The Story of the Two BK's

Both Jacksonville, Florida and Boise, Idaho have a BK.  Not too amazing, right?  A lot of people’s thoughts probably drift to Burger King, which was actually founded in Jacksonville.  But, no.  It’s a bit more coincidental than that and a fact I found it a bit freaky when I first moved here. Both places have a Catholic high school that go by the initials of BK: Bishop Kenny High School of Jacksonville and Bishop Kelly High School School of Boise.  They are the same in spelling except for two letters, and they even rhyme!  And the coincidences between the two schools don’t exactly stop there. While there’s plenty different, there’s enough similar to make it strange.

Both schools were founded by their respective Catholic dioceses: Bishop Kenny by the Diocese of St. Augustine in Florida and Bishop Kelly by the Diocese of Boise in Idaho.  Both schools were products of other high schools closing, and both high schools were named after the 3rd bishop of their respective diocese: Bishop William John Kenny and Bishop Edward Joseph Kelly.  Their mascots are also pretty much identical, in a matter of speaking.  Bishop Kelly’s mascot is the Knights while Bishop Kenny’s mascot is the Crusaders. Isn’t a crusader a type of knight? 

And just a little bit on the differences.  Bishop Kenny is quite a bit larger, with 1,200 students as opposed to Bishop Kelly’s 725.  Bishop Kenny also still maintains a uniform policy while Bishop Kelly abandoned one a long time ago though they have a strict dress code.  Their school colors are also different, with Bishop Kenny favoring white and red while Bishop Kelly prefers black and yellow.   

Of course, you can always do more research on your own, but I thought this was a cool little tidbit, and it’ll be kinda cool if I brought the schools somewhat together or at least made them aware of one another.