Monday was the start of our health promotion at Little Wound. The school nurse has been the students’ contact, and she put them in touch with the health teacher. We were invited to provide education on Monday to her 1st, 3rd, and 6th periods, with a trip to the extended school classroom somewhere in between. The rest of the week, except for a scheduled period at the extended school classroom, was completely up in the air. After getting our bearings at the school, we found the health class in a trailer just behind the school nurse’s office trailer.
The health teacher, Mrs. U. B., was an absolute and unexpected pleasure. After some quick introductions and a discussion on the topic for the day—STI’s/pregnancy prevention/safe sex—we had permission to do the teaching as planned. The teaching for the day involved an activity around a banana and a condom so we wanted to remain sensitive to any cultural considerations, especially after Mrs. U. B. described herself as being traditional.
Fear/anxiety related to the unknown is a completely reasonable feeling, and most of the students were in this place prior to teaching. There were many questions from them about teaching—how many students? What about the rest of the week (since we only had a plan for Monday)? Etc. While I try to get the point across prior to the trip that a tight plan (and sometimes any plan) for the week prior to arriving is nearly impossible to make, this is a hard pill to swallow for those that are used to planning out their days/hours/minutes months in advance. This is one of the things that I have learned to love about our time at Pine Ridge though. It is freeing to live in the moment—living in the moment brings new opportunities, and with new opportunities come new challenges that allow us to grow as nurse, people, and visitors to this great place.
After completing the education for first period, we were invited to stay for 2nd period and again for 5th period with a request to return on Tuesday to provide the same education for her 6th and 7th period classes. This was a huge compliment to the students and their teaching! By the second teaching session the students had begun to shed their nervousness and get in their groove. Many of the health class students were extremely shy with this quite sensitive topic, but even with this, the students remained focused and had a more interactive audience in most periods than anticipated. The shyness was demonstrated in a lack of eye contact that the students were not used to—this isn’t out of the ordinary here though. By the 3rd period, the students had found their favorite health class and had a great group of energetic, curious 14-year olds.
After a lunch at the taco stand across the street from the school (Indian tacos—yum!), we returned to teach at the extended school. We have visited this class every year since 2016, and frankly, this is my favorite. Since last year, the class has moved into a modular home about a block or so further than the original class building. The new building is awesome—computer lab, full kitchen, and lounge area. It was great to see some familiar faces—AJ, Ted, and Melvin were all there, as well as some of the same students. Two of the girls said, “Oh, the nurses are back!”. They had both been certified as CNA’s since last year and were considering nursing as a future option. This is great, and I was happy that they remembered us. Teaching was great—very interactive and lots of good questions! We always feel welcome at the extended school, and the kids are awesome. They are fun to teach and interact with.
The students at this point, after teaching their session 5 times were pretty tired (as was I!). Some commented that they did not realize that teaching could be so tiring. There were also comments about the differences in interaction for some of the classes and how challenging this was. They definitely realized that even if you are teaching the same material, one size fits all cannot be the approach—you must adjust your teaching style to fit the needs of your audience. They did impressive work today—their sensitivity to culture, as well as the nature of the topic, was outstanding.
Our plan for the week is slowly unfolding. We will be back at the extended school classroom tomorrow for a new topic, and Mrs. U. B. has requested that we return to her classroom for 6th and 7th periods to complete the STI education for her remaining two classes that we could not fit in today. Also, her classroom will be the prom dress “hub” on Thursday—more to come on that!
We attempted to visit the Historical Center at OLC, but unfortunately, they are putting in new flooring, and it was closed-Bummer! After a brief stop at the motel, we went to see Rosie at Singing Horse. It had again become misty and really foggy. I knew that Rosie had closed last week because of the condition of her driveway so I knew that it would likely not be in great shape still. Understatement—the driveway was extremely muddy and even after having someone grade it, it had some fairly big ruts. I am always up for a challenge so the F150 was put to the test. I know the best approach is to get some speed up and don’t stop if you start to slide or spin your wheels. We made it through without any problem, and was again thankful that we did not travel in a mini-van! While the students shopped in the store, I got to visit with Rosie. Always one of the best parts of the trip!
Nursing Students at Pine Ridge 