A Moberly High School administrator will be the new principal of Helias Catholic High School, School President Stephen Jones announced Wednesday.
Kenya Fuemmeler, 30, will begin her new job July 1, succeeding Sister Jean Dietrich. At Dietrich's request, she is returning to her former position as assistant principal in which she served from 1983 until becoming principal in 1997.
Fuemmeler is presently assistant principal at Moberly High School.
"I am extremely pleased that Kenya Fuemmeler will be our new principal," Jones said. "We are confident that she has the abilities and skills to help our administrative team effectively administer Helias Catholic and strengthen the school for the future."
Fuemmeler attended St. Joseph parish elementary in Salisbury and is a graduate of Salisbury High School. She received an undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Notre Dame and has a master of education degree from the University of Missouri. While at Notre Dame, she was a pitcher for the softball team.
Prior to her hire at Moberly High School, she served as principal at a high school in Scotland County in northern Missouri.
Her first job in education was teaching social studies in the Wellston school district as part of the Teach for America program. That early inner-city experience - where she was the only white, female teacher in the building - inspired her as an educator, she said.
As a college student, she had no desire to be a teacher.
"I was going to go to law school. Do all these thing," she said. "I fell in love with kids. I knew from that moment on, I had to be in education somewhere, at some point."
But teaching taught her she could only control so much.
"I realized I could control the four walls of my classroom, and that was it," she said. "I wanted to control the entire process for kids. Because that's how you make a school fantastic. And so that really sparked a desire to be in school administration."
Fuemmeler said she is interested in a student's total development - academic, athletic and spiritual.
In her remarks to a room full of supporters and school administrators on Wednesday at Helias, she thanked both Jones and the larger Helias community.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance and I'm very excited to be part of such a wonderful family. It feels like a family already," she said. "I am tremendously grateful for the opportunity and can't wait to get started."
One of her first goals will be to visit every local parish this spring.
"I plan to go to each local parish on Sunday ... going to Mass and meeting as many families of this awesome Helias family as possible," she said. "We're a team and I'm am just a member of that team. That's why it is so important to get to know as many people as possible. I welcome people to come ask questions and be engaged."
In her role as principal, Fuemmeler said she will emphasize faculty collaboration.
"We have to rely on the skill set of everyone," she said.
After years in Missouri's public schools, Fuemmeler said she's excited to work in a traditional, Catholic setting.
"I think energizing our youth in a Catholic fashion is something very important. We need young Catholic leaders to go out into the world and solve problems," she said. "This is a fantastic place to be. ... It has a legacy of being strong academically and athletically. I am competitive to a fault and I'm excited about that chance as well."
The last time Helias made a high-level administrative hire, Jones was appointed by Bishop John Gaydos to serve as the school's president. That decision created turbulence in the Catholic community when some members of the Helias school board felt they were not consulted about that choice.
Jones said this time he worked to avoid hurt feelings. "I wanted to make sure this was a collaborative process," he said.
Although Jones made the final decision, he said a search committee - composed of members who serve on the Helias Advisory Board - was appointed to help him.
Jones noted Fuemmeler's "tool set" of skills and attributes was "phenomenal."
"She brings with her a great passion, great enthusiasm, and great vigor for education ... not just education, but Catholic education," he said.