ambassador magazine 2012

AMBASSADORFall 2012

You’ll Go!

Oh, the Places

Bishop Kelley High School

The Places We’ve Been, The Places We’ll Go

As we begin another school year I can barely contain my excitement. We have outstanding administrators,

teachers, and staff whose goal is to provide the best Catholic, Lasallian education pos-sible for our 820 students. The year is off to a great start and I expect big things for the days ahead. In brief, I’d like to share with you where we’ve been and where we’re going in the days ahead. Your input and support is most welcome and, in fact, necessary for our success.

Where We’ve BeenI cannot possibly retrace all the good that has been done on this campus over the last six decades. In the classroom, on the stage, on the field, and in the chapel, so much good is done here every day for our students and their families. In the last half century, the programs offered have increased dramatically and the campus facilities have seen renovations to keep up with the ever-changing demands of 21st century education. The new library/media center, a renovated counseling center and chapel stand out as examples of improvements necessitated by the ever-expanding needs of our students. A new track as well as other improvements still on the agenda round out the physical changes to the campus that amaze alumni when they return.

Where We’ll GoKnowing that we’ve come so far in the last 53 years, we can never be complacent and must con-tinually strive for excellence. In the next five years we will face significant challenges related to our facilities. Our immediate needs include a stadium renovation, the demolition and replacement of the Providence Center (PC) Building, an overhaul of our heating and air system, and upgrades in landscaping and technology. While these facility needs are clearly observable, one area of need is easy to miss. We must do a better job of making Bishop Kelley affordable for all students who want to attend. This can be done through an increased endowment and in specific contributions for financial assistance for students. We need your help to meet these needs as we move forward to ensure that our students are prepared for a purposeful life in the 21st century and have access to this great education.

In addition, we have many other needs. If you are interested in helping keep Bishop Kelley the excellent school it is, I invite you to contact our new Director of Advancement, Doug Thomas or me to discuss how you can help. The future is bright at Bishop Kelley and the places we’re going are limitless. I am personally grateful for your support and look forward to seeing you very soon. Know that you are always welcome on campus.

In Christ,

President

Letter from the President

Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children; many begin by reading to their children. In this issue, we celebrate the gift of education with a nod to the book, Oh, the Places You’ll Go by Theodor Suess Geisel, better known as the beloved Dr. Suess. Oh, the Places You’ll Go is a popular graduation theme because it is a story of making your way in the world. When Dr. Suess got his first “big break” into children’s literature, his book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, was rejected 27 times before being published by Vanguard Press. This year, 2012, marks 75 years since the first Dr. Suess book began a career that has encouraged early reading skills and created literary treasures for generations of children.

Bishop Kelley provides a Catholic, Lasallian education that develops individuals whose hearts and minds are prepared for a purposeful life. Our students have both successes and challenges along the way. They graduate with spiritual strength, moral purpose and a commitment to serving the community, on top of a solid academic foundation. They have outstanding role models among our alumni. We can’t wait to see “the places they’ll go!”

The Ambassador Magazine is published by

the Bishop Kelley Advancement Office.

Rev. Brian O’Brien President

Curt FeilmeierPrincipal

Doug Thomas,Director of Advancement

Betty O’ConnorDirector of Communications

Jane Oberste ‘77Director of Admmissions

Margaret JonesAdvancement Assistant

Danny LimesAthletic Fundraising/Head Basketball Coach

Robin LewisDirector of Special Events

Bailey Elise McBride ‘07Design and Production, Yearbook/Newspaper Adviser

A special thanks to Br. Richard Merkel, Margaret Hartley, and the BK Journalism Students for their help in creating this magazine.

A special thanks to BK art teacher Anna Sullivan Kall-strom ‘99 for the cover art.

ou have brains in your head.You have feet in your shoes.You can steer yourselfin any direction you choose.You’re on your own. And you know what you know.And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

-Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss

Y

the places you’ll go at Bishop Kelley!There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored,

there are games to be won. Lessons to learn, friends in the hall,People to serve, and give it your all.

Maybe in quiet or as famous as can be,the world may be watching you on BKCometTV.

(Adapted from Dr. Suess)

OH

A Place for Faith

BISHOP KELLEY AMBASSADOR4

By Hailey Deweese ‘13

B Bishop Kelley strives to offer retreats that appeal to stu-dents, allowing them to grow spiritually and to build commu-nity by meeting other people. In all, Kelley offers four retreat

experiences tailored for each grade level. Each one explores situa-tions or issues that apply to a specific age group and with which it would particularly identify.

For freshmen, the Prism retreat is offered during the second se-mester and focuses on the development of a relationship with both God and peers. Freshmen learn about balancing school, family, and friends, while making room for spirituality. The freshmen also gain a sense of the community within Bishop Kelley as they meet in small groups for talks, discussion, and a variety of activities.

“Specifically for high school students, a retreat is a really impor-tant thing,” Fr. O’Brien said. “[Students] really get caught up in life and the business of family, work, school, and social lives. So to be able to stop what you are doing, and just step back and look at your relationship with God and with other people can really give you perspective.”

CORE/COR, the sophomore retreat, is Latin for “Heart.” Unlike the freshman retreat, which lasts a day, CORE/COR is held overnight. The time is spent focusing on decision-making and other issues that young men and women begin to face during sophomore year.

“We, in campus ministry, hope to help students begin to recog-nize, if they have not already, the presence of God in everything that they do. We want our retreats to foster their spiritual growth,” said Jerri Berna, Campus Minister. “Also, I think it is hugely important to develop a community and become bonded together through those experiences whether it be our freshmen, juniors on Search, sopho-mores on COR, or seniors on Kairos.”

The Search retreat for Juniors is the most well-attended and is offered three or four times throughout the school year. This retreat spans three days and is a time for juniors to prayerfully examine their relationship with God, their friends, and their family. The Search program is facilitated across the country in different schools and dioceses but Bishop Kelley works to make this program unique for its students.

“Search is a necessity because it opens the eyes of every junior to what is happening around them, and it is a one-of-a-kind experi-ence. I went on Search because I heard a lot of positive things about it. I had a fantastic time,” said Ben Herndon, a former Searcher and Search worker.

The final and most intensive retreat is Kairos. Tailored for seniors, Kairos is a three-and-a-half day retreat that delves into the individual’s awareness of God’s presence in his/her life and the responsibility of living a Christ-centered life.

“We hear from our alumni over and over again how some of their most memorable and important experiences at Kelley were their re-treats,” notes Fr. O’Brien. “Our retreats are a total community effort.”

TOP: At all-school Mass, Bishop Slattery and Father O’Brien dis-tribute Holy Communion. Students attend all-school Mass several times a year. MIDDLE: The Bishop Kelley Choir sings during all-school Mass. BOTTOM: Sophomore girls pose with their leaders on the Class of 2014 COR Girls Retreat. The retreat is offered once a year to help sophomores learn about good decision making.

Retreats Offer Chance for Spiritual Growth

BISHOP KELLEY AMBASSADOR 5

Clockwise from top right: 1. On Ash Wednesday, Class of 2012 members Emily Hoffman, Angela Thoman and Quang Nguyen pose with their ashes. Students come together for all-school mass every year for Ash Wednesday and other Holy Days of Obligation that fall during the school year. 2. Before a race, the BK Girls Cross Country team gathers in prayer. 3. In Washington D.C., Bishop Kelley students gather with others from the Diocese of Tulsa at the March for Life. 4. A sign stands in the main hallway reminding students that Eucharistic Adoration is offered in the chapel. Students have the opportunity to attend Adoration every f rst Friday. 5. Standing on campus, Father Kerry Wakulich ’94 visits with students. Father Wakulich serves as Bishop Kelley chaplain along with Father Michael Pratt. Father Wakulich is on campus every Wednesday and Father Pratt is on campus every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

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A Place for Wisdom


Six Teachers Retire After Long CareersBy Trent Winchester ‘13

AWith the close of the 2011-12 school year, six long-time Bishop Kelley teach-ers – Joe Frisbee, Dee Anne Short, Anny

Jabbour, Ellen Doyle, Carol Smith, and Michael McElwaine - said their final good-byes to a school where they had collectively spent 156 years in the classroom.

Theology teacher, Joe Frisbee, decide to retire after 28 years as a Kelley Comet (out of a teach-ing career that spanned 45 years) saying the whole experience has been a “love fest.” Among his favorite memories are his induction into the Hall of Fame and when he “stuffed Mr. Arenson at basketball.” One of his favorite inspirational state-ments is “Make the next big thing, the BIG thing.” His next “big thing” is a new career as a hospital chaplain at St. Francis hospital in Tulsa.

