Kelley Welcomes Feilmeier
Photo Credit: Max Sanders
Mr. Feilmeier laughs in his office located in the Business Office.
Todd Fernandez
September 13, 2011
Filed under Feature, Top Stories
STATE. Sometimes talking agitates teachers excessively? Sad tiger attempts to exercise? Sweaty Tom always takes eggs? STATE does not stand for any of these, but does stand for the goal new Bishop Kelley principal, Mr. Curt Feilmeier, wants students to aim for.
Nebraska native Mr. Feilmeier created this slogan, which actually stands for “students taking achievement to excellence,” as a way to motivate and energize the Kelley community.
“I made it up,” Feilmeier said. “Just merely doing an activity doesn’t constitute achievement; you’ve got to earn what you get in life. I’m just challenging the students of Bishop Kelley to take it to the next level. That’s why I came here, because that’s what I heard Bishop Kelley students do.”
Feilmeier is very familiar with Lasallian education from his high school of Cedar Catholic in his hometown Hartington, Nebraska, to being a graduate of the Lasallian Leadership Institute, a program that instills Lasallian teachings in personal and professional lives.
“I learned about Kelley back in 2003,” Feilmeier said, “and met Gary Oberste, Mark Chambers, Jeff Pratt [and] Maureen Lawler. We met through the Lasallian Leadership Institiute and we kept in touch personally and professionally. When the position of principal came up, they contacted me.”
Before he could become principal, Feilmeier had to go through a long interview procedure.
“I went through a national search process and then a six-step interview. The six-step interview piece involved meeting with parents, students, faculty, administration, Fr. O’Brien and a search committee,” Feilmeier said.
As principal, Mr. Feilmeier has a number of tasks assigned to him to assit the administration at Kelley. According to the faculty handbook, the job of the principal is to “assume responsibility for the academic affairs of the school.”
“Specifically it’s observation of teachers, working with student activities, student discipline, athletics and curriculum development,” Feilmeier said.
Feilmeier has not “experienced the educational zeal that [he] is experiencing at Bishop Kelley in comparison to the other schools [he] has worked at,” he said. But he still wants to work on having students highly prepared for college and to improve curriculum.
“Technology will play a role in that,” Feilmeier said. “Whether that’s students learning technology or the teachers using technology for student learning.”
During his first few weeks here, Feilmeier has felt Kelley has taken him in with open arms.
“Everyone has been extremely welcoming to me, very friendly. Everyone has made me feel a part of the family, a part of the Bishop Kelley family,” Feilmeier said.
Mr Feilmeier says he is growing accustomed to Tulsa. It’s “hot, but there are shows, shopping [and] places to eat; there’s a lot of different things to do.”
Feilmeier is looking forward to “getting to meet the kids and students and helping meet their talents and gifts.”
“I love seeing students grow in regard to their talent and skills. I just think that’s just neat to see the folks starting out as freshmen and grow to seniors and having them define what they want to do with their lives,” Feilmeier said.
The phrase STATE follows Mr. Feilmeier’s view of students sharing their talents and gifts. Though the motto has been around awhile, some students are still not sure of what the true meaning behind it is.
“Students taking action through something,” guessed junior Lauren Wolcott. Freshman Ethan Haydock also attempted to figure out Mr. Feilmeier’s catchphrase, guessing “students taking intiative towards excellence.”
Students and staff alike believe the new slogan is leaving a positive impact on the community.
“It’s a great phrase, [a] constant reminder to be excellent in what you do, not mediocre,” Bishop Kelley Chaplin Fr. Kerry Wakulich said.
Many students have reacted positively to having a new principal, such as freshman Hannah Stephan who thought, “he seemed a little scary, but he’s not…he’s pretty nice.”
“He’s in the right place,” freshman Conner Gajan said. “He’s going to make a good principal.”