AMBASSADOR

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BISHOP KELLEY HIGH SCHOOL’S PERIODICAL

Winter 2016-2017 • VOLUME 10 • ISSUE 1

BishopKelley.org LIVE, JESUS, IN OUR HEARTS FOREVER!

Technology CurveChromebooks in

the hands of every BK student for 2017-18

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The Ambassador Magazine is published by the Bishop Kelley Advancement Office

Rev. Brian O’Brien President

Doug ThomasDirector of Advancement

Lauren HillenbergDirector of Communications

Katherine DevonshireDirector of Alumni Relations

Margaret JonesAdvancement Services Coordinator

Robin LewisAdvancement Event Coordinator

Special thanks to:Brother Richard MerkelRuss Hembrey & BK Journalism students

We welcome your submissions and suggestions. Please direct all updates to lhillenberg@bishopkelley.org.

Bishop Kelley High School3905 S. Hudson Ave., Tulsa, OK 74135

Welcome to the Winter 2016-17 edition of the Ambassador magazine. Herein you’ll find a snapshot of what’s going on at the best high school in Oklahoma. I feel strongly in my heart in saying that because it is evident from the results we’re producing.

Here are some of the highlights so far in 2016-17:

Our students continue to grow in faith

BK alumni are in the seminary and in religious communities

ACT scores are at an all-time high

BK has more National Merit Finalists than any private school in the state

BK has a 2016-17 State Champion Academic Bowl and Spirit Squad, and District Champion football team

BK continues to excel with outstanding fine arts and drama, speech and debate, yearbook, and athletic programs

Experienced and dedicated teachers help prepare our students for higher education opportunities all over the country

These things do not happen by accident. They happen because of your prayers, through committed people working to fulfill the mission of the school, and through many generous benefactors.

I am so proud to serve at Bishop Kelley and to work alongside dedicated administrators, teachers, staff, and volunteers for the betterment of our students. What a joy it is to walk these halls! As you’ll see in this magazine, our alumni, students, chaplains, and teachers are active in the community and working to change the world for the better.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support of our efforts!

In Christ,

Rev. Brian O’BrienPresident

Rev. Brian O’Brien

President’s Letter

Dear Bishop Kelley Community,

FAITH Bishop Kelley students volunteered over 39,000 hours of Christian service last year. Every class and event begins in prayer. Each day ends in prayer. Each school year,

students attend Mass more than 15 times. More than half of students participate in religious retreats such as SEARCH, KAIROS, and class retreats. Bishop Kelley students volunteer on mission trips within Oklahoma and out-of-state.

ACADEMICS Bishop Kelley has a student-teacher ratio of 11:1. Average class size is 14. BK offers 21 Honors and 17 Advanced Placement classes. The iConnect program helps students with test-taking skills, study hours, and learning strategies. 100% of the Class of 2016 took the ACT and the average score for 189 students was 24.9,

the highest in BK’s history. BK’s Academic Bowl Team is five-time State Champions and finished third in Nationals in 2015. National Merit recognized 10 semifinalists, and nine finalists in the Class of 2017. 10 National Merit commended, and three National Hispanic Scholars. Bishop Kelley has

had 49 National Merit Finalists in the past five years. Students receive more than $750,000 in annual tuition assistance, thanks to generous donors.

About one-fifth of students receive tuition assistance. Summer credit classes are increasingly popular. Options are: Oklahoma History, Social Justice

in Action, Basic Design, Ecology, Speech I, Personal Financial Literacy, Catholicism and World Religions, Computer Science, Painting I, and Life-time Fitness.

Bishop Kelley grads attend Air Force Academy, Boston College, Colorado School of Mines, Dartmouth, DePaul, University of Dallas, Fordham, Notre Dame, Purdue, Rice, Stanford, USC, St. Louis University, Saint Mary’s of Notre Dame, Seton Hall, Texas Christian, West Point, Vanderbilt, and area schools such as TU, OSU, OU, and TCC, as well as many others.

CO-CURRICULARS Bishop Kelley offers 13 OSSAA sports at the 5A level. Over 10% of students participated in the all-school Fall 2016 musical, Fiddler on the Roof

and more than 12% in Beauty and the Beast, the spring musical. Bishop Kelley’s “Crest” yearbook received top state honors in 2016 by winning the

Sweepstakes Award at the University of Oklahoma. BK yearbook staff won for best theme, best ads and best headline writing.

Jazz and Concert Choirs performed at school events and the St. John’s Hospital administration Christmas dinner and Southern Hills Country Club Christmas Dinner. They will perform at Southern Nazarene University Jazz Fest in spring 2017.

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CONTENTS

POINTS OF PRIDE

2 Fantasy Congress 101

4 Volunteers & Alumnae Support Fine Arts

7 Students Investing in BK

8 Technology Curve: Chromebooks

10 New Media Lab Tools

11 Service Dogs Trained by BK Students

12 Baseball Diamond Dedication

14 State Champions

15 Science Teacher Explores Energy Resources

16 Chaplains on Campus

18 BIK & Staff Milestones

19 Live Animals Up Close

20 In the News

22 Endowments Assist Students & Facilities

24 GO for Catholic Schools

26 Alumni News

2 B I S H O P K E L L E Y A M B A S S A D O R

Matthew Sanderlin and Mackenzie Lewis, seniors, enjoyed learning about the U.S. Congress in Christine Tyler’s Political Parties class.

Ethan Miles and Matthew Edgeller, seniors, conducted a “fantasy draft” of U.S. legislators and tracked their progress.

I t was a wild and divisive political year in 2016, but that helped BK students learn more about who represents them in the United States Congress.

AP Government teacher Christine Tyler introduced Fantasy Congress last year, an online fantasy simulation game where play-ers (citizens) draft members of the United States House and Senate, and keep track of their participation.

Tyler’s “Political Parties” class is offered to students only during election years. She’s had over 140 students take the class since 2015.

“I absolutely loved the Fantasy Congress experience,” said senior Matt Sanderlin.

“Mrs. Tyler did a great job of implementing a point system that paralleled the United States government to my fantasy football team.”

The fall 2016 draft allowed students to research “players” by looking up available information on U.S. Congress members and ranking them according to preference. Students researched Congress members at congress.org; Thomas.loc.gov; Govtrack.us; Opencongress.org; House.gov; and Senate.gov.

Teams gained points based on how many bills got sponsored, passed or were made law (80 points if signed by the President) or how many times they break

party ranks (10 points). Scandalous activ-ity by a legislator resulted in losing points.

Mrs. Tyler said her main goal in govern-ment classes, including AP Government, is to get her students interested and engaged in the political process. “If they come to me and say they cannot wait to vote when they turn 18, then I am happy. I have done my job as a teacher,” she said.

How to play Fantasy CongressTeams of four players each keep track

of their Congressional members’ points weekly.

“Choose your teammates wisely,” advises Tyler, who reminds students that there are 535 members of Congress, “so no need to fight over them!”

Selection criteria are based on senators with seniority, rookies, etc. Each team picks nine legislators and can use gender, politi-cal party, issues, age, states, etc. There are no trades and no subbing a top legislator for a rookie.

“Our team’s draft strategy was to take the senators and representatives who pro-posed the most legislation and worked on bipartisan agreements to gain extra points,” Sanderlin said.

Each team’s goal was to have the most points on the final date of the competition, which was December 19, 2016.

Senior Jacob Regan said he developed a computer program to more easily track his team’s results. The program checked whether or not a Congress member voted with, or against his/her party, for example.

“My favorite part of Fantasy Congress was incorporating my interest in Computer Science into this project,” Regan said. “I set it up as a program to automatically collect the data, so to my knowledge, the program is still running today.”

Point totals for Election 2016 boiled down to summaries of TV ads, soundbites of speeches or town hall meetings, Election Day resulted in 30 points for a congress member’s re-election and 50 points if he/she was elected with more than 60 percent of the vote.

“I learned so much about our govern-ment and the country that we live in,” said senior Madi Brook. “Through Fantasy Congress, I had the opportunity to learn about the government in a more detailed manner than I would have been able to otherwise.”

Madi said she learned more about the inner workings of the U.S. political process up close.

“As a first time voter,” she said. “I now have a better understanding of how our Congress works because I was able to take part in Fantasy Congress.”

FANTASY CONGRESS 101BK Government students pick their legislators and learn about politics with Fantasy Congress

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LEGISLATION All sponsored pieces of legislation (including amendments) receive a higher score as they move further through the legislative process.

Congress member introduces a bill — 10 points Bill is passed by one chamber of Congress — 25 points Bill travels to the other house and is referred to committee — 30 points Bill is debated on floor of House OR Senate — 40 points Bill is passed in 2nd chamber of Congress — 50 points Bill goes to Conference committee — 60 points Bill passed both House and Senate — 70 points Bill signed by President — 80 points

CO-SPONSORSHIP All co-sponsored pieces of legislation (including amend-ments) receive a higher score as they move through the legislative process. You will receive ½ of the total points earned if the co-sponsorship is known on the date of the bill’s introduction. Any co-sponsor added after that date will receive 5 points and no additional points as the legislation moves through the process.

VOTING METRICS Team receives 5 points for each vote taken by each of your members. Team loses 3 points per vote not taken by each of your players.

MAVERICK Team receives 10 points for each vote that breaks from party ranks.

SCANDALS Team loses 40 points for each member that becomes involved in a scandal. Mrs. Tyler reserves the right to define what is and what is not a scandal.

TV APPEARANCES Team receives 2 points for each appearance that your Congressman makes on a national news broadcast. No points will be given for radio or newspaper.

Bishop Kelley Senior Elizabeth Whelan, a National Merit Finalist, spent last summer interning in Washington, D.C., with Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin), Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

FANTASY CONGRESS RULES

W hile most teens spend their sum-mer traveling and spending time with friends, Bishop Kelley Senior

Elizabeth Whelan did something different. She spent two weeks interning with Paul Ryan, the United States Speaker of The House of Representatives, in Washington, D.C.

Whelan wrote short biographies about the donors who contributed to Ryan’s team. These biographies gave Ryan good information about his campaign donors.

