Aquila Back to School 2023

...and just like that From Kindergarten to Senior

Welcome Back Eagles New Staff pp.

5-6

Communities pp. 9-10

A Letter from the President

“The victory that overcomes the world is our faith.”

John 5:4

Faith has a conquering power over the world. As we begin this new year, I ask you to keep the Bishop Carroll Catholic High School students, staff, and alumni in your prayers. Our school community has been so richly blessed over the past years, but we are constantly bombarded through the media by bad news every day. We ask our parents to be role models for their children, to help keep their children informed and to spend quality time with them, and to support other adults in the school or parish community by showing respect for each other.

We begin this school year with thankfulness to our loving heavenly Father. He has blessed us with the gift of 1148 students and the sacred task of teaching the faith. Guided by the Holy Spirit, we strive to lead them to a deeper love of our Savior Jesus Christ, and a stronger call of service to all our brothers and sisters. Parenting and teaching our young people in today’s society is not an easy task, but we can give our students a chance in this complex world by imparting the values and teachings of the Catholic Faith. We are providing our young people with a valuable and solid Catholic education. We want to work together with all of you in forming true Disciples of Christ.

I am excited about the 2023-24 school year and look forward to working with all of our parents and seeing our alumni at many of our events. Please get to know our new staff members who are introduced in this Aquila edition. Your continued prayers and support will help us grow in the Faith with our Lord!

Many Blessings,

Leticia C. Nielsen, President Bishop Carroll Catholic High School

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...and just like that...From Kindergarten to Senior

David Horst - Counseling

David is originally from Pennsylvania and is a huge Philadelphia Eagles fan. He has been in Kansas for 14 years. David was a former admissions counselor at Hesston College in church leadership, worked at Prairieland Partners, and was a substitute teacher. He enjoys playing the guitar and singing. Make sure to ask him all about his trip to Egypt and the pyramids!

Bonita Fieser -English Bonita will be joining our English Department this year. She was a corporate coach and trainer, traveled to 40 states as well as many nations. She is married to Michael Fieser. They belong to St. Thomas Aquinas parish.

Laura

- Math

Laura graduated in 2019 from K-State with a degree in Industrial Engineering. She is currently enrolled in their MAT program and student taught at KMC. She married Joe Hickerson last October. Both are graduates of KMC; however, we look forward to seeing them both wearing green and gold at all our events! Her hobby right now is DIY home projects since purchasing a home in College Hill.

Anne Doane - Science

Anne lives in El Dorado, Kansas, and will be teaching Chemistry I and Biology. Anne has been teaching for several years; most recently at Valley Center.

Dan Engel - Religion

Returning to Bishop Carroll after 16 years of working as a Physical Therapist for Via Christi, Dan also previously taught religion at BC 25 years ago. He was an assistant track and tennis coach as well. Dan is married to Chrissy. They have 5 children. Dan is happy to be back at BCCHS teaching in the religion department again.

Krystine Krier - Math

Krystine received her Bachelors from WSU and her Master’s degree from K-State. Krystine is married to Brandon Krier (BC Alum 2013). This makes her Ashley Richardson’s sister-in-law! She has taught Math for the last four years at Wichita East High School and loves to rollerblade, scrapbook, and travel with her husband.

Hickerson

Grace Milburn - Social Worker

Grace received her degree in Social Work, a secondary major in Dance from K-State, and her Masters of Social Work from WSU. Grace and her husband of two years, Jacob, live in Maize. Grace is currently training her golden doodle, Daisy, to be a certified therapy dog. She also teaches dance at Encore. You will be able to find Grace in the Main Office.

Kyril Wolfe - Religion

Kyril comes to us from Holy Spirit Academy in Monticello, Minnesota, where he taught Theology and Latin. He received his Master’s in Theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville and his Bachelors in Classics with Honours from the University of King’s College/Dalhousie University. Kryil and his wife, Margaret, became proud parents this summer to Magdalena.

Tina Reintjes - Math

Tina comes to BC from St. Thomas Aquinas. She received her Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from K-State and her Master’s in Education from WSU. Along with her husband, Joe, they have two sons. The oldest is a junior at Southern Illinois University and her youngest is a sophomore at KMC.