During her 40 years at Bishop Kelley, Dee Anne Short nurtured an art program that has inspired generations of students. She shared her artistic talents not only in the classroom but throughout the Kelley community. To honor her contributions, the H-building has been renamed the “Dee Anne Short Art Center.” While Short looks forward to having more time to focus on her personal art and “of course, sleeping in,” she also looks back fondly at her time here. Her favorite part about Kelley has been all the stimulating people she has met. “I can’t think of any way I could have better spent my working life than teaching at Kelley.”

Madame Anny Jabbour taught French at Bishop Kelley for 27 years. A native of France, Jabbour was able to introduce her students to both culture and language. She led many BK students on sum-mer tours of France which she counts among her favorite memories. While she will miss the people at Bishop Kelley, Jabbour looks forward to not waking up at 5:00 a.m. and “especially not grading papers at 5:00 a.m.”

Ellen Doyle mentored many students in their journey as Christians during her 18 years in the Bishop Kelley Theology Department. While she taught a variety of grades, Doyle is most associat-ed with the senior level Adult Christian Living Class with its “babies,” budgets, and empathy bellies. A former student remembers,“Mrs. Doyle made learning fun and I always appreciated her being a loyal BK soccer fan.”

Carol Smith is not leaving the classroom com-pletely. After 17 years of unraveling science and

celebrating “Mole Day” at Bishop Kelley, Smith will continue to share her talents on a part-time basis at TCC and through tutoring. Smith sees Bishop Kelley as a place where both students and teachers give each other respect even when they disagree and that is one of her fa-vorite memories. She sees Kelley has a community that cares about each individual.

A BK alum, Mike McElwaine returned to teach math at his alma ma-ter 26 years ago. During his tenure he also coached boys’ tennis and wrestling. As the tennis coach, McElwaine saw his team win seven state championships and was honored as the Regional Coach of the Year in 2012. McElwaine says he feels “blessed to have had the privi-lege to teach so many Bishop Kelley students in the classroom and on the tennis court.”

Mrs, Short, Mr. Frisbee, Mrs. Jabbour and Mrs. Doyle celebrate together at the Faculty Christmas Party in 2011.

Mrs. Smith (right) with former student Dr. Stephanie Schaunaman Schad ‘98.

Mr. McElwaine


A Place for Community

Our thanks to former Superintendent of Catholic Schools Todd Gold-smith, who has returned to the classroom after 10 years as Superin-tendent. Bishop Kelley has been the beneficiary of his leadership and support and we are proud that he is now a BK parent! Mr. Goldsmith (Right) joined Principal Curt Feilmeier and parent Chad Martin at the BK Golf Tournament.

BR. ROLAND SANTI MEMORIAL TEACHER OF THE YEAR

Medea Bendel ’90, Social Studies Teacher and Department Chair,was voted by the faculty to receive this honor. Ms. Bendel was chosen for excellence in teaching, dedication to her students, and commitment to Bishop Kelley. She has served as a mentor teacher, and coaches Novice, JV, and Varsity Academic Bowl teams. The Varsity team won the State Championship and traveled to Nationals in New Orleans in 2012. Ms. Bendel holds a Masters degree from the University of Tulsa and has completed studies with institutes in Washington D.C. and in the Holy Land. She has led student trips to Europe and China.

Welcome! Bishop Kelley welcomes new Superintendent of Catholic

Schools, Jim Pohlman. Mr. Pohlman is a former teacher at Bishop Kelley and Marquette

School.EOC

Pho

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A Place for Service


CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: 1. Bishop Kelley and the Make-a-Wish Foundation teamed up to grant a very special wish for 7-year old Matthew. He has battled leukemia, so we wanted to make his Star Wars wish come true with an intergalactic battle with all of his favorite characters...and a life-size R2D2 provided by Little Mountain Productions of Tulsa. “The Force” of excitement created an unforgettable winter homecoming pep rally.2. Students were able to help Catholic Charities with 42 volunteers and Thanksgiving dinners for 250 people.3. The Christian Brothers were honored at the 2011 St. Francis of Assisi Dinner for their daily example and leadership at Bishop Kelley.4. The National Honor Society sponsors two Red Cross Blood Drives per year. Each time, we collected over 45 units of blood to help save 135 lives.5. On Lasallian Service Saturdays, Kelley students ride a school bus to volunteer at Catholic Charities, Rebuild Tulsa Together, or Eastern Oklahoma Food Bank.


Kelley Rallies to Write 100,000 CardsBy Jacqueline Bernhagen ‘13

Hands cramping, ideas almost gone, card after card, one main goal in mind. The 100,000+ cards have been made and sent out to every soldier stationed in the Middle East; however when Bishop Kelley first started, the students and

staff weren’t so sure this goal could be reached.When the idea first came to Fr. O’Brien that the school should write

all these cards he was “skeptical at first, and didn’t want us falling short and embarrassed by it,” Fr. O’Brien said. Most of the teachers also didn’t think the students could do this impossible goal at first, either.

However, writing all of these cards really impacted the school in a positive way and “it was fun seeing the students come together to write all these cards,” said Fr. O’Brien. “After we reached 50,000 cards it really took off and was apparent we could do this.”

It wasn’t just the students writing; teachers got involved, too, with even Fr. O’Brien writing cards.

“We printed about 112,000 cards and sent almost all of them,” said Mr. Gary Oberste, Dean of Student Activities.

Once the school started getting really close to the impossible goal, the story was told throughout the United States. People saw the story in the newspapers like The Tulsa World, North Platte Telegraph, and Midlands in Omaha, NE. The story was also in the news in Abilene, TX, Sale Creek, TN; and San Diego, CA; among others.

The school even got a letter from the author, Bob Greene, telling the students and Mr. Feilmeier, “I just saw, over the weekend, a column about the 100,000 letters that you sent to U.S. troops because of the North Platte Canteen and the Once Upon a Town reading project, and I just wanted to say thanks. The Canteen spirit really does live on.” He said he was very impressed with what the school did, and that he really appreciated it.

Myra Standberg from San Diego sent the school an email to “re-spectfully request that if you could spare one or two of the letters for the troops to my nephew Corporal Michael Fox; he was in Afghanistan and was badly injured and is now in the United States,” Students also stepped up to this challenge and sent him about 1,000 cards.

Soon after all the cards were sent, soldiers started writing back to the school. “A letter that stood out to me that we got back was that the only time this soldier saw a Christmas tree was on one of the letters we sent to him,” said Mrs. Betty O’Connor, Director of Commu-nications.

Another soldier, SPC Andrew Hillger, wrote back saying, “Thank you for the time you took to write the card I received through Blue Star Mothers. … It helps take our minds off of things for a little while. It’s people like you that make me proud to be doing what I’m doing.”

Another soldier, MSgt Shannon McNelley, wrote back from Liberia, West Africa, on Dec 6, 2011 saying, “As a service member in the USAF Reserve, I am extremely grateful that my sons are, or have, at-tended Bishop Kelley. The sacrifice to send them to this school has been worth more than can be expressed in a thank you note, but the 100,000+ cards is truly amazing and is to be commended. … Some-thing as grand as this project magnifies the appreciation that any service member would feel that their country has for them.” MSgt. McNelley heard about the project through the Bishop Kelley Connec-tion e-mail while he was serving in Africa.

Our impossible task was “the best we ever did,” said Mr. Oberste.

TOP: In the main hallway, BK students mark the achieve-ment of 100,000 cards. A chart was put up to help students keep track of progress toward the 100,000 card goal. MIDDLE: The book that inspired the 100,000 card goal, Once Upon a Town, is pictured with some of the thousands of cards students wrote to soldiers. BOTTOM: Lindsay Howard ’12 and senior Max Sanders pose with a representative from Blue Star Mothers. Blue Star Mothers generously offered to help send the cards to all the troops stationed in the Middle East.


A Place for ChampionsBy Anna Roberts ‘15

In the 2011-2012 school year, Bishop Kelley took home three team sport state championships, one individual sport state championship, two nonathletic state cham-pionships, and four academic state championships.

A change in OSSAA rules forced many of Kelley’s more suc-cessful teams to be moved up from 5A to 6A, due in part to the outside perception that private schools have an athletic advan-tage over public schools. Under this new rule, sports programs that had reached the top eight in the last three out of five state tournaments could be moved up a class if the school met other criteria, like selective enrollment.

“Overall, it’s a preposterous rule that unfairly targets private schools. We don’t have the advantage that public schools think we do,” Bishop Kelley president Rev. Brian O’Brien said. “The smallest 6A schools have around 1,400 students and we have only 800. Some of our teams that could have been competitive in 5A were destroyed in 6A and it’s unfair to those students.”

Despite this change, Kelley teams had success at state, as they took home 6A championships in a variety of athletics and academics.

Winning a state championship has an effect on the entire school.

Father O’Brien said that he enjoys “just seeing the students, especially the team members, the day after a big win. Every-one is so excited. It’s a great all-around morale booster. It makes you feel good about being at this school because it has an atmosphere that celebrates success.”