When she wasn’t writing, Whelan sorted and read mail where she learned more about the problems people have with the government, especially how veterans are treated.

“I was with Speaker Ryan’s financial team and worked a 9-to-5 job in a cubicle with two other interns,” said Whelan, who also summa-rized returned donor mail that usually consisted of complaints toward the Speaker and the Republican Party.

“I saw everything from vulgar words and drawings to five-paged, formatted papers. This job of organizing the mail gave me perspective on what different constituents want from their government.”

Whelan is a National Merit Finalist at BK. She also took some time this summer to tour east coast colleges including Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Georgetown, and Villanova.

Whelan’s favorite part of her summer was being able to experience the 2016 presidential election first hand. “I had an exciting and edu-cational experience that taught me about the inner workings of political parties,” she said.

BK student gets inside political perspective from Speaker of the U.S. House Internship

4 B I S H O P K E L L E Y A M B A S S A D O R

Volunteer brings professionalism and talent to musicals, dance

Pam St. Clair volunteers for musical choreography. RIGHT: Kelsey Griffin (left) and Miriam Hanisch are among the students who have learned from Pam’s expertise in dance.

S urgery on both knees last year may have slowed her down, but Pam St. Clair is back doing what she loves — teaching students

how to dance for the upcoming 2017 spring musical at Bishop Kelley.

Pam (mother of Spanish teacher Maggie Gabel) teaches ballet and dance to elemen-tary school students during the day. When asked eight years ago to coach and teach high school kids in a high school musical, she jumped at the chance.

“It’s an entirely different and rewarding experience than working with second and third graders,” said Pam, whose day job is teaching in the Tulsa Public School Leaps Program. It’s a partner outreach program with Tulsa Ballet and TPS to introduce kids in high-risk, low income schools to ballet.

She’s able to volunteer at BK because it doesn’t conflict with her work schedule.

Pam got started in 2008 when Megan Schaunaman Neely ‘01 choreographed Oklahoma and asked her to help with a dream scene. That was Choir Director Amy Junger’s first year, too. Pam got her feet wet. Since then, she’s choreographed high school musicals and become an integral part of the creative team.

Working with Mrs. Junger and Drama Teacher Dana Hoagland “has been a wonder-ful experience and they deserve the credit for the increasing interest and quality of the musicals each year,” Pam said. ”What they do is amazing and the time they put in is about the same as being an athletic coach. I am amazed at what they do.”

“Pam works extremely well with the stu-dents and is able to bring out the best in their movement,” Mrs. Junger said. “She is abso-lutely brilliant in her choreography and our shows would not be as outstanding as they are without her talents. She creates beauti-ful dance and movements for each show and spends over 100 hours per show rehearsing with the students.”

Pam has seen a greater interest and a better production of BK musicals since she began volunteering. She’d like to see more

public recognition of BK drama students, who only keep improving.

Competition makes people better. “Years ago we used to take anybody in the play,” Pam said. “But over the years, I’ve seen kids come back and try out again. They are a lit-tle bit more confident and they make it.” Not many boys participated years ago, “but now we have a huge crop of boys who are willing to get up there to dance. A couple of boys have been dancing with me for three years and it’s fun to see their progression.”

“Today, it has become the norm for male students to participate in musicals, whether on stage or behind the scenes.”

Shows can include as many as 110 cast and crew members.

“I think a lot of people don’t realize all the opportunities out there, but students can get involved in the theater as well as chorus, drama and choir,” Pam said. “Students who participate in a play or musical will have so many great memories.”

After left ACL surgery in March and right knee surgery in October, she admitted being

“stir crazy” for a while. Today, Pam and her students are glad she’s back in good form, teaching, volunteering and being an invalu-able part of the BK fine arts program.

“Pam works extremely well with the students

… [she] spends over 100 hours per show

rehearsing with the students.”

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Mindy (Robertson) Barker ‘06 and her husband Joshua Barker operate Encore Theater, Tulsa.

F or many students, their involve-ment with the theater happily extends beyond their final cur-tain call at Bishop Kelley.

Today, BK alumni and teachers can stay active in drama by practicing and performing at a Tulsa theater run by Mindy (Robertson) Barker ‘06.

Mindy and her husband, Joshua, run Encore Theater, which produces shows that touch the hearts of the entire Tulsa com-munity. Mindy and Joshua grew up doing theater, met at a community theatre, and were married there. The couple shares a pas-sion for the arts.

Her enthusiasm for learning carried over upon graduation when Mindy performed in many TV shows, including Jersey Boys, Pretty Little Liars, and Scandal. In less than a decade, she’s already directed over 50 productions and acted in 60 plays.

Mindy attributes her inspiration and love of acting to BK Speech teacher Erin Clark, who was BK theater director from 2004-08. Mrs. Clark asked Mindy to play the piano in The Fantastics, the first musical in 13 years at BK in 2004.

“Mindy was in my speech class and she said she could play the piano. She auditioned and played phenomenally,” Mrs. Clark said. “She kept saying ‘Yes’, when I asked her to try something and get involved… I think she kept finding her gifts and tried some-thing even if it was difficult. She also doesn’t take ‘No’ for an answer which makes her so successful.”

Last winter, Mindy graciously offered BK students and teachers free tickets to A Charlie Brown Christmas production at her theater. She taps cast members from the BK family.

Mindy has donated summer acting les-sons for the BK Auction. Junior Erin Kane also

works at the theater.“We started directing for other compa-

nies at first, but we wanted to produce our own shows,” Mindy said. “Running a theatre company together has brought us so much joy, and we love watching actors of all ages learn and grow through the arts.”

BK science teacher Katie Thomas starred as Lucy in A Charlie Brown Christmas, her fourth show at Encore Theater. Her favorite role was Glinda the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz.

“What I enjoy most about performing there is how much I grow in confidence after each rehearsal and performance,” Mrs. Thomas said. “I took a huge leap of faith two and a half years ago when I first auditioned. I had never stepped foot on a stage and didn’t even know what callbacks were. I’m so glad I took that leap because I discovered a love for theater that I never world have found if I didn’t get out of my comfort zone. It’s made me a better teacher and coach,”

Encore Theater also offers learning oppor-tunities to budding actors of all ages through acting classes and scholarships to underpriv-ileged children who cannot afford the cost. Through the classes, young actors learn skills that help them in performing.

Encore Theater offers professional classes, “so our students not only learn the joy of the-atre, but they learn valuable skills and proper technique,” Mindy said. “This way, they’re prepared to pursue theatre professionally, if they so desire.”

With every show at Encore, actors learn new skills to help them to grow as perform-ers. By running a local theatre in Tulsa, Mindy Barker and her family plan to inspire younger generations to chase their dreams as per-formers with every show that they host.

BK GRAD RUNS LOCAL THEATER AND

TEACHES ACTING SKILLS TO ALUMNI

AND TEACHERS

Mindy (Robertson) Barker ‘06 (shown left) with Erin Kane

6 B I S H O P K E L L E Y A M B A S S A D O R

ACADEMIC/ATHLETIC EXCELLENCE

BK Boys Cross Country received the 2016 Distinguished Academic Achievement Award from the Oklahoma State Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA). The top seven boys achieved above a 3.75 grade point average to be eligible for the award. Pictured (left to right) is junior Manny Montanez, senior Josh Ward, junior Bridger Rives, senior Ryan Evans and junior Nich Barone. Not pictured are junior Matthew Gibson and sophomore Carson Been.

BK won a state Yearbook competition for Best Design and Best Yearbook.

The BK Mock Trial team won the Oklahoma Bar Association’s Mock Trial Competition on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

BK has won 26 Academic State Championships since joining the OSSA

2015-16 Wrestling, Girls Soccer

2014-15 Wrestling, Girls Soccer

2013-14 Girls Basketball

2012-13 Girls Basketball, Girls Golf, Girls Soccer

2011-12 Volleyball, Girls Basketball, Boys Track

2010-11 Wrestling

2008-09 Girls Basketball, Girls Track

2005-06 Volleyball

2004-05 Boys Cross Country

2002-03 Girls Basketball

2001-02 Boys Golf

1999-00 Boys Cross Country

1997-98 Boys Basketball, Girls Golf

1996-97 Girls Golf

1995-96 Girls Golf

1992-93 Volleyball, Boys Tennis

1990-91 Girls Basketball

Number of Academic State Titles Won by Sport Girls Basketball 1991, 2003, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014

Girls Golf 1996, 1997, 1998, 2013

Wrestling 2011, 2015, 2016

Girls Soccer 2013, 2015, 2016

Boys Cross Country 1999, 2004, 2005

Volleyball 1992, 2005, 2011

Boys Track 2012

Girls Track 2009

Boys Basketball 1998

Boys Tennis 1993

Boys Golf 1992

Number of Consecutive Academic State Titles Girls Basketball 3 2012, 2013, 2014

Girls Golf 3 1996, 1997, 1998

Wrestling 2 2015, 2016

Girls Soccer 2 2015, 2016

Boys Cross Country 2 2004, 2005

Bishop Kelley High School OSSAA Academic Team State Champions

Totals updated through the 2015-2016 school year

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INVESTING IN BK STUDENTS, LITERALLY

BK Investment Club originator and organizer Alex Webber came up with an idea for students to invest in

the market. BK Alum Tom Flanagan is helping a group of 15 students understand the ups and downs of investing

in publically traded companies. Pictured (left to right) Turner Snapp, Alex Webber, Ethan Miles, Nich Barone,

Cole Swords and Jaxon Schultz.

Alex Webber with BK Alum Tom Flanagan

M any alums invest in the future of Bishop Kelley stu-dents. Tom Flanagan (‘97) is investing, quite literally, in

the futures of BK students.The BK Investment Club started in the

fall of 2016 with a $5,000 grub stake from Mr. Flanagan, a former financial advisor who now works in commercial real estate.

BK senior Alex Webber came up with the idea while visiting Southern Methodist University, which he plans to attend this fall.

