Novak Delivers Bikes

For more than 30 years, Novak Sanitary Services has helped make Christmas brighter for children at our Sioux Falls campus by donating new bikes. This year, their generosity went even further with the addition of adult bikes, allowing our staff to ride alongside the kids and share in the joy!

A Sweet Tradition

Baking and decorating cookies is a timeless holiday tradition. And what is one of the best holiday cookies to decorate—gingerbread!

For more than 16 years, our BHCH kids have gotten to decorate their own gingerbread house thanks to one special lady, Suzanne Crandall. This year Suzanne baked and assembled 40 houses and provided the cake boards as well.

Our wonderful dining hall crew provided loads of frosting for the kids to use.

“The kids went bananas!” exclaimed Abby Sharp, Events and Volunteer Specialist. “Some kids had a theme for their house, while others crammed as much candy as possible of their houses and cake boards.”

Abby shared that the children were allowed to choose three pieces to eat at the end of decorating.

“I saw a few kiddos sneak some candy while decorating, but they all took the decorating very seriously!”

Once everyone was done with their houses, children shopped at the Christmas Giving Store. Much like Georgetown, each child is paired with an adult and strolls through the store to choose three thoughtful gifts for the people they appreciate most. Parents, siblings, CHS staff, Big Buddies—whoever means the world to them, they get to shop for.

The Incredible Reindeer

An asteroid was hurtling towards the North Pole and Christmas hung in the balance!

That was the dramatic plot of last week’s BHCH Christmas program, which kept audiences on the edge of their seats as a superhero reindeer raced against time to save the North Pole before the asteroid collided with Earth.

This year’s program, “The Incredible Reindeer,” is a musical designed for young voices. Music Therapist Rachel Bonn explained that she chose this musical specifically for its engaging story and lively songs. Another key factor was the flexibility of the script, which could be adapted to fit the format of having all of the students perform together.

“I like to choose stories and songs that I think the children will enjoy,” said Rachel. “I also liked how this script could be adjusted to fit our format, which has all 50 students performing as one large group.”

Students from both Owen and Lincoln schools participated in the concert. Rachel said coordinating rehearsals across two campuses required extra planning.

“Traveling between two campuses was a challenge,” she said. “I did my best to mirror Owen School rehearsals with Lincoln and it seemed to work out fairly well.”

Students began learning some of the songs in late August. As time went on, scripts and short speaking parts were introduced. Rachel said students could choose to be a North Pole reindeer, an incredible reindeer or an elf.

“We had one student dressed as Rudolph,” Rachel explained. “North Pole reindeer had antlers and painted brown noses, while the incredible reindeer had special antlers and a superhero logo to help them stand out. Students could also wear elf hats and have rosy cheeks. The kids definitely showed excitement about being in character.”

Rachel shared that the students really enjoyed using their imagination as they went on their mission to save Christmas.

“One of my favorite moments was when the students pretended to faint after hearing the news about the asteroid headed toward the North Pole,” said Rachel. “We shared a lot of laughs during rehearsal. The older students also had a great time practicing their kazoo part!”

Beyond the fun moments, Rachel said the Christmas program gave students opportunities to be creative and grow.

“I think it’s so important for the students to have opportunities to be imaginative and express themselves creatively,” she said. “I’m just so proud of all of them! They worked hard, had fun and it showed in their performance.”

After the program, the children were treated to a surprise visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus. Everyone was excited to tell Santa their Christmas wish and get a picture with him—including some of our Board Members.

Cookie Decorating at BHCH

The Newell Church Youth Group visited our Rockerville campus last weekend to spend time with BHCH kids and get them into the Christmas spirit. Together, they decorated cookies and made beautiful ornaments.

“The kids had so much fun and loaded those cookies with as much frosting and sprinkles as possible,” said Abby Sharp, events and volunteer specialist.

Santa’s Coming to Town

Santa visited the BHCH campus last weekend, except he left his sleigh and reindeer at home. This year, he rode a fire engine from the Rockerville Fire Department, escorted by the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office.

Santa joined firefighters and police officers to hand out slippers, stuffed dinosaurs, water games and Rubik’s cubes to all the children. They also brought treats for the BHCH residential staff.

After the gifts were distributed, kids explored the fire truck and police cars before heading inside to decorate frosty snowflakes. It was a magical weekend for everyone

The Elf Games

Since our elves are at Shelter and not the North Pole, they couldn’t join the annual Reindeer Games. But that didn’t stop them from having fun! They created their own holiday mischief with a game of Elf Kurplunk.

Dakota News Now at the Gift Wrap Booth

Dakota News Now stopped by the Gift Wrap Booth at the Sioux Empire Mall last week. They prerecorded interviews with Database and Research Coordinator Staci Kroupenske, Assistant Director of Development and Events Ashley Neeley, and Assistant Program Director Darlene Hilmer. They also did a live interview with Director of Development Andrew Hewitt.