The sports program with the most championships ever at BK, volleyball, took home its first 6A athletic state champion-ships this year. This was the team’s 5th consecutive title, and 15th overall.

Kelley volleyball coach Jerri Berna said, “The only thing it changed was our post-season play and our opponents. Our goals were the same, but I think winning this championship meant a little bit more. It was more prestigious because it’s the largest classification, and you know you’re the best of the best.”

The team had to defeat more than just opponents. “We had to overcome ourselves,” Coach Berna said. “As a

coach you want the team to be all in, and I don’t think we were until Wednesday of State. We had a team meeting and some personal time together, and at the end of that meeting, I think, was the first time in the season that the team was all in.”

A state championship can change the way players look at the game and their own ability.

“It gives great confidence and takes their mentality to the next level,” Coach Berna said, “Until you win, you don’t know

what it takes to be a champion. There’s

a kind of maturation that you can only get from being a cham-pion.”

In addition to being MVP of the state tournament, senior Inky Ajanaku, a middle blocker, was named the Oklahoma Gatorade Volleyball Player of the Year.

The girls soccer team took the change in stride, dominating 6A with a perfect 17-0 season and finishing with their first 6A title by defeating the Edmond North Huskies 4-1.

“It re-energized the veteran girls,” soccer coach Troy Tokar-chik said. “It provided us with a new motivation.”

Though the soccer team had previously won 13 of the last 14 state championships, they prepared themselves differently than they had before.

“The girls realized that more attention to fitness, pursuit of perfection, and teamwork were necessary,” Coach Tokarchik said.

Her performance in the state tournament and throughout the season earned junior Kaela Little, a goalkeeper, the Oklahoma Gatorade Player of the Year award in girls soccer.

In tennis, sophomore Madison Westby won her second straight championship, first in 6A, after defeating Owasso’s Lauren Pickens.

Under the coaching of Shawn Lawhorn, the boys golf team captured their 5th state championship title in 5A.

Academic Bowl won the 5A state championship under the coaching of Medea Bendel and Michael Blazek. The team won the Area title before advancing to state, where they were ahead by at least 100 points throughout the final against the Claremore Zebras. The team then attended nationals in New Orleans, where they went 3-3 for their rounds.

Speech and Debate won the 5A state championship by having students who advanced the farthest in all sweepstakes rounds. The Comets earned 63 points, 11 points ahead of the second place team, Bishop McGuiness. In addition to their win, the team also had six national qualifiers and placed third in state for competitive one-act.

The school had equal success in the realm of academics. Boys track and girls volleyball both took home 6A academic state championships while speech and debate and girls basket-ball won 5A academic state championships.

Alex Yozzo (with Coach Schaunaman) placed 11th of 252 Lincoln-Douglas Debaters at the National Forensic League Tournament in Indianapolis. Eight BK students competed at Nationals.

The 2012 Academic Bowl State Championship Team.


The 2012 Bishop Kelley Boys Golf team poses with their 5A State championship trophy.

Brother Bernardine Scholars celebrate the completion of their four years which included Senior Capstone Projects, achieving an average ACT score of 31.94, and receiving over $4.7 million in scholarships.

It was “dual swag” for the Volleyball Comets with a 14th State Championship (BK’s f rst in 6A!) and Academic State Championship. Girls Soccer took State and 17-0 season 6A debut.

They were nationally ranked at #2 in the Powerade Fab 50.

Bishop Kelley 2012 signees pose together. Keaton Forrest, Dan Arthur, Inky Ajanaku, Cat Roth, Miranda Balezentis, Harrison Kane, John Lynch, Donovan Walton, Joey Zurawik. Not pictured: Branden Elliott.

Nick Clark, Caleb Gunsch, and Frankie Arndt are among 12 student athletes who will continue their sport in college.

Bishop Kelley’s Speech & Debate continues its strong tradition by winning a State Championship and an Academic State Championship.

Madison Westby took the 5A Tennis 6A State singles title as a freshman! The Comets placed third in State.

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Oh, the things Father Tweets!

@BKCometsYou can follow Bishop Kelley on Twitter even

if you don’t have an account by texting “Follow

BKComets” to 40404.

You can also find Bishop Kelley on Facebook at

facebook.com/ bishopkelley

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The 2012-2013 school year at Bishop Kelley will bring a number of technological advances to campus. From the phone system that was generously donated to the debut of BishopKelleyComets.tv to cover major sporting events, BK is on the forefront of the technological wave.

By Mitchell Oglesby ‘14

Bishop Kelley has always been a place for new improvements and exciting steps into the future. The next big step for Kelley is improving the technology and infrastructure of the school.

During the past year at Kelley a new Twitter account has allowed even people without Twitter to get updates on their phone with things like football scores while the games are happening or random facts about BK.

“Twitter is another opportunity for people to stay con-nected, with current students and alumni all totaling around 970 subscribers,” Father O’Brien, the @BKcomets account holder and President of Bishop Kelley, said.

Many students have been hoping Wi-Fi comes to the campus so that phones and computers can download and surf the web easier and faster.

“We’re testing Wi-Fi now and it could be here next year,” Father O’Brien said. A lot of time and money has gone to working on getting Wi-Fi and it is being tested in the main building and library now for trial runs.

Another addition for the 2011-2012 school year was Bishop Kelley’s BishopKelleyComets.TV.

This is another way to stay connected with sports and ceremonies throughout the school year, even when one aren’t able to be at the event physically. Students film sporting events and other school activities and anyone with an internet connection can watch and hear com-mentary on bishopkelleycomets.tv. School officials hope this will allow more fans than ever to enjoy Bishop Kelley athletic events.

“We spent last year researching and buying $5,000 worth of equipment to broadcast 40 live events, mostly sports,” Father O’Brien said. “Next year we hope to do pep rallies, graduation, honors assemblies and concerts.”

Over the summer, many staff members also worked to improve the infrastructure of the school.

“We’re putting in Smart Boards in some classes right now, but mainly strengthening the backbone of our system like wiring and switches to get ready for further things,” Brother Richard said.

Brother Richard worked with Technology Director Chris Fields over the summer to get the school prepared for new technology and install the new phones that were donated to the school. Brother Richard said he feels that Wi-Fi will come to school if not next year, then in two or three years at the most.

Another big topic among students on campus is whether or not the school will adopt tablets like an iPad or Kindle Fire and if these might replace books. Mr. Gary Oberste, Dean of Student Activities, says the school has not made any official decisions.

“We are looking into it, but we didn’t want to jump into it and be the guinea pigs,” Mr. Oberste said.

Although teachers and administrators alike are anxious to integrate technology into their classrooms, care has to be taken in deciding how and when to add things.

“You can’t just open the flood gates; we’re working on getting infrastructure, implementing development for teach-ers, and insuring the most economically-efficient and ef-fective strategies to best benefit digital literacy and digital citizenship,” Principal Curt Feilmeier said.

Bishop Kelley has a new digital marquee monitor in the Administration Building. Senior Max Sanders has researched the project and designed a display for the monitor in the main hall. Max will build some of the display himself at the FabLab of Tulsa. The monitor was paid for by donors.

Added 5 new SMART Boards this summer bringing the total number on campus to 23New telephone/voicemail systemConsolidated switches and replaced wiring in Administration building to improve network performance


Graduation Honors

Congratulations! Today is your day.You’re off to great places!You’re off and away!

VALEDICTORIAN

David O’ConnorDavid graduated with a 4.60 GPA. He was a Brother Bernardine Scholar and a member of NHS, Link Crew, Campus Ministry, and the State Championship Academic Bowl team. He was on the Comet Football, Track, and JV Basketball teams. David is an Eagle Scout, a member of St. Pius X Church, and a graduate of the parish school. He attends the University of Notre Dame.

SALUTATORIAN

Joey De AngelisJoey graduated with a 4.58 GPA. He was a Brother Bernardine Scholar, a member of the State Championship Speech and Debate Team, and a National Qualif er in Policy Debate. In addition, he is an Eagle Scout, a member of the Church of St. Mary, and a graduate of the parish school. He attends the University of Oklahoma.

BLESSED MOTHER TERESA AWARD

Nich WeylandCongratulations to Nich Weyland, the 2012 recipient of the Blessed Mother Teresa Award for outstanding Christian service. Nich’s vol-unteer work includes Rotary Supplies Network, Search leader, Eagle Scout projects at St. Pius X Church, and National Boy Scouting Jambo-ree at Fort A.P.Hill. Nich is in Como, Italy, on a Rotary International Exchange.

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Mr. and Miss KelleyEach year, one boy and one girl are chosen to represent the school

as Mr. and Miss Kelley. For the Class of 2012, the September Girl and Boy of the Month, Haley Poach and Michael Cunningham, were awarded this honor.

Haley is the daughter of Carol and David Poarch. She served as Student Council and National Honors Society Vice President. She also participated in Link Crew, Brother Bernardine Scholars, One-Act Play, Pro-Life Club, Freshman Girls Retreat, and Search. She was also chosen as Best Dressed by the senior class.