“The college tour guide mentioned that his friend was involved in an investment club which was Boulevard Investment Group,” Webber said. “I researched it and called the guy, who was a student at SMU. He encour-aged me to get one going in high school. I came back and told Father O’Brien about it and we had a meeting with Mr. Flanagan.”

Webber recruited several BK students to get involved, and more signed up during club enrollment.

The BK Investment Club chooses to invest in sectors of the economy such as Technology, Healthcare and Energy. Club members join one of those three branches to research promising companies in which to invest. At meetings, they make presenta-tions about the various options and debate

the pros and cons of each. The top choice gets a portion of the investment funds.

This approach teaches club members what to look for in potential investments, growth opportunities and threats to their investment. Three branches gives the club a bit of a diversified portfolio.

In the beginning, the Club has set modest goals, but they are looking at the long term.

“We want to invest wisely and pass along the money to next year’s club.” Swords said.

The club has philanthropic goals which are long term. “We’ll keep re-investing any-thing we make, and we’d eventually like to build something on campus,” Webber said. The SMU group, for example, is a student-run

diversified portfolio whose proceeds are given back to SMU students as business scholarships.

While Mr. Flanagan wants students to learn more about investing, he’s also hope-ful that they’ll use that knowledge to help them in the future.

“I would love for people younger than age 40, like me, to be able to give back to Bishop Kelley,” Flanagan said. “The school really made a difference in my life and it would be great to have more recent alumni participat-ing. Fewer than 7% of BK alumni gave back to the school last year. That number ought to be a lot higher. That is our goal and one that we can achieve.”

“We’ll keep re-investing anything

we make, and we’d eventually like to

build something on campus,” Webber said.

8 B I S H O P K E L L E Y A M B A S S A D O R

T hanks to a recent major grant from the Mary K. Chapman Foundations, all 72 faculty members at BK have Chromebooks and they are learning how to use them. The plan is to get students these computers so that digital learning can

happen seamlessly and with less reliance on paper and copying notes by hand.

The Mary K. Chapman Foundation grant provided enough resources for the school to purchase two mobile labs, one with 40 Chromebooks and the other comprised of 30 Chromebooks. Students were able to begin utilizing the technology now rather than starting in August when the school, with the success of its annual auction event, plans to have in place a Chromebook for every stu-dent to use, take home, and keep as their own when they graduate.

Proceeds from the April 22, 2017 Auction will be used to purchase an additional 850 Chromebooks, so that when added to the 70 Chromebooks already purchased for stu-dents, every student will have a Chromebook at the start of the 2017-18 school year.

Members of the BK faculty have been training on how to best utilize Chromebooks for instructional purposes.

“EdTechTeacher is providing three day-long sessions, face-to-face, with faculty members,” said BK’s Acting Principal, Judith McMasters. “We had 25 members of the faculty who spent much of their Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday on campus learning more about how to engage students in new ways of learning. In addition, they provide 12 individual modules that tutor faculty in spe-cific Google tools. Our faculty has embraced the training and is very excited about this new technology.”

Erin Clark’s Speech and Debate students are collaborating and conducting research for class projects online.

“The students are using the Google platform extensions to work on shared documents, making it easier for groups to communicate and work on homework while in different locations,” Clark said. “Before we had Chromebooks we had folders and bind-ers which may or may not stay organized and make it out of the locker and be brought to class. Now the digital platform is easily orga-nized and always makes it to class. “

Speech and Debate instructor Linda Shipley said before she started using her Chromebook, she scheduled lab/library time

Chromebooks in the hands of every

BK student for 2017-18

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for the students to use the computers, which meant extra time sharing those resources and traveling back and forth between the classroom and the Media Center.

“Having the Chromebooks in the class-room is like having a library in your lap,” she said. “My students have used Google to research their speeches and debate topics, and to outline/compose their speeches and debate cases.”

Teachers are saying student feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Teachers can provide feedback to students through Google Classroom and students can reply and ask for additional guidance.

English teacher Trevor Parks says Chromebooks will allow his class to create a classroom anywhere.

“I am excited to move away from the days of lecturing in front of the class and hand writing notes on the whiteboard,” Parks said. “With the technology upgrade, I can now share notes directly with students, uti-lize more effective teaching methods by presenting the material in a variety of ways, and engage with students outside the class-room. I also believe that the student of today is more comfortable operating a device such as the Chromebook than a traditional textbook.

Before Chromebooks, teachers like Parks had to escort students to the computer lab. Today, by sharing through the student’s com-puter, most of the assignments are turned in digitally.

Students are very comfortable in front of a computer screen and learning will be eas-ier for them, Parks said.

“I believe that using a Chromebook is imperative to prepare students for the future,” he said. “Technology is rapidly changing how people work and interact with one another. In order to be productive in the workplace, students must be able to share, receive, and create information on a digital device.”

he goal of this year’s event is to raise $300,000 to generate funds needed to purchase 850 additional Chromebooks, so every BK student will have a device to use during the

day, take home evenings and weekends, and keep when they graduate.

“The school has set lofty goals this year for the Auction,” said Beth Snapp, who is Auction co-chair with Kathy Brainerd. “It’s a tradition at BK that a percentage of the Auction proceeds go toward tuition assistance. We’re pushing hard to net $300,000 from the Auction so that every student can have a Chromebook this coming school year and we can help more families afford a Bishop Kelley education.”

Robin Lewis is in her eighth year as Special Events Coordinator in BK’s Office of Advancement. She said the Auction is an opportunity for all families to support a worthy cause.

“Whether it’s volunteering to set up, providing in-kind or cash gifts to help us raise more funds for our students, or attending the Auction and bidding on items, there are a number of ways current and past parents as well as alumni can help us be successful,” Lewis said.

The cost of attending the Auction is $80 per person. Purchase tickets online at BishopKelley.org/auction.

ONLINE AND LIVE AUCTIONSBKbay allows those not attending the Auction to support the event by bidding online. You can buy a $100 raffle ticket online to win a chance to choose any live item and you do not have to be present to win. Bidding on those items begins at 8 a.m., April 10 until 9 p.m. Sunday, April 23.

“If you don’t live in the Tulsa area and can’t attend the Auction, BKbay and the Best of the Best raffle are wonderful ways for the Kelley community to support our current and future students,” said Kathy Brainerd. “BKbay and Best of the Best provides everyone an opportunity to help make the Auction a huge success.”

Silent Auction and the Live Auction take place at the event.

“I can now share notes directly with students

and utilize more effective teaching methods by

presenting the material in a variety of ways.”

AUCTION GOAL TO HELP PURCHASE 850 ADDITIONAL CHROMEBOOKS FOR BK STUDENTS

Kelleywood — Lights, Camera, Auction 6 p.m., Saturday, April 22, 2017

10 B I S H O P K E L L E Y A M B A S S A D O R

Media students take advantage of nice weather to film outdoors on BK’s campus

T he Journalism room has moved about 20 feet, but it feels like miles. By installing a digital media center in the former

piano lab, the Journalism Department has migrated from a print-heavy operation to a multi-platform digital environment.

“It’s like we’ve been driving a reliable, dependable old pickup,” Journalism teacher Russ Hembrey said. “It’s done what we need, but it was old technology. Now, almost over-night, we’ve started driving a Tesla. We get to learn new ways of getting where we need to go.”

While still teaching the fundamentals of journalism, the product of that work shows up in many different forms through multi-media. Students see the Daily Bulletin in video form; news articles will now display on bkbreezeway.com; regular school updates will start on 94.9 St. Michael’s Radio.

“The important parts of journalism stay the same: accurate, objective reporting, told in a way that keeps the audience engaged,” Hembrey said. “But now, our audience gets those stories on phones or Chromebooks, and in video rather than print.”

The curriculum in Journalism has changed slightly with some of the software. Students now have access to modern tools of the trade.

“Hopefully some students choose to pur-sue Journalism in college, and they’ll have a head start with this new studio,” Hembrey said. “But all Journalism students will bene-fit from understanding how news works and appreciating the various platforms where they can consume news as they grow older.”

For several years, Michael Blazek has run the Digital Media Club and later the Digital Media class. This group has webcast ath-letic events (check out bktv.live for the most

recent events) throughout the school year. This year, the athletic department has added one more wrinkle to the technology of the game.

Mike and Shelley Dill generously donated a video scoreboard located on the north end of the stadium. The Digital Media students have been training to run the video mes-saging on that board. They produce plays of the week from the previous game, 30-sec-ond video commercials for BK boosters’ businesses as well as other advertising and relevant video content.

“Now we can reach a wider audience at live events held at the stadium -- think of it like the projectors and large video screens in the main gym,” Blazek said. “Our content could even interact with the live event -- we could introduce people who then walk out onto the field, for example. The uses are limitless and we are excited as a class to experiment with new venues opened up by this new technology.”

One opportunity for all students has come with the video daily bulletin. While the BK Media students write, shoot and edit the short newscast, the opportunity to be a news anchor is open to any interested student.

“It’s cool being involved in the video daily bulletin,” Senior Maddi Duke said. “It’s a good experience if you want to be involved in media in the future.”

The bulletin is produced one day a week, but the goal is to increase the frequency and therefore the opportunities for students.

Students are the beneficiaries of the new technology, both in learning and con-suming media. Generous donors who gave to the 2015-16 Believe in Kelley Annual fund have moved the Journalism program to the cutting edge of the new media landscape.

New Media Digital Lab Gives BK Students Access To Modern ToolsBY BETH KEANEY ‘17

Digital Media students learn how to read news and use video cameras and drones.

W I N T E R 2 0 1 6 - 2 0 1 7 11

BK STUDENTS PREPARE SERVICE DOGS FOR NEEDY OWNERS

Therapetics Service Dogs of Oklahoma Facebook page talks about its dogs, including Cooper, at BK: Cooper is a goofball! He has been placed as a mobility dog but will continue to live and work with his trainer until he is ready. He loves to travel and go to school at Bishop Kelley. He is well behaved and loving at school and in public. Cooper is currently learning how to throw away trash!

