St. Joseph school pledges $250,000

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CHAMBERLAIN — The board of directors for the Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart in South Dakota have pledged to donate $250,000 to a proposed Chamberlain events and fine arts center if voters in that city approve bonds to build the project.

The board oversees St. Joseph Indian School, which has students through eighth grade in Chamberlain. Currently, 42 St. Joseph’s students attend Chamberlain High School.

“This is our high school and we are very much a part of the community,” St. Joseph’s director, the Rev. Stephen Huffstetter, said in a news release. “We see this as an investment in our students and the community in which we live.”

The latest St. Joseph strategic plan, Vision 2015, seeks to establish a more solid partnership with the local school district to advance the educational and personal development of St. Joseph’s students.

“I was pleased at how quickly and readily our board of directors embraced the idea,” said Huffstetter. “This project will directly benefit St. Joseph’s students as well as the children of many of our staff. The idea of a walking track and wellness center open to the wider community is also very attractive.”

Residents of the Chamberlain School District will vote Nov. 6 on a $5.28 million bond, which would help fund the addition of a multi-purpose events center onto Chamberlain High School. The proposed center would cost $13.18 million for 53,000 square feet, including an auditorium, a gymnasium, walking track, weight room and full handicap accessibility.

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