In fact, at least half of the Fortune 500 companies have employee matching programs. Some match dollar for dollar and some even give two and, in a few cases, three dollars for every dollar donated.

Additionally, many companies will match gifts for their retirees, which is a great benefit to most charities whose primary respondents are nearing retirement age or have already retired. According to our information, matching gift programs are sometimes not advertised among employees on a regular basis. And the information can also be lost in the fine print of the employee handbook.

But it’s not hard to discover if your employer or former employer participates in a matching program. In larger organizations, contact your human resources division. In smaller firms ask the supervisor or the owner. People are often surprised to find a matching program is in place.

To make the matching gift through your employer, simply ask for the guidelines and procedures and then follow those closely. You might be asked if the charity you want to donate to is a bona fide 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization. St. Labre holds this designation and has for decades. Our federal tax ID number is 81-0244542. This information can be found in The Official Catholic Directory, 2010 edition.

You may be wondering if it’s worth the trouble? The answer is a definite yes! According to statistics about one of every ten donors is matching gift eligible.

Finally, you may be a donor who wants to make a significant gift to St. Labre for a special purpose such as the new dormitory, scholarships or equipment. Why not consider a matching challenge to St. Labre donors or, on a more personal level, to your family or colleagues? We can provide you with brochures or packets to assist you with your presentation. Depending on the circumstances, someone would be happy to assist you on-site to make a presentation to a group. The money, in most cases, is already on the table, so let us work together to double it. We look forward to hearing from you.

Call the St. Labre Planned Giving Department toll-free at 1-866-652-0959 to discuss your ideas about matching gifts.