The Ritchie family is invested in training service dogs at BK. Gracie and Chris Ritchie are cousins who have dogs at school. BELOW: Service dog Cooper’s BK ID badge.

S enior Catie McCharen cried after her first service dog “gradu-ated” last spring. This winter, she trained her second dog, Cooper,

a yellow Lab, for nine weeks. This second dog will again become a companion for a physically challenged person.

“I cried a lot because I got close to the dog,” said Catie, who handled Freedom, a German Shepherd, from February through April. At first her parents wouldn’t let her keep a dog, but she proved that she could take care of one and train him. She con-tinues to be a volunteer with Therapetics Service Dogs of Oklahoma.

“It’s amazing to me there are people out there who put themselves second (to the animal) and do what they do,” said Ron Miller, president and acting director of the Therapetics board. “I am impressed and thankful to the BK community and its dog handlers because it’s not easy at all to train them and then have to give them up.”

McCharen and her fellow students take their dogs to the mall or on walking trails to get them used to the real world. JJ is a

younger yellow Lab handled by Gracie Ritchie. Her cousin, Chris Ritchie, introduced Justice, an 8-month-old German Shepherd to school a few months ago.

The dogs trained at BK will “graduate” from BK to help physically handicapped students get around college campuses and assist a wheelchair bound U.S. military vet with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder who also has five children.

Miller said 11 dogs are in his program and a few other schools like Owasso, Bartlesville and Collinsville have had stu-dents train dogs.

“Having a dog trained in a college or high school is great because the dog has been there and done that,” Miller said. “It’s hard to explain what a difference it makes when a service dog comes into the class-room and not everyone turns their heads to stare at you.”  

Therapetics now has just nine trainers with a client list approaching 300. “It may not be making a dent, but we are focused on putting out quality dogs at no charge to the client,” Miller said.

Therapetics Service Dogs of Oklahoma

12 B I S H O P K E L L E Y A M B A S S A D O R

BK Baseball Diamond Dedicated Thanks to Generous Donors

S chool President Rev. Brian O’Brien blessed BK’s first-ever artificial turf for baseball on January 20. Donors, alumni, parents, student-athletes

and coaches attended the field dedication where artificial turf was installed on about 32,000 square feet.

The baseball diamond project began November 15, 2016 and was completed January 2, 2017. The turf project came in slightly under budget and was 100% funded by donor gifts as tuition income to the school covers only the operational expenses of Bishop Kelley and not special projects.

Athletic Director Lance Parks and Head Baseball Coach Brian Begnel talked about how thankful they are for the turf that will eliminate many missed practices and games due to overnight rains or even rains that fall just hours prior to use of the field. The drainage system under the field will also save the school on labor and main-tenance costs. BK thanks its generous benefactors for their support and for bring-ing this project to fruition.

“The kids are more excited to play here,” Begnel said. “The field was nice when we had it, but when it rained, it soaked the field, sometimes for three days. Now, when it rains hard, the amount of time the field takes to drain is less than one hour.”

By March 2, the young Comets expect to

field a solid defensive team, especially with the expectation of truer hops on the infield, Begnel said.

The biggest challenge in 2017 will be pitching. “If we can find some kids who can get on the mound and throw, we will be good,” he said.

LEFT: Donors attend the baseball field dedication. RIGHT: Father Brian O’Brien blesses the field and equipment.

“The field was nice … but when it rained, it soaked. Now the amount of time the field

takes to drain is less than one hour.”

Head Baseball Coach Brian Begnel talks about how the team will benefit from the new turf.

W I N T E R 2 0 1 6 - 2 0 1 7 13

ATHLETIC/EXTRACURRICULAR

Bishop Kelley Drumline wins CompetitionCoach Mike Grimes led a youthful Drumline squad to win an October competition in Glenpool. The Drumline consists of 17 students who enjoy playing at pep rallies and improving their percussion skills.

2016 Football team captured the State 5A District TitleTop players Matt Smith, senior linebacker, and Ryan Patrick, senior defensive linemen, were named to the All-State East Team by the Oklahoma Coaches Association. Many of their teammates received post season honors. Head Coach J.J. Tappana was named Coach of the Year in District 5A-3.

Choir & StringsStrings ensemble and the school choir perform at All School Mass. The choir performs at school events and will perform at Southern Nazarene University Jazz Fest in the spring.

Congratulations to the Homecoming Court! Front row (from left) are Ellie LaGere, Grace Wood, Maggie Ertl and Homecoming Queen Kelley Steichen. Back row (from left) are Sebastian Estrada, KaraGrace Mirando, Dalton Hallum, Kira Ziola, Ben Sands, Josh Howard, Joe Nemec, Marcus Lyons, Macy Craig, Chris Ritchie, Kaitlin Mercer and Ethan Udrisky.

14 B I S H O P K E L L E Y A M B A S S A D O R

Academic Team ChampsThe Bishop Kelley Academic Bowl team took home the 5A state championship trophy. This marks the fourth consecutive state championshipfor the team as well as the fifth state win in the past six years. Team members are Angela Brown, Joseph Mellor, Devin Raine, Turner Snapp, and Joseph Gottes. The team heads to New Orleans in May to compete in the first leg of the national competition.

2016 5A State Champion Spirit SquadBishop Kelley Spirit Squad members include: Lexie Farmer, Carmen Williams, Hallie Harlan, Grace McCool and CeCe Streif, Jessica Gray, Josi Osentowski, Ally Stuckey, Megan Mulder, Maddie Viet, Anna Hanisch, Leah Bilbrey, Emma Sacco, Kaitlyn Mercer, Ava Moon, Julia Mulder, Eva Campbell, Lauren Bush, Meredith Ritchie, Taylor Davis, and Meg Grundy.

STATE CHAMPIONS

W I N T E R 2 0 1 6 - 2 0 1 7 15

Tiffany Stevens sports a BK shirt during a visit to the THUMS Oil

Islands in Southern California

A Bishop Kelley science teacher took advantage of a rare opportunity last summer to explore one of the largest off-

shore drilling sites in the U.S. Chemistry and biology teacher Tiffany

Stevens was one of three teachers in the U.S. to be part of the 2016 USC/Chevron Frontiers of Energy Resources Program at

THUMS Islands in Long Beach, Ca. She was accepted through the National Science Teachers Association.

The summer experience helped Stevens learn about preserving the environment and how petroleum/chemical engineering is affected by the advances in renewable energy resources.

Currently in her fourth year at BK, Stevens

encourages her students who show an inter-est in engineering “especially because the oil and natural gas industries are so prominent in the Tulsa area.”

Stevens attended high school within an hour of USC. She moved to Tulsa in 2012 where she started teaching science at BK. She coaches track and cross country and served as a mentor teacher for two years.

She has gained valuable resources for her classroom lectures about oil and natural gas and the latest techniques for drilling for oil and natural gas and other renewable ener-gies like solar and hydro-electric. She also has a solar panel car which students can study and rebuild.

“One of the main subjects in class is when stories come up in the news and students ask me questions,” Stevens said. “Many BK par-ents are involved in the oil and natural gas industry so kids want to come to class and ask questions. There is a huge market here for oil and gas and it’s not just petroleum engineering.”

She brought back samples to her class-room from the Tar Seeps in southern California, where oil oozes out of the earth. Engineers in SoCal are now working on plans for alternative drilling methods such as islands offshore drilling and building wind-mills off the coast of California and Hawaii.

“We have a lot of students interested in the fields of engineering and environmental studies so it is important that I am able to talk with them about the new ideas and cutting edge technologies being used in the field,” she said. “Our state needs more young peo-ple to go into the field of engineering and I am here to encourage that.”

BK Teacher Brings Back Summer of Her Life To Her Students For LearningChemistry and Biology teacher Tiffany Stevens was one of three teachers nationwide to attend the Chevron/USC sponsored visit to THUMS Oil Islands in southern California

“Many BK parents are involved in the oil and natural gas

industry so kids want to come to class and ask questions. There is a huge market here

for oil and gas and it’s not just petroleum

engineering.”

16 B I S H O P K E L L E Y A M B A S S A D O R

Fr. Bryan Ketterer (right) and Fr. Todd Nance

blessed the entire school at the start of the 2016-

17 academic year.

F ather Bryan Ketterer was ordained a deacon the same day that Father Todd Nance was ordained a priest. “We were deacons together for about 20 minutes,” Fr. Ketterer said of him and Fr. Todd. Today, they are together as chaplains at

Bishop Kelley High School.

Fr. Todd and Fr. Ketterer spend Wednesdays and Thursdays on campus connecting with students and talking with them about their lives. They lead Mass when Fr. O’Brien needs someone to fill in.

Fr. Todd is in his first full year as a chaplain at Bishop Kelley High School. He is also pas-tor at St. Patrick’s Church in Sand Springs and Our Lady of the Lake in Mannford. He was ordained a priest May 25, 2013. About one year later, Fr. Ketterer was ordained a priest May 31, 2014.

High school is a transitional time when students find new friends, activities and

interests. They go through changes and find their identity and purpose in life. Chaplains can make a difference by helping students discover themselves.

Fr. Ketterer said his initial time at BK a few years ago was difficult at the start because a chaplain’s role is often self-defined.

“It took me a semester to figure out what I was doing, but I worked with Fr. (Kerry) Wakulich ’94 (who is now at OSU-Stillwater) and observed him and followed him around,” Fr. Ketterer said.

The chaplains get to know students through casual encounters outside the

classroom or at lunch or on the sidelines of a sporting event, for example.

“Those little talks bear fruit, especially if they are going through a stressful time,” Fr. Ketterer said. “It’s important to establish trust and a good relationship in those moments.”

Father Todd said his biggest challenge is “finding a balance and figuring out how to accomplish the things you need to do and be present and available to students and faculty.”

Fr. Ketterer peeks into a classroom and is invited in to be quizzed by a teacher. He often knows the answers to questions because he studied math and mechanical

CHALLENGE & BLESSINGBK Chaplains Role in Mentoring Students

W I N T E R 2 0 1 6 - 2 0 1 7 17

Fr. Todd (left) and Fr. Ketterer (right) frequently visit with BK students.