Bring your unwrapped gifts to the booth and let one of our volunteer Christmas elves wrap them for you. The Gift Wrap Booth is open now through December 24.

Decking the Halls

Deck the halls—or in our case, the Shelter—with festive Christmas décor! Our friends at First Premier Bank put on their Santa hats and transformed Shelter for Family Safety into a holiday wonderland for clients to enjoy! They set up a sparkling Christmas tree in the dining room and decorated the front desk, HUB desk and other common areas, making the space look like something out of a Christmas catalog.

Once the decorating was complete, they organized a stocking activity. Clients decorated stockings and filled them with small stocking stuffer gifts. All that holiday fun worked up an appetite, so clients and staff enjoyed Honey Baked Ham lunch boxes.

After lunch, our First Premier friends packed up their sleigh and headed to the Sioux Falls campus, where they turned the dining hall into a winter wonderland.

Guess Who's Back?

Our favorite little elves have returned and are already causing all sorts of holiday shenanigans at Shelter! Evelyn and Elvis made their grand appearance last week, riding in on the “Shoe Shoe Train.” Even Barbie and Ken hopped aboard and joined them on their wild adventure. We can’t wait to see what mischief they stir up next!

Christmas at the Movies

Loving School kicked off the holiday season with a flurry of excitement—and plenty of festive sweaters—at this year’s Christmas concert. Music Therapist Kiah Gehl led the production, “Christmas at the Movies,” bringing together all of our classes for a show featuring songs from beloved holiday films.

“The theme kind of just came to me out of nowhere. It popped into my head, and I just ran with it,” Kiah explained.

She searched for classic Christmas movies and paired each age group with a song she knew they’d love to perform. Students sang numbers from “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Frosty the Snowman,” “Home Alone,” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

“Across the board, I think each age group was excited about their special movie song,” said Kiah.

Wanting students to feel comfortable and confident onstage, Kiah opted for a cozy dress code. Fancy holiday outfits can feel restrictive, especially during performances, so Christmas sweaters felt like the perfect mix of comfort and fun.

“First of all, who doesn't love a Christmas sweater!?” she laughed. “I liked the idea of keeping the program really casual and comfortable. It seemed like a natural solution to that conundrum. And they can wear the sweater again in the future.”

Students began rehearsing on Halloween, which sparked some playful complaints at first. But once Kiah shared the theme, and each class’s song, and their enthusiasm took over. “They were all excited for it!”

As rehearsals continued, each grade level took ownership of their piece. “It was really cool to see them take pride in having something that was their own.”

That pride shone brightly last Wednesday morning. When the audience rose for a standing ovation, Kiah didn’t look toward the crowd—she looked at her students. “I saw beaming smiles and a new light in a lot of the kids’ eyes. Seeing them be proud of themselves was my absolute favorite part. It brought tears to my eyes.”

For Kiah, the concert was about more than music and holiday cheer—it was about helping students build courage. Many shared that they felt nervous, and she encouraged them to find someone in the audience they could look to for reassurance. “That seemed to really ease a lot of their nerves.” Many children used the strategy, spotting a familiar face and offering a shy wave from the risers.

But the morning held one more magical moment—one worthy of the big screen. When the doors opened and Santa himself stepped inside, the room erupted in a scene straight out of “Elf,” with children shouting, “Santa!”

One little girl from the crowd was so overjoyed she sprinted toward him the moment she saw him. Students lined up to share their Christmas wishes, each getting a chance to talk with St. Nick and take a photo to capture the moment.

What began as “Christmas at the Movies” ended like a scene from a classic holiday film—complete with the wonder only Santa can bring. See more pictures below!

Georgetown Mall

The Sioux Falls campus is officially in the holly-jolly spirit. If last week’s Christmas concert didn’t put our kiddos in a festive mood, last Friday certainly did.

The morning began with cozy blankets, soft pillows, and a holiday movie favorite, “Klaus.”

In the afternoon, groups of kiddos made their way to the Georgetown Mall, a magical “mall” created right inside the admin building.

The Georgetown Mall gives kids a chance to experience what the holiday season is truly about: opening our hearts and showing kindness to others.

Each child is paired with an adult and strolls through the mall to choose three thoughtful gifts for the people they appreciate most. Parents, siblings, CHS staff, Big Buddies—whoever means the world to them, they get to shop for.

Before leaving the mall, every kiddo gets to pick out a sweet sugar cookie treat to enjoy—a perfect ending to a festive day.

The Grinch is known for stealing Christmas…so we shouldn’t have been surprised when he showed up at Georgetown! Luckily, these quick-thinking kiddos managed to snatch their gifts back before he caused too much mischief! Everyone else—be on the lookout! The Grinch is getting an early start this year.

Kieffer Bikes

We are so grateful for our friends at Kieffer Sanitation! Last week, they dropped off 34 bikes for our BHCH kiddos. This Santa gift is saved for each child and given to them when they discharge from CHS and continue on their healing journey. Our friends at Kieffer have been donating bikes since 2008—that’s more than 17 years.