Michael is the son of Tina and Bubba Cunningham. He served as Student Council President, 2010-11 Student Council Vice President, and Class Board President during his freshman and sophomore years. He has played Comet football, basketball, tennis and golf. Michael was an Honor Roll student, a member of NHS, and he is a member of Christ the King Church. Michael attends the University of North Carolina. He was the voice of the Bishop Kelley daily bulletin for 2011-2012.

Michael was also the 2012 recipient of the Bishop’s Medal. The Bishop’s Medal is for the senior who best contributes to the life and spirit of the school, shares gifts and talents with other members of the Bishop Kelley community, represents the ideals and goals of Bishop Kelley, shows genuine concern for others, witnesses to Gospel values, and exemplifies excellence in academic performance.

DE LA SALLE FACULTY AWARD

Todd Goldsmith &

Maggie Cameron Gabel The De La Salle Faculty Award is given to a faculty member who ex-emplif es a spirit of faith and zeal exempli ied in the life of St. John Baptist de La Salle.

Todd Goldsmith has served as Superintendent of Catholic Schools for 10 years. He is returning to the classroom to teach fourth grade at St. Pius X. In appreciation for his leadership in the Diocese and at Bishop Kelley, he was honored with a De La Salle Faculty Award.

Maggie Cameron Gabel ’00 teaches Spanish and is the Assistant Direc-tor of Student Activities. She shares her vibrant attitude and many talents with the students and faculty and has helped with Link Crew and nearly every special event at Bishop Kelley. She works with stu-dent leaders to plan pep rallies and recently coordinated the surprise faculty lash mob (Watch at www.YouTube.com/BKHSVideo).f

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At the 2012 Barrister Bowl, Anne Bullock Sublett ‘64, senior partner at Conner & Winters, was recognized for her work in employee benefits, corporate and securities law, and her efforts to improve legal repre-sentation of Oklahoma’s deprived children.

Fred Fleischner ’67 won the Silver Addy at the 2012 Addy Awards. He was honored as the top professional in the industry. Fred is the Senior Marketing Director for U.S. Beef Corp. Inc. a Tulsa-based company which is the largest franchisee in the world of the Arby’s Restaurant Group. Fleischner has marketing responsibilities for retail, cater-ing, and sales activities.

Gary Oberste ’70 received the 2011 National Earl Reum Award presented by the National Association of Workshop Direc-tors. This award recognizes an outstanding professional who helps the adults who train student leaders. “Mr. O” was also recog-nized as someone who promotes student leadership within his state and at the national level. Under his leadership, Bishop Kelley’s Student Council has earned Gold Chapter status for many years.

Katherine Friedl Sebert ’71 was an Ameri-can Nurses’ Association (ANA) Spring 2012 national award recipient for the “Bringing Immunity To Every Community” Initiative.

The award is from the ANA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Sally Howe Smith ’71 is serving her 20th year as Tulsa County Court Clerk and has announced that she is seeking re-election to the post. The Court Clerk’s Office has assisted with the development of a unified case management system that will be used in district courts for all Oklahoma counties and in state appellate courts beginning in 2013.

Jan Greer-Carney ’74 was honored as the New Hampshire Dietitian of the Year for 2011. Jan resides with her family in Concord, NH, and is the Director of Clinical Nutrition at Concord Hospital.

Louis Medina ’75 was recently named Senior Vice President of Commercial Lend-ing at Stillwater National Bank. He serves on the Board of Directors for San Miguel School Tulsa and the St. Philip Neri New-man Center at TU.

Ellen Leport Medlock ’76 opened her first Ellen Medlock Studio Store in Tulsa at 101st & Sheridan in Forest Trails Shop-ping Center. She has an online craft/fabric design business that sells worldwide. She recently added shipments to Australia.

RuthAnn McCarthy Sirbaugh ’77 is the program director at OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) at OSU. This is an adult-learning program.

Denise Jackson Hunnell, MD ’77 has been named a fellow for HLI America, an edu-cational outreach initiative of Human Life International.

Kathleen Wolfe Alexander ’79 earned her Doctorate of Physical Therapy at Idaho State. She and her husband, David Alexan-der ’79, live in Pocatello, ID.

On April 17, 2012, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Bert Castro ’79 as a Member of the National Museum and Library Services Board. Of his recent nominees, President Obama said, “I am grateful that these talented and dedicated individuals have agreed to take on these important roles and devote their tal-ents to serving the American people. I look forward to working with them in the coming months and years.” Bert is a graduate of St. Gregory’s University and Oklahoma State.

Matt O’Meilia ’80, wrote an article for This Land Press touching on memories of the years that Leon Russell lived in Midtown. Look for a mention of alums Jeff Hecken-kemper ‘79 and Bob Alexander ‘77.

Dan Jarrett ’80 opened Becks Mediterra-nean restaurant near 61st and Memorial.

Eileen Ryan Bradshaw ’81 became the ex-ecutive director of the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma in January of 2012.

Matt Gawey ’82 purchased University Vil-lage retirement/nursing home community near ORU.

Tyson Tuttle ’85 was named CEO of Silicon Laboratories Inc. in Austin, TX. CEO Tyler is a 15-year veteran with the semiconductor design company and worked as an engi-neer on some of its earliest products. He has been Chief Operating Officer for the past year, in charge of research and prod-uct development.

Patrick Morgan ’85 published Threads of Gold: The Early Oklahoma Prairie Poetry of Martha Ellen (Handley) Moser in De-cember 2011. This is a collection of his aunt’s poems describing pioneer life the Oklahoma Panhandle over the time period of 1900-1940 from a young woman’s point-of-view.

Mike Buckendorf ’86 has written a book, Tulsa: The War Years, published by Arcadia Publishing. The book chronicles Tulsa’s role as one of the cities at the forefront of a massive wartime buildup.

Heather Hope Franklin ’86 is the current President of the League of Women Voters in Tulsa. She has been a partner at HKH Advertising since 2009.

The Oklahoma State Home Builders As-sociation installed Brandon Perkins ’88, President of Brandon Perkins Development, as its President during a January 2012 banquet at Southern Hills Country Club. Brandon is a second-generation developer.

Shelley Levy Heckenkemper ’88 writes a monthly “Mom’s Journal” for Tulsa Kids magazine. In February 2012 she wrote about being a “girly girl” in a household of males...with husband Greg ‘84 and their two sons.


Alumni News

Alfre Woodard Spencer ’70 and Greg Rhoades’02 at an event in New Orleans. Alfre has been in New Orleans working on various acting projects including TNT’s “Memphis Beat.” Greg is a photographer in New Orleans. Photo assignments include the 2012 Mardi Gras, private events for Grey Goose, Red Bull, and Goldman Sachs, 2011 Hangout Music Fest in Alabama, U.S. Army, and others. He is on the advisory board for Marketing/PR to the United Way.

Molly Jarvis ’89 was selected for Class 48 of Leadership Tulsa. Molly is the VP of Cul-ture and Public Affairs at Cherokee Nation Enterprises.

Matt Gogel ’89, former Comet and PGA Tour player and Kansas Amateur champion, has joined the Advisory Board of the Kan-sas Golf Foundation. He will serve as an ambassador for the Foundation’s programs and help with fund-raising for the Kansas Junior Golf Scholarship. Gogel, a Mission Hills resident, was a standout amateur player, twice winning the Kansas Amateur Championship and earning All-American honors as a University of Kansas golfer. Over his 13-year professional career, he won eight times, including the 2002 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Gogel retired in 2007 and now works for The Golf Channel as an on-course reporter for PGA Tour events. Matt is a member of the Bishop Kelley Athletic Hall of Fame.

Michael Regitz, Jr. ’89, Senior Associate at Fulbright’s Dallas Office was presented with the 2011 Silver Award for Pro Bono Service at the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program (DVAP), which is the second highest honor presented to Dallas law firms that have between 101 and 149 lawyers. In addition, Mike is the co-founder of the Veterans Le-gal Clinic and was presented with the 2011 Outstanding Clinic Attorney – Veterans Clinic—just one year after being presented with the DVAP’s Finest award—for his long-standing commitment to the representation of Dallas military veterans. www.fulbright.com/probono.

Vicky Causey Adams ’91 is the new ele-mentary school Principal at Monte Cassino. Vicki is the longest serving Principal in the diocese. Previously, she was the Principal of St. Catherine Catholic School.

Sarah Rehm ’94 is featured on the cover of Junior League’s Winter 2012 issue about art education with Gilcrease Museum and the University of Tulsa.

GableGotwals named Erin Bender Dailey ’96 a shareholder attorney. She has been an associate with GableGotwals since 2005. Her civil litigation practice includes work in insurance defense, labor and em-ployment law, and commercial litigation.

