BFM 2012 CollageThe Boy Friend Mafia was named by one of the founding member’s wife.  What Anna Stumpf, aka “She who should be feared”,  meant by the moniker was that we spent so much time together and we were always working an angle to make our school better.  The BFM is a loose term with kind of murky membership.  For the sake of this thanks I am going to deal with the core membership that goes on the summer trip.

1.  My first thanks goes to Kevin Stumpf.  I always use the descriptor “faithful” when describing Kevin to other people.  He is the person who you can always count on at any level.  Like myself, he entered teaching in a non-traditional manner.  It is through his questionable start to college, his rise up the ranks at Wal-Mart, and return to college that give him a laser focus on what he wants to do; which is to become a great teacher.  Kevin has grown every year as a teacher; he is constantly searching and expanding his knowledge base.  Unlike some teachers who have 1 year of experience 20 times; Kevin has nearly a decade of experience.  I love to listen to him talk about his next step on the path.  On a personal level, Kevin is a source of joy for me; his snarky comments about our sports rivalries and his quick wit make me laugh.

BFM 2013 Collage

2.  My second thanks goes to Dave Broviak.  Dave opened up Fishers Junior High with us so many years ago; back then junior high was just a gig until a high school job opened up;  hummmm…  Dave is a character in his own right; he taught both of my daughters and the girls were better off for it.  Dave is a critical member of the BFM; he brings to it the quirky side of teaching and friendship.  He is role-model to so many kids, because he invests in their lives and opens his own life experiences to his kids.  He is an author who just finished his second book.  His work was part of the inspiration for me to write my own book.  No BFM trip would be complete without Dave; his willingness to go to baseball games with us, even though he is not really a fan, is part of why he is so special.  He can find joy in anything that we visit.  I admire him for that.

BFM 2014 Collage

3.  Pete Girbert has joined us on the last two BFM trips.  He fits the four of us even though most of us distrust anyone who speaks French.  Like the rest of us he loves knowledge so every tour, random Americana stop, and small town is something that Pete enjoys.  While Pete is not in our building full-time, he has been part of our Steak n’ Shake group from the beginning.

4.  Tony Sturgeon is the last traveling BFM member….I will address him later.