Fr. Bryan Ketterer blesses the school at the start of the 2016-17 academic year.

engineering at TU from 2004-07. “Students like it when I don’t know the

answer,” he said with a smile. He once aced an AP Physics test in class before anyone else finished. He likes to check in with the robot-ics classes.

“At some point as a teen, students have to take their faith seriously and take it into their own hands,” Fr. Ketterer said. “Do they make it a point to attend Mass? Without their par-ents? If so, that’s a healthy sign.”

Fr. Ketterer is also a full-time chaplain at the University of Tulsa’s Newman Center, where some 20 percent of students are Catholic. He ministers day and night and tends to a flock of about 150 students, but has his work cut out for him trying to rope in hundreds of other Catholics on campus who do not regularly practice their faith.

Fr. Todd spent three years as associate pastor at Church of St. Mary where he also was active in the elementary and middle schools.

Coming to BK “is a big difference because these kids are at another place in their life, going through high school challenges are different,” he said.

“I have wanted to become a priest my whole life,” Fr. Todd told the student news-paper, Breezeway, last year. “I always felt drawn to that. One of the things that con-tinued to draw me to that as I got older was a desire to bring God to people and people to God in ways that they could not do them-selves. I have always found joy in service and that is what made me want to become a priest.”

18 B I S H O P K E L L E Y A M B A S S A D O R

T hanks to our loyal donors to Believe in Kelley, we just sur-passed (as of January 1, 2017) our halfway point of $250,000. 

Below is our plan to achieve the school’s highest-ever annual fund goal of $500,000 by the end of the fiscal year on June 30, 2017. 

During the final months of this school year, help celebrate milestone service dates for various long-tenured faculty and admin-istration with a contribution in their names on special dates. Of course, we welcome your gifts any time as we work on behalf of our students for those three F’s: Furniture, Frequency (new sound systems and school-wide PA) and Financial Aid.

If you would like to honor a beloved fac-ulty member and make a Believe in Kelley gift in their name, please go to www.bish-opkelley.org/give or call the Advancement Office at (918) 627-3390.

June 30, 2017 $500,000 (Goal)

June 7, 2017 In honor of Gary Oberste’s 40 years at BK

May 26, 2017 In honor of Fr. O’Brien’s 10 year anniversary as a priest

May 17, 2017 In honor of Brian Arenson’s 35 years at BK

May 1, 2017 $400,000 (Goal)

April 12, 2017 In honor of Judith McMasters’ 25 years at BK

March 22, 2017 In honor of Eric Roepke’s 25 years at BK

March 7, 2017

March 1, 2017 $300,000 (Goal)

In honor of Jerri “Wads” Berna’s 20 years at BK

January 1, 2017 $252,000 (Actual)

BK Faculty & Staff Milestones Celebrated

“Thanks to wonderful donors to our annual fund, we’re able to accomplish major projects in the summer time so that when the new school year begins in August, returning and new students benefit from the generosity of our current and alumni parents, alumni, grandparents and many others.”

— GARY OBERSTE

W I N T E R 2 0 1 6 - 2 0 1 7 19

WOLVES, SNAKES, LIZARDS AND PIGS Teacher takes Environmental Science to a whole new level

A nimals function in ways that best fit their environments. Species positively influence our envi-ronment in ways that we don’t

always understand. These hidden traits are exactly why BK science teacher Katie Thomas showcases live animals for her ecology and AP environmental science classes.

Ms. Thomas’ students learn how to see animals in a whole new way in food chains and ecosystems.

“What better way for a student to learn about those topics than to interact with an animal that relates to it!” Thomas said.

“Students light up when they see something out of the ordinary in a classroom.”

By introducing live wolves, snakes, liz-ards and pigs, she teaches students a variety of subjects that one could not fully compre-hend without seeing the animals up close.

“I love being able to open up my students’ eyes to how important each organism is in the world,” Thomas said.

The students enjoy being up close and personal with the animals.

“It was really cool interacting with ani-mals you don’t get to see up close,” Junior Hallie Cole said. “The wolf was probably the coolest because you can’t always say that

‘Hey! I pet a wolf today!’”“Allie” the wolf helps students to better

understand biodiversity and the affects that animals have on the ecosystem.

“We discussed the wolves in Yellowstone National Park and how the ecosystem was affected when wolves were removed from it,” Thomas said. “But what I most love about bringing in the wolf is that they are an extremely misread animal and the mis-representation that wolves have is cleared up for all of my students who get the oppor-tunity to interact with Allie.”

She also brings a variety of snakes and lizards in each week. Snakes and lizards

directly benefit our ecosystem and Senior Sarah Marshall said she enjoyed holding the lizard.

Finally, Ms. Thomas introduces a pig. “Pigs are at the bottom of the food chain but still have an important role,” Thomas said.

“They are also extremely smart.”Thomas incorporates the animals that

she brings in with classroom assignments, tests, and quizzes. Students must show that they grasp the lessons about the animals. They learn that every animal is special to our environment. Katie Thomas demonstrates through showing these animals to students, the passion she has for them.

LEFT: Science teacher Katie Thomas with a class lizard. RIGHT: Josie Korte with Barbie, a Salmon Crested Cockatoo.

Students interact with various live animals in Katie Thomas’ Zoology Class

20 B I S H O P K E L L E Y A M B A S S A D O R

Bishop Kelley is ranked the top private

school in Oklahoma, according to the

Tulsa World’s 2016 Best of the World

survey.

BK’s hiring of a new strength and conditioning coach, Beau Beathard, (shown left) has motivated student-athletes to work out in the new Dill Family Fieldhouse weight room. Workouts and attention to healthy habits have helped all athletic programs during the 2016-17 school year.

Reilly and Stacey Roggendorff participate in KISS YOUR MOM GOODBYE — an original Bishop

Kelley first day of school tradition. Tulsa media have covered the event

the last few years, and the “tradition” has now been adopted by several

other school districts.

Photos courtesy Diocese of Tulsa

Bishop Kelley 2016 graduate

Taylor King. Photo courtesy of the

Tulsa World

W I N T E R 2 0 1 6 - 2 0 1 7 21

BK Class of 2016 graduates now attend: Air Force Academy, Boston College, Colorado School of Mines, Dartmouth, DePaul, University of Dallas, Fordham, Notre Dame, Purdue, Rice, Stanford, USC, St. Louis University, Saint Mary’s of Notre Dame, Seton Hall, TCU, West Point,

Vanderbilt, and Oklahoma universities including TU, OSU, OU, and TCC.

2016 was a great year when the Varsity Football team won the 5A district title. The stands shown here will be the focus of the continuing Championship Drive to enhance facilities at BK.

Bishop David Konderla (left) indicates he enjoyed his first All School Mass with BK School President Rev. Brian O’Brien and Fr. Todd Nance. The Bishop has been on campus several times this school year.

Bishop Kelley Boys’ Jazz Choir performs at a recent pep rally. BK offers choir, drama and two musicals per year for students to get involved.

Bishop Kelley Robotics team includes front row: Mitchell Bunkers, Dutton Hughes, Megan Ames, Diana Griffin, Valentin Danescu; back row: Jacob Liechti, Jacob Regan, Gabe Litteer, Celeste McAtee, Erin Kirk, Rachael Landreville

22 B I S H O P K E L L E Y A M B A S S A D O R

E ndowment funds are different from Annual Funds in that the endowment fund’s principal is never spent,” said Doug Thomas,

BK’s Director of Advancement. “It’s always invested and churning out earnings that are spent for the purposes designated by the donor, whether that be for tuition assis-tance, faculty support, STEM education, or for the upkeep of a facility.”

Bishop Kelley’s core endowment of $6.8M is the school’s largest, single fund and 100% of the earnings from that fund are used annually to provide tuition assis-tance. For example, during a students’ four years at Bishop Kelley, the earnings from this endowment will exceed $1M.

There is $200,000 in the Dr. Mark A. Hayes Faculty Development Fund which supports continuing education and pro-fessional development for BK faculty. Just over a year ago, Bishop Kelley was blessed with a $200,000 gift from BK alumni par-ents Jay and Fayenelle Helm to begin a new endowment fund to support STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) educa-tion at Bishop Kelley.

“We’re working to encourage members of the BK community to give to the school’s endowment funds, whether for tuition assis-tance, faculty development, STEM education or capital expenses for the upkeep of our facilities,” said BK President, Father Brian O’Brien. “All of these needs are critical to the long-term success of the school.”

Bishop Kelley has about $1.7M in named, endowed funds for tuition assistance. Over the past five years, the school has estab-lished an endowed fund for capital needs that’s currently valued at $2.1M.

“Several donors have included Bishop Kelley in their estate plans or have estab-lished life insurance policies where BK will be the recipient. We have been notified by supporters that $2M will eventually be gifted to the school when those plans and insurance policies mature,” Thomas said. “If not restricted, those funds will go into the

Bishop Kelley endowment as well.” Other donors have given appreciated

stock to Bishop Kelley. They avoid paying capital gains tax and receive a deduction on their tax returns. For donors age 70½ or older, they may direct a portion of their

required annual minimum distribution from their Individual Retirement Account (IRA) to Bishop Kelley. This is limited to $100,000 per year and counsel from a tax or financial advi-sor is recommended.

It may appear that Bishop Kelley has ample endowment funds. However, accord-ing to Father O’Brien, that’s not the case.

“Ideally, Catholic high schools have endowments that are at least twice as large as the school’s annual operating budget. Our annual budget is approaching $10M as costs continue to rise.”

“It’s vital that Bishop Kelley’s endow-ment increase from $11M to $20M,” Father O’Brien said. “I know that’s possible because we’ve seen huge endowments established at other Lasallian high schools in Memphis, Minneapolis, and elsewhere.”