David Guten ’96 is a founding partner in Woodward and Guten law firm in Tulsa. Da-vid is also in the reserves and is an officer in the JAG corps. He has been deployed twice in the last three years.

Philip Junger ’96 graduated from North-eastern State University(NSU) in December

2011, with a Bachelor’s Degree in General Studies. He also holds an Associate De-gree in Television Broadcasting from Tulsa Community College (TCC). Philip and his wife, BK Choir Director Amy Junger, have a daughter named Olivia.

Jason O’Brien ‘97 was promoted to Staff Sergeant in the United States Marines. Ja-son has served on Active Duty since 2003, serving in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (24th MEU), and Operation Unified Re-sponse (Haiti Humanitarian Relief). Jason and his wife, Sarah, reside in Pensacola, FL, with their three children, Ethan, Evan, and Elijah.

Katie Burke Brewer ’98 is the Vice President of Loss Mitigation at GMAC Mortgage, with responsibility over both the non-conforming and GSE Liquidations. She is responsible for the oversight of all GMAC liquidation activities including Short Sales, Deeds in Lieu and Charge Offs. She leads the people, process and technology related to GMAC’s liquidation strategy and perfor-mance.

Julia Stackler ’99 recently started her own handbag business, called Darlington Origi-nals. After graduating from Bishop Kelley, she earned a Communication degree from Loyola and an MBA from the University of Il-linois. She was recently featured in Loyola’s magazine. www.darlingtonoriginals.com

Melissa Powell ’99 set a world record in the women’s 220-pound division with a 253-pound lift at the World Association of Benchers and Deadlifters competition on Nov. 1-6 in Reno, NV.

Eilis O’Neal Smith ’99 published a book in January 2011 called The False Princess. In the acknowledgements she gives credit to her BK English teacher, Kathy Scribner. Eilis is a headliner at an event to raise money and awareness for the Tulsa City-County Library’s Ruth G. Hardman Adult Literacy Service.

Zinke Designs is owned and was founded by Arin Zinke Robinson ’99 and Jessie Zin-ke ’01. Hannah Cole ’01 is the West Coast Sales Director and Jen Clark Kerckhoff ’00 is the East Coast Sales Director.

Kyle Burke ’00 earned an MBA from Har-vard in May, 2011. Kyle is a Senior Associ-ate for ClearLightPartners. He and his wife Heather married in July 2011 and moved to Newport Beach, CA.

Erin Ryan ’01 is a Physical Therapist at Summit Pediatric Therapies.

Bobby Tweedy ’01 is working at Mathis Brothers in Tulsa.

Lesley Reding Maxwell ’01 is a dentist; her office is located at 71st & Sheridan in Tulsa.

Alex Robinson ’01 is an associate Land-man for Chesapeake Energy in Canton, OH.

Kay Rodgers ’01 is a pediatric resident at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas.

Tyler Miller ’01 is a Materials and Process Engineer at Nordam in Tulsa.

Mollie Morehead ’01 is a clinical dietitian at St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa.

Jeff Herrmann ’01 graduated from KU and was a tax account at Associated Whole-sale Grocers. He is currently the CFO for Amanda’s Dance Academy.

Devin Hinds ’01 is a Petroleum Landman in Parkersburg, WV after serving in the U.S. Army.

Samantha Howard ’01 earned a Veterinary Technician degree at TCC and has worked for Oklahoma Veterinary Specialists.

John Walls ’01 is Director of Global Brand Public Relations for Hilton Worldwide in Memphis.

Mandy McClendon Marshall ’01 is a Speech Language Pathologist at Summit Pediatric Therapies in Claremore. Lissa Kivisto ’01 is the Owner/Director of Gallery KH in Chicago. Lissa studied at Sotheby’s Institute of Art and the University of Kansas.


Members of the Class of 1972.


Stephen Knox ’01 is a dentist at The Dental Depot, located at 21st & Sheridan in Tulsa. He is a graduate of the OU College of Dentistry. He and his wife Jeni have two sons, Riley and Ryker.

Jake Murrell, III ’01 and his wife Anna Marie live in Breckenridge, CO. They have a son Jonah, (Joseph Wendell Murrell IV) born in September 2010.

Landon Nalley ’01 is an Analytics Consul-tant at Wells Fargo in St.Louis.

Freddy Chambers’01 is a member of the Tulsa Fire Department.

James Clark ’01 works at Chesapeake in Oklahoma City. He and his wife Sarah are the parents of Henry James Clark, born in April, 2012.

Laura Fritz ’01 works in Marketing and Sales at Certol.

Ashlea Gartling ’01 is a Medical Technolo-gist at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

David Carlton ’01 lives in Little Rock and works in Medical Sales.

Kathleen Ellison Nicholas ’01 is a Speech Pathologist at Parks Edge Nursing Center in Tulsa.

Kelly Huber Myers ’01 is a Fund Rais-ing Event Planner for Parkside Psychiatric Hospital and Clinic in Tulsa. She and her husband Aaron have a son, AJ.

Natalie Hambric Osgood ‘01 is the Opera-tions Analyst at Video Gaming Technolo-gies.

Bethany Curtis Francis ’01 earned a phar-macy degree from OU and is now a doctor of pharmacy.

Chris deVerges ’01 works in IT for a small oil and gas company.

Sarah deVerges ’01 is a seventh grade teacher at Kelly Middle School in Fayette-ville, AR.

Erin Blohm ’01 is an attorney at Walker Ferguson and Ferguson in OKC.

Katie Blohm ’01 is earning a Master de-gree in Social Studies Education at OU.

Olivia Rzepczynski ’01 attended Emory University in Atlanta. She is currently a Digital Consultant at Ogilvy in London.

Ginny Albert Bullock ’01 was in the Oklahoma Magazine 40 under 40. She is a landman in Tulsa at New Dominion.

Eileen Meyer ’01 has completed work on her Ph.D. in Astrophysics and will begin work at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore in October 2012. The Institute handles the engineering and science for the Hubble Space Telescope and the upcoming replacement, the James Webb Space Telescope.

LeeAnne Pepper ’02 is a fifth grade sci-ence teacher at KIPP Academy in Tulsa.

Bryan Schooley ’02 and GreenHouse Clothing business were “Thunder” struck. His company’s OKC Thunder t-shirts were featured on KOTV-6 news during the NBA finals. Bryan opened a store across from BKHS in Highland Plaza. His wife, Mandi, teaches at Bishop Kelley.

Bailey Austin ’02 is an architect/owner at Austin Bean Design Studio. She designed the current BK girls locker room renovation.

James Clancy ’02 joined the faculty at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory School in Houston. He is the Head Football Coach, an Assistant Track Coach, and a member of Social Studies Department. James earned a BS in Education with a Minor in History from OSU and aMaster’s in Educa-tion Administration from Lamar University. James attended the University of Tulsa for two years where he played fullback and tight end.

Paul Bouakadakis ’02 has a new company

called Airloom Entertainment - Purveyors of Fine Moving Pictures. www.airlooment.com.

Conor Cleary’02 and Barret Roush ‘04 were honored as “Tulsa New Leaders” by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The event was chaired by Ashley Casillas ‘04.

Melissa Fulton ’02 joined the Tulsa division of Metal Panels Inc. She has experience in marketing, communications and customer service.

Audrey Kallenberger ’02 is a copywriter at Bloomingdales in New York City.

Melissa King Ruths ’02 is the Business Development Manager at Emerson Electric Company. She studied at MIT and lives in Singapore, where her husband Justin is an assistant professor at the Singapore University of Technology and Design.

Susanne Forler ’03 was given the Referee of the Year Award by the Oklahoma Soccer Association.

Geoffrey Hale, Jr. ’03 graduated from OSU and is a geologist with Avalon Exploration, Inc. and a world champion arm wrestler.

Eric Adkins ’04 is a May 2012 graduate of the OU College of Pharmacy. Eric joined the Air Force; he and his wife Jenna live in Las Vegas.

Kelly Mercer ’04 and Shelly Bowles Mer-cer ‘04 have been accepted into a 4-year residency program at the University of Ala-bama at Birmingham. Kelly’s residency is in Anesthesiology and Shelly’s is in Pediatrics.

Caitlin Cleary ’04, a 2011 graduate of the International Studies MS program at Oklahoma State University, was awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Turkey for 2012-2013. Caitlin has trav-eled extensively in Latin America, including three visits to Honduras. Caitlin is fluent in Spanish, and is currently learning Arabic and Turkish. She received a BA in 2008 from the University of Tulsa in film produc-tion and anthropology. She has been teaching English as a second language at OSU’s English Language Institute and the Family Resource Center for the past year while moonlighting as a drum instructor. Upon the completion of her award, Caitlin plans to pursue a career in international disaster management.

Justin Yozzo ’04 is an English Oral Com-muncation Teacher in•Okazaki-shi, Aichi, Japan. He majored in East Asian Studies at OU.

