Eastern Oklahoma Catholic July/August 2010 : Page 19
tunity to raise some money to get a few more kids in the door. Seeing those stu-dents in the halls is extremely rewarding, knowing they are getting a great Catholic education at Kelley. What changes/additions have you made – do you have daily Mass, regu-lar confessions? Is it awkward for a student to go to confession to the man who is the head of his or her school? Most of the changes have been to strengthen Kelley’s Catholic identity. We do have Mass every day, which we hadn’t had for a long time. We have weekly con-fession available, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament once a month for the entire school day, and we have made a bigger push for vocations promotion among the students. In addition to our prayer that begins each class, we also pray at the end of the school day. Lastly, beginning in the fall, we are implementing a new theology curriculum. It is from the U.S. Confer-ence of Catholic Bishops, and we will be one of the first high schools in the nation to implement it. Knowing we have limited resources, there have been other changes at the personnel level to become a more effi-cient school. I’ve also tried to reinvigorate school spirit across the campus. We have a long way to go there, but have made some progress. I’d love to get a mascot, but we just can’t afford it right now! As for confessions, I don’t hear the confessions of any student, teacher or staff member. That came on the advice of several experienced priests who said it can create some cloudy situations. So the priests of the Diocese have been a huge help in this regard on Tuesday afternoons and during Advent and Lent. A Bishop Kelley advisory board member told me that he wonders if it’s hard to function both as a discipli-narian – with the inevitable friction when a student has to be disciplined – while still having to raise enough money from the parents? Our dean of students, Jeff Pratt, does a great job with discipline. We strive for a good balance of letting kids be kids and have fun at school with also having a dis-ciplined environment in which to learn and pray. I get involved in only the most serious cases of discipline and am guided by our Student/Parent Handbook, so de-cisions are mostly pre-determined. There are always sticky situations where the right decision is not always crystal clear, but I pray and try to make the best deci-sions possible for the good of the student and the school. I’ve not found that this gets in the way of fundraising. What has been the reaction to the 50th anniversary events for the broad-er community, especially alumni? It has been very positive. The 50th an-niversary has bolstered our spirits and brought a ton of alums back on campus for the first time in years. We have a long way to go with our alumni relations be-cause we have a limited budget, and there are about 7,500 alums to track and be in touch with, but this year has helped sig-nificantly. I think our current students take more pride in the school knowing more about our history. They will never forget that they were here for our 50th year. In your spare time – if you have spare time – what do you enjoy doing? I like to read, play basketball and watch basketball. I don’t have a lot of spare time, but feel that I’m beginning to find a balance. When you visit with students at lunch, it is as if you just pick up conversations where they left off. We have a great relationship because they know I care about them. It’s hard to know 845 students by name and to know what’s going on in all their lives, but I try to let them know that I care about them a lot and am here for them when they need me. I try to care for them by caring for the school and making it the best place it can be for their four years here.
Publication List
