Home, Sweet Home: Crazy Horse School

I've been busy and lacking internet connectivity for a little while, so I have a lot to put up here. I'll start with what's most important. Luke and I got to see Wanblee and Crazy Horse High School on Thursday. The school is on top of a hill in Wanblee, where the only real place of business is a gas station/grocery/pizza/fried chicken place. If you didn't realize (I just did), you can click through pictures to see a larger version, which looks a lot better.

Crazy Horse School:


This is another sign for the school, across the street from the one above (off to the right of that picture). It says "Crazy Horse School, Alcohol and Drug Free Workplace." (Actually, Pine Ridge is a completely dry reservation, where it is illegal to sell or possess alcohol.) Behind the sign is probably teacher housing.


The playground at Crazy Horse School. The High School and the Elementary School are in the same building, with the Elementary School in the basement, down a long tunnel. The Middle School is across the street.


The Crazy Horse Chiefs. The image painted on the building is the same design used on the Crazy Horse Memorial, which is under construction near Mt. Rushmore. You can read some info on Crazy Horse from Wikipedia here.


A view of the school from a bit further back.


In front of the main entrance is a war memorial, which includes names organized under various wars. I'm not sure if these are Crazy Horse alums, or just residents of Wanblee who served or died in these wars. Native Americans, as I think I might have mentioned, are the most overrepresented minority in the military, whether it is due to unequal recruiting or a warrior culture.


They have a very nice gym inside. The big sport on the reservation is basketball, and Luke is going to be the school's head coach next year. Last year there were no high school runners, but they assure me that with good recruiting I can get some people out. I'm planning to have Luke hold a fall basketball meeting, and then require his players to train by running cross country. The school also has an indoor pool, which is also pretty nice, and will be good for training in the winter. This is the first school I've ever been at with a pool!


Coach MacLean at the site of his many future victories.


This wall will soon need updating.


Here is a view of the Wanblee water tower above the school.


This is a view of the lanscape behind Crazy Horse Middle School (the building in the right of the photo). Just to the left of the school you can see a stone formation in the distance. This is Long Butte; its supposed to be a good place for hiking.


There are some nice views of the landscape from the school.


There is a whole neighborhood of teacher housing next to the school. This is a view of one of the streets.


This green is near the center of the housing.


This is the house where Luke and I will probably live. Two of the departing TFA teachers, known as "the guys," lived here for the past two years. It's on the very edge of the housing neighborhood. The houses I've seen are pretty nice on the inside. Our only question is who will get the one garage during the winter.


The edge of our lot. We've got a pretty good view, being the last house.


The back yard of our house is very overgrown. We plan on parking a grill somewhere around here.


A view from the back yard.



This one is not our backyard, but the yard at Liz's apartment, where we stayed. Looks pretty nice right as the sun is starting to go down.