ENDOWMENT GROWTH

JOHN H. SMITH WRESTLING ROOM ENDOWMENT

New Endowment Fund for Building Maintenance

New Funds Continue Bishop Kelley’s Mission

Combined, there is $11,000,000 in endowed funds that support Bishop Kelley High School:Core Endowment Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $6,800,000Faculty Development Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $200,000STEM Endowment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $200,000Named, Endowed Funds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1,700,000Capital Needs Endowment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$2,100,000

Total Endowment Funds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$11,000,000

“About 20% of our students receive some level of tuition assistance as determined by FACTS,”

said Rev. Father O’Brien

In addition to tuition assistance funds, a gift was established for the upkeep of the John H. Smith Wrestling Room. Established by Jeff and Jeanne Smith, this gift marks the first time in BK’s history that an endowment fund has provided for the upkeep and maintenance of a specific facility.

Completed in early 2016, the John H. Smith Wrestling Room and the Liz Ritchie Cheer Gym make up the nearly 11,000 square feet facility adjacent to the Brothers’ Residence.

“Jeff and I feel that Bishop Kelley needs to build its endowment fund so that new facilities don’t put a strain on the budget,” said Jeanne Smith, who currently serves on the Bishop Kelley Advisory Council.

W I N T E R 2 0 1 6 - 2 0 1 7 23

More students with financial need will be headed to Bishop Kelley in the coming years thanks to the generosity of benefactors. Donors gifted $208,000 to Bishop Kelley in late 2016 and early 2017 to establish five new endowed tuition assistance funds. Tuition Assistance, which BK defines as “a grant made to support a student’s education and awarded on the basis of financial need,” benefits two out of ten students at Bishop Kelley. Tuition assistance endowments can be started with $10,000 gifts, made over a 1 to 4 year period.

Five New Endowment Funds Established for Tuition Assistance

ERIC BEEGHLY MEMORIAL ENDOWMENT FUND

THE GARY & JANE OBERSTE ENDOWMENT

JAKE JAMISON MEMORIAL ENDOWMENT FUND

THE MEGAN SCHAUNAMAN NEELY ENDOWMENT

THE BRIAN ARENSON ENDOWMENT

This fund was established by an anonymous donor to recognize the many contributions made by Eric Beeghly to Bishop Kelley, the School of Saint Mary, and Monte Cassino communities. Beeghly, a 1998 BK graduate, passed away in 2016. This fund is restricted to School of Saint Mary graduates who come from single parent households.

Established by BK alumni parent, Kathy Craft, it honors Mr. Arenson, who has taught science at Bishop Kelley for 35 years. As a teacher, Mr. Arenson had a highly-positive impact in the classroom on the Craft children. This fund is restricted to assist current BK faculty members in sending their children to Bishop Kelley.

Established by a group of donors, this fund was put in place to honor the combined 70 years of service given to Bishop Kelley by Gary and Jane Oberste. It is restricted to the children of current teachers at diocesan elementary and middle schools to help them afford a Bishop Kelley education.

This fund is named in honor of 1992 BK graduate, Jacob Jamison, who passed away in 2011, and it was established by his parents Jim and Brenda Jamison. The fund is unrestricted, meaning that it’s open to any BK student who qualifies for tuition assistance.

This fund, also established by Kathy Craft, was set up to honor Mrs. Neely who, during her time as a Bishop Kelley math teacher, had a profound impact on the donor’s child in the classroom. Neely is a 2001 graduate who was a National Merit Scholar and served as Director of Alumni Relations during her final two years at Bishop Kelley. This fund is restricted to help BK faculty members who wish to send their children to Bishop Kelley.

24 B I S H O P K E L L E Y A M B A S S A D O R

G O for Catholic Schools (“GO”) is a unique non-profit organization that takes advantage of a 2011 credit law in Oklahoma to give you the opportunity to do great things for and with our Catholic schools. And since you may already

be supporting Catholic schools in other important ways, you will definitely want to understand how GO can help you make your contributions to Bishop Kelley (or any other Catholic school in the Diocese of Tulsa) go as far as possible.

We know, it sounds too good to be true, but GO is real, GO works and GO makes it easy for you to help any Catholic school of your choice or all of them collectively to serve the great need by meeting their mis-sions to serve all families!

Here is some evidence of how GO is working to transform the way we finance a Catholic school education in the Diocese of Tulsa. Over the past five years, with the sup-port of less than 200 unique donors, GO has raised $1.5 million dollars, with every single dollar contributed for tuition assistance to help qualified students and families access a Catholic education.

GO works for Catholic schools and for donors

The data shown provides a snapshot of the tuition assistance that GO donors pro-vided in the 2016-17 school year, followed by a summary of successful fundraising efforts just concluded for 2016 which will fund tui-tion assistance in the 2017-18 school year. Every dollar donated to GO goes to fund tui-tion assistance for kids to attend a Catholic school in the Diocese of Tulsa. Additionally, GO is not an endowment; the money that GO raises during each calendar year is put to work for families and our Catholic schools as tuition assistance during the next school year.

GO SUMMARY (2016-17):• Total amount awarded = $346,850• Total awards increased 15.5% over

2015-16 total of $298,450• Total number awarded increased 75.3%

over previous year to 864 from 493.• Largest amount awarded = $1,200• Smallest amount awarded = $150• Average tuition assistance award = $399GO FUNDRAISING (2016): • Total funds contributed = $547,187• Total funds raised increased 57.8% over

2015 total of $346,822• Total number of donors increased 30.4%

over 2015 from 115 to 150

NON-PROFIT ADVOCATES FOR CATHOLIC SCHOOLSOklahoma taxpayers can make a big difference when they GO for Catholic Schools

Would you like to designate part

of your tax bill to the Catholic schools of your choice,

instead of sending that money to the

State of Oklahoma?

If your answers to any of these 3 questions is “YES”, then you need to know about and utilize GO for Catholic Schools!

If that is not enticing enough for you, what if you could even

make money for yourself in the

process?

Better yet, what if you could take

that profit and reinvest it in our Catholic schools to fortify them to

pursue their mission for the long-term?

QUESTION #1 QUESTION #2 QUESTION #3

W I N T E R 2 0 1 6 - 2 0 1 7 25

We want to thank the 150 donors who contributed to GO in 2016. By taking advan-tage of the tax credit leverage available through GO, you are helping to make a Catholic school education more affordable and accessible for all, while also expanding the reach of your other contributions to our Catholic schools! Because of you, during the 2017-18 school year, GO scholarships will increase by over 50% and reach more stu-dents and families.

Interestingly, the single largest donation to GO in 2016 of $100,000 came from a business without any family affiliation to the Catholic Church or any Catholic school. A CPA, who had knowledge about GO and whose child graduated from Bishop Kelley, explained the incredible tax benefits to her client. We are grateful to that company and to the CPA

for the $100,000 in tuition assistance, 75% of which was designated by the donor for stu-dents at BK. The other good news is that this donation came with a commitment to make the same contribution in 2017 to qualify for the 75% tax credit. This donation proves how good this opportunity is — contributing to GO makes good tax sense for the donor.

Through the combination of 1) tax credits (worth up to 75% of the amount contributed) and 2) a charitable tax deduction, donations to GO either cost very little or nothing to the donor. The more you can give, the better it gets, for you and for our Catholic schools.

Other Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs)—How did

“the competition” do in 2016?Donors to the few other granting organi-

zations in Oklahoma understood the power of these tax credits and raised a lot of money for their schools in 2016, pushing us closer to exceeding the annual tax credit cap of $3.5 million. However, the tax credits renew each year and a new round of $3.5 million in tax credits is available for donations to GO in 2017; that limit may even be increased!

Here are the 2016 fundraising results for other qualified Scholarship Granting Organizations in Oklahoma:• The Opportunity Scholarship Fund, rep-

resenting a consortium of 55 private schools in Oklahoma, raised $3.5 million

— taking in $800,000 on December 31 alone!

• The Fund of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City raised $820,000.

• The Academy OSF raised $300,000.That is great for those schools, but also

highlights the opportunity that exists for our schools in the Diocese of Tulsa to do more by spreading the word to those who can bene-fit from the tax credits and want to help our Catholic schools serve more families.

Although “competing” for Oklahoma income tax credits, all of these SGOs are working together to grow the pool of tax credits available through the Oklahoma Equal Opportunity Education Scholarship Act by demonstrating the value and impor-

tance of private schools in creating a strong, high-quality educational system for Oklahoma.

The future of tax credits?At $3.5 million, Oklahoma currently has

one of the lowest tax credit caps in the country. The good news is that other states

with tax credit programs have increased the allocation of tax credits over time and those amounts are substantial: AL $30 million; AZ $51.6 million; FL $447.3 million; GA $58 mil-lion; IN $8.5 million; IA $12 million; KS $10 million; MT $3 million; NH $5 million; NV $5 million; PA $100 million; SC $8 million; VA $25 million.

Catholic schools + You + GO + Other Funding Sources = a powerful combination

GO is a unique non-profit organization, managed by a volunteer staff so that every dollar donated for scholarships goes to fund that need. GO is dedicated to supporting our Catholic schools now and into the future by partnering with donors, schools and parishes, and other Catholic school fund-ing sources like the Saint Francis of Assisi Tuition Assistance Trust, Friends of Catholic Education and others.

By contributing to GO and making most, if not all, of that money back after accounting for the effect of tax credits and deductions, and continuing or expanding your other charitable contributions to those Catholic schools, you can leverage the effect of the tax credits to make your contributions part of a transformation of Catholic schools in the Diocese of Tulsa.

Let’s get GOing for Catholic Schools!

For more information about GO for Catholic Schools or to donate online, please visit the GO website at www.GOforCatholicSchools.com

GO recently produced an informational video with an introduction from Bishop David Konderla, a link to which is available on the GO website.