Brother Joel with the Class of 1982.


Sarah Dicks ’04 was honored as one of TCC’s Best of the Best! Sarah is a youth minister at Saint Bernard of Clairvaux Par-ish and an assistant volleyball coach for the Comets.

Patrick Jones ’04 is a member of the Oklahoma Defenders in the APFL league. Patrick was a standout basketball player at BK and played basketball collegiately at St. Gregory’s University in Shawnee.

Annie Dill Maitland ‘05 is a Reading Spe-cialist who works for the University Provost and the Athletic Department at Southern Methodist University.

Melissa Miller ’05 was been accepted into the OU College of Pharmacy in Tulsa for fall of 2012.

Kaycee O’Brien ’05 graduated from Texas A&M University at College Station in 2009 with a B.A. in English and a minor in his-tory. She graduated from Texas State Uni-versity in San Marcos in 2012 with an M.A. in English Literature and is currently in an alternative teaching certification program.

Kristin Treager ’05 is a Director for the Board of Advocates, a student-run organiza-tion at the University of Tulsa College of Law.

Grads teaching at All Saints Catholic School in Broken Arrow include Connie Turmelle ’06, Hannah Scalet ’06, John Simons ’06, Leigh Anne Joyce ’07, and Tracy Ritchie ’08. Anne Scalet ’78 is the Principal.

Lauryn Bohls ‘05 was given a Citizen Appreciation Award from the Tulsa Police Department for her role in saving a 4-year-old boy in November 2011.

Dallas Keuchel ‘06 is pitching for the Houston Astros.

Alex Schulte ‘06, who was a 3-time State Champion when she played Comet golf, turned pro this year. Alex plays in 25 tournaments over the summer and fall. She created a foundation to encourage Native American youth to participate in sports, especially golf.

Olivia Thomas ’07 will represent 90210 for Miss California USA 2013. She is an actress and model. Olivia graduated from Boston University. She was recently crowned Miss Beverly Hills USA.

Molly O’Connor ’07 was a summer intern researcher at Madhyam Foundation in Bhu-baneswar, India. She is a graduate student at American University in Washington, DC.

Rosa Marruffo ‘07 graduated from Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts and taught in American Samoa for the 2011-12 school year on an island with a population of 450.

Kelsey Mirando ’07 is an Executive Edito-rial Assistant at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia in NYC. She graduated from the University of Missouri in 2011.

Audrey Ellsworth ’07 is a Neonatal Inten-sive Care Nurse at Cook’s Childrens Medi-cal Center in Ft. Worth. She is a graduate of Texas Christian University.

Kali Carter, ‘07 is a Marketing Assistant at Insurance Solutions by Irwin Agency in New York City. Kali graduated from the OU Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Parker Frazier’07 is a pitcher for the Tulsa Drillers.

Thomas Pynn ‘07 traveled to Spain in Sep-tember to walk on the Camino de Santiago, the Way of St. James.

Adley Stump ’07 is pursuing a music career from her home in Nashville. Adley was featured on NBC’s “The Voice.” She performed at the BK Auction and surprised BK students with a performance in April. She is also the host of “Get Stumped”, a web-based series. Adley was a BK cheer-leader and is one of the youngest interna-tional cheer judges in the world. Adley is a graduate of OSU.

Peter Elliott ’07 graduated from Univ. of Texas-Dallas in computer science, with a minor in political science. He works at JP Morgan in Dallas. Anne Farrell ’07 is playing professional

basketball in Bulgaria for the RILSKI SPORTIST SAMOKOV team.

Channing Barker ’07 joined KNWA in North-west Arkansas as a news producer/reporter.

Galen Huxall ’08 graduated from Baker University in May 2012 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Molecular Bioscience.

Garner Lanier ’08 teaches for the Teach for America program in Tulsa.

Garrett Larsen ’08 will graduate from UT-Dallas in December 2012 with double major in Pre-Med/Electrical Engineering.

Darwin Roman ’08 started OU medical school in August 2011. He graduated from OU in May 2011 Suma Cum Laude with 4.0. He finished his pre-med in three years.

Jordan Scribner ’08 is beginning the M.Ed in Higher Education program at the University of Arkansas. She graduated from Cameron University in May after studying in Europe in spring 2012.

Maria Copp ’08 is a Teach for America teacher in San Antonio. Maria graduated from TU May 2012 in Sociology and French. At TU, she was on Homecoming Court 2011 and spent a semester abroad in Cameroon.

Mary Dill ’09, a senior at Southern Methodist University, completed a summer internship at the George W. Bush Presiden-tial Center.

Brennan Fox ’09 is the Vice President of Operations, Student Membership Program at University of North Carolina General Alumni Association.

The Bishop Kelley Class of 1977 met at Leon’s, owned by BK grad J.L. Lewis ’96.

Hillary Hassink ‘09 is in the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing Accelerated Class of 2013. She is studying pediatric oncology.

Amanda Hurney ’09 is a Merchandising Manager at Savvy on Campus Corner in Norman and studies Business Entrepre-neurship at OU. She is a model for the Anthony David Agency.

Matt Reynolds ’09 was drafted in the sec-ond round (71st overall) of the MLB Draft by the New York Mets.

Kristen Ritchie ’09 participated in an OSU entrepreneur program in South Africa sum-mer 2012.

Laurent Zenoni ’09, Drury University, was named The Great Lakes Valley Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week in April 2012.

Joe Proszek ’10 Joe was named editor in chief of the College Sports section of the www.mizzourahblog.com website.

Kaitlin Bettinger ’10 attends Nursing School at the University of Arkansas.

Matthew Cunningham ’10, Notre Dame Class of 2014 business major, is the co-creator of a research project aimed at making the game day atmosphere in Notre Dame Stadium more exciting, energetic and intimidating.

Eleanor Humphrey ’10 is in an accapella group in St. Louis and is minoring in music and majoring in theology.

Mike Major ‘10 is one of three BK grads who attends Princeton University and plays Tiger Football. (Mark Hayes ‘09, Alex Pow-ell ‘11) Mike is the the Vice-President of Princeton Football Uplifting Athletes, which partners college football teams with specif-ic rare diseases to increase awareness and raise funds. Princeton’s fundraising event, Lift For Life, raises money and provides an opportunity for donors and participants to join together in support of Aplastic Anemia patients.

Amy Petrikin, ’10 was named 2011 Aca-demic All-Big 12 second team honoree for women’s soccer.

Claire Shelton ’11 is a copy editor and opinion writer for the TCU Daily Skiff.

Joey Copp ’11 is a member of the Notre Dame Glee Club. Joey was the student con-ductor for the alma mater when the group performed in Tulsa, March 2012.

Emily Farbro ’11 was one of 12 students chosen to sing with the KU jazz choir She is studying music therapy and enjoying her classes.Cameron O’Brien ’11 , University of Louisville, was featured on a YouTube video,”Diamond Dialogue”, filmed for the opening of the Louisville Cardinals 2012 season. Cameron O’Brien ‘11 played sum-mer baseball in Keene, NH. The local paper wrote a story on Cameron and his unique upbringing in a baseball family.

Andi Powers ’11 is studying music perfor-mance at OSU and is enjoying the classes and the choir department.

Josh Ramos ’11 posted his second-highest score of the season when the No. 11 Air Force men’s gymnastics team defeated No. 15 Army, 334.000-326.500, on Feb. 24, 2012 in West Point, N.Y. Josh Ramos, Corbin Palmer and James Okamoto com-bined to win four of the six event titles, as the Falcons bettered the Black Knights for the second straight week. Ramos won the floor exercise (14.700) and parallel bars (14.900).

Cooper Weyland ’11 was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal in the U.S. Marines, effective February 1, 2012.

Thomas Ritchie ’11 is a cadet at West Point Military Academy. He joins cadets Sean McIlroy ’09 and Adam Pasque ’10.

Murphy Mitchell ’11 is writing for the Daily O’Collegian at OSU.

VOCATIONSRev. Stephen Cotter ‘94 was ordained in Baltimore for the Archdiocese of the Military on 9 June, 2012. He will serve the pastoral needs of the members of the U.S, military. This is one of his great joys in ministry, as the spiritual needs of our service members are great.

Rev. Sean Donovan ‘99 was ordained a priest on June 30, 2012. He is the new As-sociate Pastor St. Thomas More Tulsa. He has spent the last five years at the Pontifi-cal North American College in Rome.

Andy Kmetz ’02 joined the Institute of the In-carnate Word (IVE) to discern a calling to the priesthood. This is the same order his twin, Sister Servant of the Cross (Angela ’02), entered. Andy graduated from the Air Force Academy in 2006 and served for five years.

Vince Fernandez ’10, is a seminarian for the Diocese of Tulsa at St. John Vianney in Minneapolis, MN.