Daniel Willis - Social Studies

Daniel graduated from Central Christian College of Kansas. He loves to read good literature and spend summers traveling. He is excited to “transition into Catholic education, keeping the truths of the faith at the forefront of my classroom”.

Abram Perault - Religion

Abram is excited to join our Religion Department. He received his degree in Theology and Philosophy from Benedictine College, where he was a Resident Assistant. Abram moved here from Columbus, Nebraska.

Meet Student Body President Miayla Ayres

What inspired you to run for student body president/vice president?

My junior year I was able to be a community coordinator for St. Andre Bessette. I really loved it and knew I wanted to stay a part of the system.

How do you plan to effectively lead and collaborate with your fellow students, teachers, and administrators to make positive changes in the school community?

I plan to lead effectively by listening to others. I think there is a lot of value in hearing people’s thoughts and ideas.

What is one change would you like to see at BCCHS?

I would like every student to be on fire for their faith. That you would walk into the building and know that it’s a special place because students care so much about each other and their faith.

What is something you hope never changes at BCCHS?

Honestly, I believe that if you aren’t growing you are dying. So for Carroll, while it’s an amazing school with amazing students and staff if we let ourselves grow complacent with, “it’s already good,” we will prevent something great from happening.

“Building Our Legacy Through Our Catholic Faith” – what does this mean to you?

To me it means that the future generations of Carroll students will only be here if we continue to have a faith-based education with Christ at the center otherwise all the work being put in will be useless.

What inspired you to run for student body president/vice president?

One main inspiration I had to run for my position this year was the incredible experience I had as a part of our leadership team last school year. Everything we planned and executed last year was surreal for me, and I felt called to run for something a little bit bigger. I took a big leap of faith running for community coordinator my junior year and ultimately took the step up to Vice President for this year

How do you plan to effectively lead and collaborate with your fellow students, teachers, and administrators to make positive changes in the school community?

I have already collaborated with many students – house captains and community coordinators – during the summertime in preparation for this year. I plan to lead them more effectively by continuing what I have already done: being willing to be a servant leader. Cleaning up after events, showing up early to set up events, and spending a lot of time planning them. Not everyone sees all the work Mrs. Ayres, Miayla, and I do, but we are all more than willing to put in the time behind the scenes. Being a servant truly makes you the best leader.

What is one change would you like to see at BCCHS?

If I had to change one thing at BCCHS, it would be simple. I would love to double or triple the size of our chapel. It was remodeled this summer and it looks even more welcoming than before, but I’ve always loved the thought of it being able to comfortably hold all the way up to around 200 people instead of the roughly 75 that comfortably fit in there right now.

What is something you hope never changes at BCCHS?

One thing that I hope never changes at BCCHS is the spirit for the school. After COVID hit, much of that spirit was lost; I felt that loss during my freshman and sophomore years. Our CLT last year brought that spirit back and it made going to Bishop Carroll a much better time for everyone at the school. We are hoping to continue bringing that energy and spirit to BCCHS this year, and I pray that it will stay that way forever.

“Building Our Legacy Through Our Catholic Faith” – what does this mean to you?

To me, “Building Our Legacy Through Our Catholic Faith” means a lot more than just sending your kids to BCCHS because you went to high school there. It means learning about not only the facts of our faith but learning how to truly live it in our own daily lives. And not just live it, but also pass it down to our future generations by showing them how Catholic Faith has had an impact on our lives. Learning how to live out your faith is what truly builds a Catholic legacy.

Joseph Rodriguez

Adults Only

Alumni Visits

2023- 20 24 BISH OP CARROLL COST TO EDUCATE

2023-24 BCCHS Budget

$8.4 Milli on The Stewardship Model

The majority of the funding for Wichita Diocesan high schools such as Bishop Carroll comes from the generous giving of parishioners to their parish, rather than from tuition payments made by parents. The parish, student & parents sign a Parish Family Agreement which allows stewardship families to attend BC.