Mr. Jim Rumps has many titles at Normal West: English teacher, MMA sponsor, FCA sponsor, hallway greeter…and even the “champion of Kat-itude.”
Friday, March 20 started out as a normal day for Rumps: he jumped out of bed, and immediately screamed at the top of his lungs that it was a great day to be a Wildcat, just as he starts each of his mornings.
“I don’t need an alarm clock because my Kat-itude wakes me,” Rumps stated.
As students were dragging themselves to their first hour classes, their minds distracted by spring break, Rumps was outside of his class, greeting everyone per usual.
“Spring was in the air, but I also noticed an air of mystery…or danger,” Rumps said.
While Rumps continued his hallway greetings, he noticed a figure walking down the hallway.
“I could see that it was a real-life wildcat, which at first I was excited about…because who wouldn’t be?” Rumps explained.
While the bell rang and his students sat in their seats, he noticed the Wildcat walking closer. To call it over, Rumps shouted “rawr, rawr rawr!” before entering his classroom.
“And that worked. The Wildcat came over, and I attempted to pet it, [but] I didn’t do the thing where you’re supposed to let it smell your hand first. My mistake…but that’s when the Wildcat launched at me,” Rumps explained.
In his classroom, the freshmen members of the Normal West MMA Club sprung up and rushed to the door.
The only thing standing between Rumps’ students and the Wildcat was Rumps, himself.
“I knew my twenty six years of education had led up to this moment,” Rumps stated.
“I did stop and say, ‘hey, do you have an orange hall pass?’ We all know that the ‘first-five/last-five’ is very important. The Wildcat could not produce said hall pass, and, again, I thought of the safety of our little Wildcats in the classroom.”
That was when his ‘Kat-itude’ truly took over. He remembered hisMMA training and hit the inside of the Wildcat’s bicep, causing the cat to go limp.
The Wildcat made a yelping noise, which made Rumps laugh. However, in that moment of laughter, the Wildcat launched back on Rumps.
Francesc Borrull, one of Normal West’s assistant principals, noticed the commotion and ran over to assist.
“He first stopped assessing the situation. He also asked the Wildcat: Do you have an orange pass? And at the moment, I didn’t appreciate that because I thought I was dying, but looking back, I respect that as we have rules in this house, right? We’ve got rules here,” Rumps explained.
Again, the Wildcat could not prove it had an orange pass, but Rumps and Borrull’s attention was deserted from the Wildcat when they heard pounding foot steps down the hallway.
“We heard footsteps from boots, and at the end of the hallway was the infamous former Normal West security guard, John Lundy,” Rumps exclaimed.
By the time Lundy sprung into action, the Wildcat was on top of Rumps, clawing at his face, but Lundy, using his knowledge from his WWE days, wrestled the cat to the ground.
“And that’s the story of how John Lundy saved my life,” Rumps stated.
After things settled down, scientists discovered that the Wildcat reached a height of 50 inches, breaking the record for the tallest Wildcat ever recorded.
The Wildcat’s body has been used to create Normal West’s new mascot, creating a new era of Kat-itude for all staff members.
While Rumps did fight the Wildcat, he gives all the credit to Lundy.
“I know it was mostly John Lundy, but you see that’s the thing, the strength of the cat is the strength of the pack. Teamwork makes the dreamwork. Together everyone achieves more,” Rumps explained.
Rumps did have some physical injuries, but he notes that his biggest injury was a broken heart.
“I used the Kat-itude call sign to the Wildcat. Why would he attack me? Maybe I don’t really have Kat-itude,” Rumps stated.
Despite the traumatic experience, Rumps can only recall the positive emotions when he heard Lundy’s boots against the hallway’s ground.
“I haven’t seen that man in about a year, but I knew the sounds meant help was on the way,” Rumps said.
HAPPY APRIL FOOLS, WILDCATS…and HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MR. RUMPS!
This story was created in collaboration with Jim Rumps.