David Carvajal ’11 was accepted as a seminarian of the Diocese of Tulsa. He cur-rently is studying at Holy Trinity Seminary at the University of Dallas.

WEDDINGSJessica Mouske Kennedy ’94 married Bryan Kennedy in December 2011.

Mindy Anne Hynes ‘97 and Dan Alan Hargesheimer were married Nov. 5, 2011, in Provedenciales, Turks & Caicos.

Brian Christopher Drouillard ’99 married Jennifer Lynn Mann in January 2012. He graduated from Christian Brothers Uni-versity in Memphis and the University of Tennessee College of Dentistry. They live in Ft. Smith, AR.

Laura Elizabeth Cooper ‘00 and Todd Alan Bryant were married July 30, 2011, at Sharp Chapel in Tulsa.

Lauren Fleischner Manfred, D.D.S., MS’01 and Brian Manfred were married on May 12, 2012 at Holy Family Cathedral, with Fr. Brian O’Brien officiating. Lauren and Brian live in Newport Beach, CA.

Matt Land ’01 married Katie Campion on Oct. 8, 2011, at St. Paul’s Chapel at Columbia University in New York City. He is a vice president of Universal Field Services.

Josh Rogiers ’02 married Kate Gibson Dec. 16, 2011, at Holy Family Cathedral. Fr. Jack Gleason was the celebrant.

Dante Yohe ‘02 married Mimi Mengis on May 12, 2012, at Holy Family Cathedral in Tulsa. Mimi works at Laureate in Tulsa. Dante is in the U.S. Army.


John Dowdell ‘73, +Terry Clark ‘79, and Jason Staurovsky ‘81 were inducted into the Bishop Kelley Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011. Mary Ellen Arp Clark ‘78 accepted the award in Terry’s memory. The 2012 Inductees are Ray Roso’86, Mike Gilpin’70, Keith Nix ’87, Melissa Powell ’99, Dr. Carl Raczkowski ’81, and Susan Furr.


Alumni Return To Kelley

as TeachersBy Scott Love ‘14

One of the many things that sets Bishop Kelley apart from other schools in Oklahoma is the number of alumni faculty and staff.

One out of five faculty and staff members at Bishop Kelley is an alumnus. For a number of reasons, alumni staff and faculty are important.

“Having alumni on staff shows students that Bishop Kelley is a community as well as a school,” said Father O’Brien. “Alumni are better adapted to the environment of Bishop Kelley because they already have four years of being a part of the Kelley community.”

There are currently 20 alumni faculty and staff at Bish-op Kelley, ranging from a ’68 graduate to an ’07 gradu-ate, with a variety of alumni faculty and staff in between.

Dean of student activities, Mr. Gary Oberste ‘70 said “Alumni are the amazing dedicated adults who work to make sure the students enjoy and have memorable high school years.”

Mr. Oberste’s wife, Jane Oberste ‘77, is also a Kelley graduate and currently serves as director of admissions.

Students at Kelley love alumni faculty and staff, too. “I feel like I can relate to alumni teachers better

because they know what going to high school at Bishop Kelley is like,” said junior Adam Perez.

Their time at Kelley is what made many teachers want to come back.

“I had such a great experience at Kelley that during my first semester as a freshman, I decided I wanted to work at Kelley.” Mr. Oberste said.

Father O’Brien explained “Alumni staff members are easier to hire because they already understand how Kel-ley works.”

Journalism teacher Bailey McBride explains “I had many teachers at Kelley that inspired me to become a teacher.” Ms. McBride, who is an ’07 graduate, is the youngest alumni currently working at Kelley.

The alumni faculty and staff loved Bishop Kelley so much when they were in high school, they came back to work here. This dedication to Bishop Kelley and the stu-dents of Bishop Kelley is amazing and shows how much the faculty and staff care about the students.

“Alumni are part of the history of Bishop Kelley,” said Father O’Brien. “Alumni can see how much Bishop Kelley has changed and evolved since they went here, and can tell the students what their high school experience at Kelley was like.

“It is a great feeling to see former students come back,” said Father O’Brien.

Jay Albert ‘03 and Melanie Thomas ‘04 were married on October 30, 2011 at Christ the King in Oklahoma City. Fr. Rick Stansberry presided and Fr. O’Brien concelebrated. Alums in attendance were Michael Cromwell, Blake Area, Jordy Albert, Roni Watson, Ginny Albert-Bullock, Joe Bullock, Megan Schaunaman, and Elizabeth Dickson Scott.

Marjorie Fritz ’03 married Zachary Guy in May 2012 in New York City. She is employed by Barclays Wealth.

Claire Yadon ’03 and Matthew Jay were married May 14, 2011, at Christ the King Catholic Church in Tulsa. She is a special edu-cation teacher with the Jenks Public Schools.

Madeline McCarthy ’04 and KJ Matthew Christopher Kollaja mar-ried on Sept. 30, 2011 at Christ the King Church. They reside in Portland, OR.

Krista Keuchel ’04 married W. Shane Norrid on Nov. 12, 2011, at St. Pius X Church in Tulsa, OK. Krista graduated from OSU and the OU College of Nursing and is an ER Nurse at St. John Medical Center.

Garrett Holmes ’05 married Esther Heimbach in Dallas on June 30, 2012.

Heather Ingram ’05 married Erik Livingston at Holy Family Cathe-dral on May 26, 2012. Heather is an Investor Relations Analyst at ONEOK in Tulsa.

Taylor O’Brien ‘05 married Kasi Gordon in Stillwater on Sept. 8, 2012.

Emily Reavis ’05 married Jarod Henderson on November 19, 2011. Emily graduated from Depauq University.

Lindsey Fishpaw ’05 married Ashley Clark “AC” Collins on Dec. 10, 2011. She is a personal banker with Bank of America. She attended the University of Oklahoma and Northeastern State University. AC is a crew leader with Valmont Industries.

Carolyn O’Connor ‘06 married Lee Von Tungeln at Holy Family Cathedral on Sept. 22, 2012.

John Simons ’06 married Jill McFee on June 2, 2012.

Mary Smith ’06 married Alex Paulison on Sept. 10, 2011.

Laura Klenda ’07 married Zach Johnson in May 2012. They live in Houston.

Katherine Turner ’06 married Josh Vuocolo on August 4, 2012. She earned a degree in Special Education and teaches at Little Lighthouse in Tulsa.

Emily Ortiz ’07 married Steven Madsen in June 2012. Emily was an assistant frosh basketball coach for the 2011-12 Comets. Abby Lewis ‘08 married Ryan Ramsayer in August 2012. Andrea ’09 and Amy Lewis ’09 were maids of honor. Abby graduated from OSU with a B.S. in Accounting. She is a Credit Analyst with Intrust Bank in Wichita.

Lauren Pasque’ 08 married Hans Kobor on June 30, 2012 at the Church of St. Mary in Tulsa. They met at West Point and hope to be deployed to Hawaii. Lauren participated in Model United Na-tions at Bishop Kelley and West Point.

Kelsey Creekmore ‘11 married Anthony Hill ‘11 on December 26, 2011. They live in Fort Bragg, NC.

BABIESKristi (Hansen) ’92 and Rob Grisaffe ’92 welcomed their fourth child, Luke Robert on Feb 24, 2012. His big sisters are Aubrei, Julia and Kayli Grace. Rob is beginning a new three-year term on the Bishop Kelley Advisory Council.

Deena Gadallah D’Acquisto ‘93 and her husband had a baby boy named Dominic in October 2011.

Eric Wolking ’93 and his wife, Jessica, had twins named August and Harper in October 2011.

Tim Govier ’95 and his wife, Shannon, wel-comed their third child, Preston James, on February 24, 2012. Preston’s big brothers are Joshua and Owen.

J.W. Craft ’95 his wife, Mollie, had their fourth child, daughter Lachlan Love Craft on August 17, 2011.

Adam ‘00 and Jaime (DeDeyne) ‘98 Stoermer with big sister Ella welcomed baby Matilda in September 2011. Adam is teaching Theology at Cascia Hall and Jaime is teaching at Marquette.

Rick Dwyer ’98 and his wife Andrea welcomed a baby girl, Bevin Dwyer on November-30,-2011. Rick is completing his medical residency in Boston.

Caroline Craft Fiddes ’98 and her hus-band, Mark, had a baby girl on November 27, 2011.- Baby Brooke was welcomed by her two big brothers. They live in Charlotte, NC.

Suzanne Collins Yonkers ’98 and her hus-band Adam welcomed their son, Connor, in February 2011.

Gabe Braselton ’99 attended the Bishop Kelley Kansas City Gathering in January 2012. He and his wife Mara are the par-ents of Vince “Brady” Braselton, born July 15, 2011.

Abbie (Otterstrom) ’99 and Cody Andrus ’99 welcomed baby Will in June 2011.

Amy Blum ’01 and her husband Eric welcomed twins Hannah Lynn and Zachary Thomas on May 17, 2012.