SUMMARY OF TUITION ASSISTANCE AWARDS BY SCHOOL IN 2016-17:

All Saints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 . . . . . . . . . . $14,550

Bishop Kelley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 . . . . . . . .$65,450

Cascia Hall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 . . . . . . . . . . $31,900

Holy Family. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90 . . . . . . . . . $38,600

Marquette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 . . . . . . . . . .$24,600

Monte Cassino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,450

Saint Catherine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 . . . . . . . . . .$26,600

School of Saint Mary . . . . . . . . 31 . . . . . . . . . .$10,300

Sts. Peter & Paul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 . . . . . . . . . . $52,100

St. John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 . . . . . . . . . .$21,600

St. Joseph. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 . . . . . . . . . . $19,250

St. Pius X. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96 . . . . . . . . . .$36,450

TOTAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 864 . . . . . .$344,850

SUMMARY OF 2016 CONTRIBUTIONS BY CATEGORY:

SINGLE DONORS19 $22,930 $200 to $2,000

MARRIED DONORS116 $258,955 $100 to $10,000

BUSINESS DONORS15 $265,262 $100 to $100,000

TOTAL DONORS150 $547,187 $100 to $100,000

SCHOOL NAME

NUMBER OF DONORS

TOTALAMOUNT

RANGE(LOW TO HIGH)

# OF AWARDS

TOTAL AMOUNT

“We are grateful … for the $100,000 in tuition assistance, 75% of which was designated

by the donor for students at BK.”

26 B I S H O P K E L L E Y A M B A S S A D O R

Patricia Lowery Ingersoll ‘66 retired from the Bank of Oklahoma after 22 years of service.

Dan Schooley ‘74 was named senior vice pres-ident of operations at Laredo Petroleum, Inc.

Joe O’Connor ‘76 is the new Director of Finance and Operations at Catholic Charities

Therese Kammendiener Orr ‘77 passed the rigorous 3-stage battlefield guide licensing process at the Gettysburg National Military Park, Gettysburg PA. She is now authorized to give tours of this pivotal battle of the American Civil War on the Gettysburg

Sylvia Hsu, M.D. ‘81 won the Master Clinician Lifetime Award from Baylor College of Medicine. She is professor of dermatology at Baylor College of Medicine and chief of derma-tology at Ben Taub General Hospital and The Methodist Hospital in Houston.

Clare Lee ‘81 was featured in Sacramento Magazine’s November Issue which highlights Powered by Women. The issue presents eight women who are leading the way toward a bet-ter Sacramento. Clare was one of these women.

Harry Hannigan ‘82 is up for two Emmys in the category of outstanding children’s series. His shows are Dog with a Blog and School of Rock. The Emmys will air September 18 on ABC.

Michelle Dougherty ‘87 published her first book, Midnight Playground.

Tiffany and Bruce Ngo ‘89 welcomed a son, Jamison Cash “J.C.”, on June 1, 2016.

Stacy O’Brien Frisbie ‘90 accepted a faculty position at OU-Tulsa teaching in the nursing program.

Jennie Lowery Marchal ‘96 was named Associate Director of the Career Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

Danny O’Connell ‘96 started his own insurance agency, Next Level Insurance Agency, in Dallas.

Jennifer and John Laeger ‘97 welcomed new daughter Hazel Marie on July 27, 2016.

Kevin Moe ‘97 married Mary Parr on June 4, 2016, in Alexandria, LA.

Amy Harmon ‘97 married David Flahive on June 18, 2016, in California.

Bear Clark ‘98 and Molly Stoulil ‘03 were mar-ried on Saturday, September 24, 2016.

James and Tracy Kmetz Murphy ‘99 welcomed new daughter Tess Rosalie to the world on July 15, 2016.

Kate Ormsby McElroy ‘99 and husband Terry welcomed their third child into the world. Declan James was born November 30, 2016.

Cody Andrus ‘99 and a friend started Donut Run, a Tulsa-area donut delivery business.

Chris ‘00 and Tamara Thalken ‘03 Noel wel-comed their second son, Pearson Martin Noel, on July 11, 2016. Pearson joins big brother Palmer James who was born on August 28, 2014. Chris and Tamara own Luxe Furniture and Design at 96th and Riverside in Tulsa.

Julie and Ryan Roberts ‘00 welcomed son Lucas to the world in July 2016.

Kyle and Allison DeFatta Craig ‘00 welcomed a daughter, Collins Josephine, to their family on May 30, 2016.

B r a n d o n ‘ 0 0 a n d M a r i a Pa d a l i n o Anthamatten ‘00 welcomed a baby girl, Avery, into the world on September 1, 2016. Avery joins big sister Adeline.

Jonathan ‘02 and Maggie Cameron ‘00 Gabel welcomed their third child, Cliff, to the world on August 26, 2016. Cliff joins two big sisters, Cameron and Abby. Maggie teaches Spanish at Bishop Kelley and Jonathan works at Ernie Graves.

Brian and Lauren Fleischner Manfred ‘01 wel-comed son Hayes Patrick Manfred to the world on October 6, 2016. Lauren owns an Orthodontic practice in Orange County, California.

John and Macy Snyder Amatucci ‘01 wel-comed daughter Bexley Marie to the world on September 26, 2016.

Cristin O’Connor Shelby ‘01 was featured in the Edible Tulsa Magazine and on KOTV Channel 6 for her Marinated Grilled Chicken with Cucumber-Watermelon Salsa recipe.

James and Chrissy Collins Mantzuranis ‘01 welcomed their third son, Rhett, to the world on October 19, 2016.

Daniel ‘01 and Joy Flynt ‘01 Griffiths wel-comed a daughter, Iris Clare Griffiths, to the world on September 19, 2016. Daniel and Joy live in Tulsa.

Kelly Quinn Warren ‘01 started a new busi-ness, Give Lovely, a full service online gift shop offering gifts for all occasions.

Michelle and Geordy Walker ‘01 welcomed a son, Quinn, to the world on October 21, 2016.

David and Kirstin Grotzinger Hood ‘01 wel-comed daughter Elle Elizabeth to the world on August 13, 2016.

Alex Robinson ‘01 and Kellie Malloy were married on June 3, 2016, in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Alex is a Senior Landman at Universal Field Services in Tulsa, and Kellie is a manager at McGill’s at Utica in Tulsa.

Jamie and Kyle Bradley ‘01 welcomed daugh-ter Evelyn Rose to the world on August 25, 2016.

Chris and Bailey Austin Bird ‘02 welcomed new baby Hanley Andus Bird on June 17, 2016.

Brandon and Candice Naiman Tinlin ‘02 wel-comed son Vaughn Caleb to the world on May 26, 2016.

Emily O’Sullivan Carter ‘04 recently moved back to Tulsa to open Carter Family Orthodontics. She gives back to the commu-nity through local service opportunities and by providing smile scholarships to help those in need of orthodontic treatment.

Matt Connor ‘02 married Cynthia Garcia in May 2016.

Kristen and Justin Moreau ‘02 welcomed a daughter, Reis Harlow, to the world on May 22, 2016. Kristen and Justin live in Tulsa.

Bridget and Jason Miner ‘02 welcomed daughter Lillian Landers Miner to the world on September 1, 2016.

Justin and Melissa King Ruths ‘02 welcomed a daughter, Piper, to the world on June 2, 2016.

Paul Boukadakis ‘02 was featured in a CNBC article for a video sharing app he created called Wheel.

Anthony Fasciano ‘03 married Anne Staeheli on June 11, 2016, in Spokane, Washington.

Francis “Russ” Hittinger ‘03 received his Ph.D. in Italian Studies and Comparative Literature and Society from Columbia University in May 2016 and is now a Postdoctoral Lecturer in Columbia’s Core Curriculum.

Ryan and Toni Pfleeger Smith ‘03 welcomed identical Twins, Rowan and Caden, on October 8, 2015. The twins join siblings Dylan and Olivia.

Karen and Justin Moreland ‘03 welcomed daughter Taylor Lynn Moreland to the world

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on August 15, 2016. Justin is an Anesthesiology Resident Physician at University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Ryan Butchee ‘04 and his wife Margo wel-comed their second child into the world, Nolan Bao Butchee.

Ross Farris ‘04 married Lauren Scammell in June 2016.

Brandon and Roni Albert Watson ‘04 welcomed babies number 3 and 4 into the world. Max and Fulton were born on November 30, 2016.

Joseph and Angela Houlihan Riehle ‘04 welcomed son Thomas Patrick Riehle to the world on September 11, 2016. The Riehles live in Clarksville, TN, where Angela is an Administrative Support Assistant/Payroll Clerk in the Army.

Sarah Yates Reddy ‘04 opened the law firm Reddy & Feldhake, P.C., in Tulsa. The firm will focus on family law, probate, estate planning, business law, and general civil litigation. Sarah is a graduate of Westminster College and The University of Tulsa.

Kara Walton ‘04 married Matt Rose on November 19, 2016.

Bradley and Becca Vrabac ‘04 Thompson wel-comed son Charles Wyatt Thompson to the world on July 6, 2016.

Elizabeth Dickson Smith ‘04 gave birth to a baby girl, Kate Elizabeth Scott, on November 27, 2016.

Rachel and Daniel Grant ‘04 welcomed daugh-ter Anna Marie to the world on September 9, 2016. Anna joins big brother Joseph.

David Niles ‘05 and his wife Pamela wel-comed their second baby girl, Mary Angelica on November 7, 2016.

Teddy Mundt ‘05 married Megan Mundt on September 24, 2016, at The Garden of the Gods in Colorado.

Tanner and Marissa Holt Hesse ‘05 welcomed daughter Clara Alice to the world on June 6, 2016.

Courtney and Alex Wahl ‘05 welcomed son Caleb Donivan Wahl to the world in August 2016.

Melissa Miller ‘05 and Michael Grunewald were married at Sharp Chapel in Tulsa on October 1, 2016. Both graduated from the University Of Oklahoma College Of Pharmacy at Tulsa in June. The couple resides in Tulsa.

Josh Kerr ‘05 married Lisa Grigone on

October 1, 2016, at St. Cecilia Catholic Church in Claremore. Josh recently started Whoops Surplus, a discount grocery store in Tulsa.

Elaine Johnson ‘06 married Daniel Dittus on October 15, 2016.

Randy and Laura Been Canfield ‘06 wel-comed daughter Madison Grace to the world on August 21, 2016. Laura is a teacher with Ft. Smith Public Schools.

