Joshua and Riley Faulkner will join the Hennessey Public School’s staff this fall, and look forward to finding a home in Hennessey.

He will take the HHS principal job after the resignation of Angela Avila, who accepted the Chisholm High School principalship.

She was hired as a vocal music teacher after the early retirement of long-time vocal music teacher Beth Berkenbile.

The two were hired after a 15-minute executive session during a special meeting Tuesday night. Both prospective candidates were invited into the closed session.

The Faulkners, who currently work at the Newkirk Public Schools, have two under school age children.

About new principal

Joshua Faulkner plans to get his Master’s in Education Leadership this year from Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva, and received his BA in music education from there in 2015.

He expects to be certified as both an elementary and secondary principal soon, and is certified to teach both instrumental and vocal music.

He graduated from Hooker High School in 2010.

The new principal is currently the head junior and high school instrumental music director at Newkirk, and has had that position since 2016. He was also the elementary music teacher there 2016-19.

Before that he was an elementary music and Title 1 teacher for a year at Eisenhower Elementary School in Enid.

Faulkner said he took the Newkirk band to state three years in a row when the town had never had a band make it to state during its history.

He was Newkirk’s District Teacher of the Year in 2018, is currently president of Regional Honor Band, performed at Carnegie Hall Weill Recital Hall in 2015, and was a clinician for NWOSU Drumline Camp 2016-18.

He said Brady Barnes, former HHS Principal and 1995 HHS grad, was his superintendent at Newkirk, but was at Blanchard this year.

New music teacher

Riley Faulkner is certified to teach vocal music education (K-12), and received her bachelor’s degree in music education from NWOSU in 2015, and graduated from Alva High School in 2010.

She has been the vocal music director at Newkirk Public Schools since 2016, and has given private piano lessons (first-sixth grade beginners) and classical voice training (sixth-HS seniors) in Enid and Newkirk.

The new teacher was also the choir director at Zion Lutheran Church in Alva, 2013-15, and while a student in college was a member of the University Singers, Chorale, concert choir, University Band and Pep Band. She was also in a choir that performed with the rock group, Foreigner, in 2019, and has a long list of experience in performing, including being a soloist and performer with NWOSU at Carnegie Hall Weill Recital Hall, St. John the Divine, and United Nations (NYC) in the spring of 2015, and NWOSU singing tour of China in 2012.

In addition to singing, and playing the piano, she is also a trombonist.

At the meeting

All board members were at the meeting: President Dr. James Matthew Matousek, Vice President Luke Lough, Clerk Patrick Griffin, Cristopher Choate and David Tillman.

Also at the board table were Superintendent Dr. Mike Woods and Office Manager Timberly Jech who served as minutes clerk.

Other staff in the audience were Jason Sternberger who will take over the superintendent’s reins July 1; Todd Cameron, computer network administrator and Raeanna Fuksa, middle school math teacher.

Also in the audience was Chandra Seiger.