Rachel Spitza Aikins ‘01 and her husband James welcomed their son, James Alan Aikins II, in December, 2011.

Katy Kelley Roberson ’01 and her hus-band, Scott, had a daughter named Kelley,

born March 4, 2012.

Cristin O’Connor Shelby ’01 and her husband Bill, are the parents of Kate Olivia, born January 26, 2012 and her big brother Eli. They operate Shelby-Ross Farms with their family. Some of their produce is sold at Reasors and the Cherry Street Farmers Market.

Larin Huntze Payne ’01 and her husband, Josh, welcomed their first child, Reina Eliza-beth, in June 2011.

Vic Poole III ‘04 and his wife had a baby girl, Nichole Kateri Poole, born Tuesday Sept. 13, 2011.

Anna Connor Brown ’09 and her husband Jake have a daughter, Emily, born March 2012.

Do you have alumni news to share? Please send it to [email protected]. Thank you!


Kathleen Ann Sullivan ’65 entered eter-nal life on Oct. 30, 2011. She was one of Bishop Kelley’s most ardent supporters.

She was a Bishop Kelley Hall of Fame member and a charter member of the Bishop Kelley Athletic Hall of Fame. “Aunt Kathie” was very active in the Kelley com-munity and was a fixture at basketball games as scorekeeper, unsolicited advisor to the coaches and official distributor of chewing gum.

Kathie attended Marquette Grade School, was a proud graduate of Bishop Kelley High School Class of 1965, and Oklahoma State University. She was Direc-tor of Customer Service at Avis Budget for 32 years.

She was beloved by many family mem-bers and friends in the BK community, including the Dee, Sullivan, and Vandruff families. Kathie was a lifetime member of Christ the King Parish.

The Kathie Sullivan Scholarship was established at Bishop Kelley.

IN MEMORY OF KATHIE SULLIVAN ’65 We pray for our alumni who have entered eternal life in the past year, and for peace and comfort for their

friends and families.

ROGER BOLTON ’61JANE JAKUBOWSKI LOONEY-DARR ’65

KATHIE SULLIVAN ’65TOM WILSON ’69

PATRICIA DUFFY KANE ’70ROBERT DAY ’71

JUDY ALLEN WICKHAM ’72NAN HECKENKEMPER ’74

JOHN TITUS ’74MIKE ROHLMAN ’75

KATHY BRADLEY PORTER ’77SUSAN UHREN GAWEY ’82TERRY WALTERBACH ’82J. PATRICK BRADLEY ’84

JAKE JAMISON ’92KEVIN GABEL ’93ELLEN RUNGE ’96

CHRIS HOWARD ’99LAUREN CHEVALIER “LO” DETRICH ’03

CHANTEL EVANS ’07ANNA COOK ’13


First Impressions of Bishop Kelley

Whether you are a current parent, alumni parent and/or a BK alumnus, you already know that Bishop Kelley is a very special place. When Father O’Brien hired me to be Director of Ad-

vancement and leave behind “My Old Kentucky Home” and my position of Senior Director of Major Gifts at the University of Kentucky, I knew I was going to a wonderful educational insti-tution, but at the time, I didn’t know just how wonderful.

After my wife, three daughters, and I drove 800 miles west to Tulsa on June 7, I hit the ground running at BK the following day. Here, I found an administration that truly cares about the students, faculty, and staff. From the visionary leadership of Father O’Brien to the steadfast hands of Bishop Kelley institu-tion Gary Oberste along with many others, I discovered a truly amazing team of professionals who are constantly looking for ways to improve the school.

On August 6, I was lucky enough to watch many of the upperclassman give a hands-on welcome to the incoming freshman class. It was a personal touch that exemplified the family experience that most every BK student feels during his or her four years here. And I talked with a number of students, all of whom mentioned how much they were looking forward to the upcoming school year. You don’t usually find that kind of student connection with a school.

And then the teachers arrived on Aug. 9 and I learned about the recently-retired Dee Anne Short, current teacher Ken Coughlin and other legendary faculty members who helped last year’s juniors and seniors reach new heights in AP test scores and stand at or near the top, not only among Oklahoma high schools, but nationally as well. And if BK turned out an astounding 14 National Merit Semi-finalists this year and nine 2012 National Merit Scholars, consider how many other amazing students also benefited from the great faculty here at Kelley as is evidenced by the vast array of top flight universities who admitted our most recent graduates.

My job as the new Director of Advancement at Bishop Kelley is to draw you, the parents and alumni of the school, back to campus—as often as possible--so that you can see the amaz-ing academic, spiritual, and social growth being achieved by BK students some 52 years after the school first opened its doors. While our students may have grown up in a more urban society and with much more technology than their parents and grandparents, they are still the same, amazing young people who will go on to have great success in college and beyond.

I would strongly encourage you to come back to campus and experience Bishop Kelley. You might even bring a non-BK parent who may be looking for a great learning environment that stresses high moral values. Please know that we are look-ing for new students 24/7/365.

Our school has two main revenue streams: One is through tuition income so we respectfully ask for your help in attract-ing students to fill the open seats we have today. That tuition income would have a huge, positive impact on BK. And I would also ask that you consider how you might be able to give back to Bishop Kelley. Do you see a campus need that you or a group of your friends could help fund? Do you know people of means or foundations who are already making major gifts elsewhere and might also support Bishop Kelley if they were asked by you or by me? If so, please let me know as I want to generate private gifts for BK that will change the lives of cur-rent students and those who will follow them.

Bishop Kelley is a very special place. Could it improve? Absolutely, but in order to make it an even better place for stu-dents to grow academically, athletically, spiritually, and socially, we need your help. Someone much wiser than me once said that if you’re not growing, you’re dying. So what can you do to impact the lives of students at Bishop Kelley?

Feel free to contact me at the office at 918.609.7115 or on my mobile phone at 918.949.8872 or via email at [email protected]. I welcome your input and support and know that the student body at Bishop Kelley also appreciates the sacrifices you make.

Bishop Kelley Welcomes New Finance and Advancement Directors!Doug Thomas

Director of AdvancementDoug Thomas moved to Tulsa and Bishop Kelley with eight years of expe-rience in the University of Kentucky Of-fice of Development, where he was the Senior Director for Major Gifts. Doug earned a B.S. in Agricultural Communi-cations from Kentucky and a Masters in Mass Communication from Oklahoma State Universi-ty. He served as President of the St. Mary School Board in Lexington, KY and on the parent board at Lexington Catholic High School. Doug and Nancy Thomas have three daughters who attend OSU.

Rick MustoDirector of Finance

Rick Musto came to BK from IC of Oklahoma, a division of Navistar, which is the nation’s largest manufacturer of school buses. Rick has an MBA from Oklahoma State University. He and his wife Robin have four children, Jacob, Bishop Kelley Class of 2014,

and three at Marquette School. As a former student and current parent in Catholic schools, he understands the faith, education, and financial aspects of Bishop Kelley’s role as a diocesan Lasallian school.

By Doug Thomas, Director of Advancement

BISHOP KELLEY HIGH SCHOOL3905 S. Hudson Ave.Tulsa, OK 74135

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDTulsa, OK

Permit No. 88

Bishop Kelley Has 14 National Merit Semi-Finalists!

Bishop Kelley has more National Merit Semi-Finalists than any private or public school in Oklahoma, except for OSSM, which has selected admission boarding students. This is the most National Merit Semi-Finalists for Bishop Kelley High School in a single year.

Commended Scholars have demonstrated high achievement. Semi-Finalists have demonstrated high achievement and now be-gin the process of becoming National Merit Finalists. In 2010 and 2012, all Bishop Kelley Semi-Finalists were also named Finalists. Congratulations to these outstanding students, their families, and teachers!

National Merit Semi-Finalists: Aaron Alonso, Marie Anderson, Audra Brulc, Emma Copp, Stephen Duke, James Hillenbrand, Katie Kientz, Matthew Marra, Autumn McBride, Madison Moseley, Kelsey

Ritchie, Trevor Snapp, Gabby Steinl, William Warner

National Merit Commended Students: Lota Ezenwa, Alex Hinkle, Emily Nole. National Hispanic Scholars: Aaron Alonso, Audra Brulc, Madison Moseley.

H-Building Renamed “Dee Anne Short Art Center”

On Sept. 19, 2012, former and current teachers and students joined Father O’Brien in celebrating former art teacher Dee Ann Short and her 40 years of commitment to Bishop Kelley. The decision to rename the H-Building in honor of Mrs. Short was announced at the Faculty year-end gathering in May.

At the blessing ceremony, Father O’Brien read Matthew 5:16 and said, “If there was ever anyone who let their light shine for others, it was Dee Anne.”

Class of 2013 National Merit Semi-Finalists and Commended Students. James Hillenbrand and Gabby Steinl not pictured.

ambassador magazine 2012

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