Kegan Schmidt Waters ‘06 and David Waters welcomed their first baby into the world. Elle Grey Waters was born on October 28, 2016.

Tim Kelley ‘06 married Megan Mayberry on June 4, 2016, at St. Pius X in Tulsa.

Ryan O’Sullivan ‘06 married Senushi Jayaratne on May 28, 2016 at Holy Family Cathedral. Fr. Brian O’Brien presided. Ryan is currently in den-tal school.

Katie and Michael East ‘06 welcomed a son, John Anderson, to the world on May 24, 2016. The Easts live in North Carolina where Michael is a Presbyterian minister.

Justin and Lee Swain Bennett ‘06 welcomed a son, Baker, to their family on April 29, 2016. Baker joins siblings Jace and Porter.

Kira Moss ‘07 married Austin Hayes on June 4, 2016.

Bailey McBride ‘07 married Jarryd Mayers on August 27, 2016, at Christ the King Catholic Church in Tulsa. The couple resides in Tulsa, where Bailey is employed as the digital con-tent editor for Major League Fishing.

Molly O’Connor ‘07 and John Cappel were married July 30, 2016 at Christ the King in Tulsa. The Nuptial Mass was celebrated by Fr. Mike Knipe. The couple resides in Philadelphia, where Molly is pursuing a Ph.D. in Education at Rutgers University.

Max Morgan ‘07 and Cameron Sisler were married November 5, 2017 in St. Louis. The groomsmen included BK grads Brian McDaniel ‘07 and Max’s brothers, Nate Fincher ‘94 and Zach Fincher ‘96.

Megan Griffin ‘07 married Kenny Hoffman in Kansas City in June 2016.

Shelley Kmetz Bender ‘07 and her husband Matt gave birth to a little boy, Joseph Xavier Bender on November 22, 2016.

Kyle French ‘07 and Lydia Pounds ‘09 were married on June 25, 2016.

Katie Slagle ‘07 married Scott Plaster on August 13, 2016.

Ashley and Tyler Thalken ‘08 recently moved to Tulsa after Tyler accepted a position with the Energy Banking Group at BOK Financial. Tyler and Ashley Hamner were married July 5, 2014 in San Antonio. They both received their MBA’s at the University of Denver.

Beth Oglesby ‘08 married Neil Torbett ‘08 on June 11, 2016, in Tulsa.

Andrea Lewis ‘09 married Rob Redwine on Saturday, July 23, 2016, in Tulsa.

Courtney Struttman ‘09 married Brent Hartsook on July 2, 2016.

Will Heckenkemper ‘09 married Laura Maggard on December 19, 2015. Will also began a new position at The University of Central Oklahoma as the Business Development Manager for Campus Enterprises.

Matt Reynolds’ 09 was called up by the New York Mets and he hit a home run in his first game back in the big leagues.

Meredith Burns O’Hare ‘09 and her husband welcomed a new baby boy, Ronan Andrew O’Hare on October 28, 2016.

Cassie Liotta ‘10 married Harris Van Fleet on Saturday, September 10, 2016.

Jennifer Davis ‘10 is teaching third grade at Will Rogers Elementary with Edmond Public Schools.

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28 B I S H O P K E L L E Y A M B A S S A D O R

K atherine Devonshire ‘09 is excited to be the new Director of Alumni Relations at Bishop Kelley High School.

“A lot has changed at Bishop Kelley with the new facilities, pro-grams, and faculty, but the vibe at BK is still the same,” Katherine said. “I love to see stu-dents who seek out every opportunity that BK gives them. I am proud to say I gradu-ated from Bishop Kelley and am privileged to get to work here and watch students experience BK life as I once did.”

Devonshire graduated from OSU with a BA in Human Development and Children and Family Services. She worked at JD McCarty Center in Norman with children with disabilities, but wanted to return to

Tulsa where she worked at Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Oklahoma. She is also an assis-tant cheer coach at BK.

Katherine has a significant role working full time with alumni by welcoming each fifth year anniversary class back to BK every Father’s Day weekend.

“The Father’s Day Reunion Weekend June 16-17, 2017 is important to start engaging alumni right after they graduate all the way through their retirement years,” she said.

Katherine enjoyed working in 2013 with former Director of Alumni Relations Megan Schaunaman Neely ’01 during Katherine’s five-year reunion. “I loved the idea of not waiting until 10 years to get together,” Katherine said. “So, when I got the position here I was excited to see that they were still following that tradition.”

Erin Larsen ‘10 married Jonathan Shirley on June 11, 2016, in Tulsa.

Courtney Cleaves ‘10 married Matt Bradford on September 24, 2016.

Natalie and Clark Driz ‘10 welcomed a daugh-ter to the world on July 14, 2016.

Katie Watkins Phillips ‘10 is teaching 2nd grade at Monte Cassino in Tulsa. Katie married Rob Phillips ’08 on December 10, 2016.

Cailey Dougerty ‘10 won a Regional Emmy Award as a reporter in the Weekend Newscast, Medium Market.

Katherine Karlish ‘10 and Jon Houde were married on Saturday, August 20, 2016.

Brenten McCulloch ‘10 is Mission Leader Administrator at the National Headquarters of St. Paul’s Outreach in Minnesota.

Emily Bingham ‘11 married Spencer Hebert on July 22, 2016, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Kaitlyn Fitzgibbons ‘11 was a bridesmaid in the wedding.

Royce Parker ‘11 and Ethan Lewis ‘11 were married on June 11, 2016.

Abby and Mark Henry ‘11 were married on Saturday, August 7, 2016.

Thomas Ritchie ‘11 married Kaylie Mills on June 25, 2016, at Christ the King Catholic Church in Tulsa.

Bladimir Segovia ‘11 received his bachelor’s degree in business from OSU-Tulsa in May 2016, the first graduate of our fellow Lasallian school, San Miguel School of Tulsa, to do so. Congratulations!

Katey and Chris Campbell ‘11 were mar-ried January 3, 2016, in Norman, Oklahoma. Both Katey and Chris are law students at The University of Oklahoma.

Caleb Haydock ‘11 was a Production Assistant/Intern for the independent film, Reparation. Caleb is a Media Fellow and Executive Producer-D3TV at DePauw University.

Cameron O’Brien ‘11 began his pro baseball career with the Blue Jays Rookie league affili-ate in West Virginia.

Hayley Butler ‘11 married Shane Aquino on June 11, 2016.

Garrett and Casey Griffin Thul ‘11 gave birth to their first son, Charlie, on July 26, 2016, at Fort Bragg.

Inky Ajanaku ‘12 was named MVP in the NCAA Women’s Volleyball National Championship tournament, won by her Stanford Cardinal team.

Colton Craig ‘12, an intern with Tripp Davis and Associates and a 5th year senior in the Landscape Architecture Program at Oklahoma State University in Tulsa, recently was named one of five recipients of The Walter J. Travis Memorial Scholarship.

Elliott Walz ‘12 is the new Facilities Director at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Tulsa.

Logan Young ’12 married Paige McIIroy Young ‘12 on November 26, 2016.

Alex Yozzo ‘12 graduated from Rice University with a BA in Mathematics and Philosophy. Alex is moving to Oklahoma City.

Donnie Walton ‘12 was drafted in the 5th Round of the MLB Draft by the Seattle Mariners.

Gann Swan ‘13 has a three year contract at Triumph Aero Structures, employed and paid as a Mechanical Engineer. He is part of a team designing wing components for Gulfstream pri-vate jets.

Patrick Steichen ‘15 was named a Top 10 Freshmen Man at Oklahoma State University for the 2015-2016 school year.

Taylor King ‘16 was featured in Oklahoma Magazine as one of Oklahoma’s Promising Youth.

REUNION WEEKEND

for BK graduation years that end in 2 or 7 is June 16-17, 2017.

See everyone on Father’s Day Weekend! Contact Director of Alumni

Relations Katherine Devonshire for more

information at kdevonshire@bishopkelley.org

Katherine Devonshire ‘09 named the new Director of Alumni Relations

Continued

Bishop Kelley Angelo Prassa Memorial Golf Tournament The 2017 Angelo Prassa Memorial Golf Tournament will be held Monday, September 11. Please mark your calendar and plan to support Bishop Kelley students. 

Thanks to all the golfers in 2016 who supported the BK Prassa Tuition Assistance Endowment and helped raise funds for the BK athletic facilities. 

It’s not too early to organize your team! Contact Katherine Devonshire, Director of Alumni Relations, at kdevonshire@bishopkelley.org for more information.

September 11, 2017

BK CLASS OF 2017 TO REVEAL FIRST FLAG PLAZA ON CAMPUS

T his year’s BK senior class legacy gift will be the establishment of BK’s first-ever flag plaza in front of the Mary Queen of Peace (MQP) main entrance that will be highly visible from the U Drive.

The plaza will feature three flagpoles, standing at 35’ feet. The poles will host the American flag, the Vatican flag and the Oklahoma flag. The trian-gular-shaped base of the plaza will be elevated 18 inches above the ground to allow for permanent signage to acknowledge the project was funded by students from the Class of 2017.  

All flag poles will be equipped with solar-powered lighting from dusk to dawn in order to be in compliance with U.S. flag regulations.

FUNDING OPTIONS

Our goal is that all seniors make a $100 pledge to the project, with $25 of this gift made during this semester (the sooner the better). After this semes-ter the BK Advancement Office will send students $25 pledge reminders in 2018, ‘19, and ’20 in order to complete funding for the project. This will insure that 2017 graduates who financially support the project will be listed in four consecutive BK Annual Reports (mailed out to 10,000 constituents) in hopes of creating a philanthropic habit in regards to Bishop Kelley. HOW TO MAKE A GIFT

Complete a pledge form and mail it or bring it to the Alumni Office located in the Bishop Kelley Advancement Office across the hall from the Commons. Checks should be made payable to Bishop Kelley.  Please put Senior Class Legacy gift on the memo line of your check OR visit www.bishopkelley.org/seniorclassgift to make your gift or pledge online.

BISHOP KELLEY HIGH SCHOOL

3905 S. Hudson Tulsa, OK 74135