Ivars Spalis: An educator supporting students and teachers

Ivars Spalis started his teaching career as an English teacher, first as a substitute at Aurora West High School and then at the Kane County Juvenile Justice Center in St. Charles.

Spalis has been at the Juvenile Justice Center for more than two decades and the principal since 2014.

“I found it very rewarding in that the students that came through our doors are often down and out, on their last ropes,” Spalis said. “Public schools are at a loss at what to do with them. They have struggles at home with mom and dad and family problems and sometimes there’s no father.”

His role?

“I believe in second chances,” Spalis said. “Regardless of what they have done or allegedly done, we do our very best to teach them. ... It’s almost like a calling.”

Spalis, who grew up in Rolling Meadows, was working as a delivery driver and thinking about a career change.

“I had other ideas, possibly going into the ministry,” Spalis said. “And people who I knew – I had conversations with about such things, career paths and what to do – several thought I would make a good teacher. I decided to pursue it.”

It was 1999. He was 38 years old when he earned his degree from Northeastern Illinois University.

He started out as a permanent substitute teacher for four months at West Aurora High School.

The vice principal there connected him to the Kane County Regional Office of Education, which administers the school at the Juvenile Justice Center. He saw the job opening and got hired.

“And this is the only place I’ve been for almost 26 years,” Spalis said.

In 2007, he went to Aurora University to get his credentials and degree for school administration and became principal.

“The Regional Office, whom I work for, is very supportive of us. They give us what we need. They believe in our program,” Spalis said. “The results I see are certainly not in all the students. But some – even one or two a semester – makes it worth it."

The facility, part of the Kane County Judicial Center campus, follows Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice guidelines.

Classes are small at eight to 12 students. By law, the center teaches children from age 10 to 18. And because it’s a regional facility, the Kane County Juvenile Justice Center serves children from Kendall, McHenry, Stevenson, Whiteside and Lee counties.

Because it doesn’t have its own facilities, the center contracts with Kane County to provide educational services, Spalis said.

In addition to English, the center teaches math, science, American history and health.

“We’re big on social-emotional learning, which teaches them how to get along with themselves and other people,” Spalis said. “We get thank-you letters occasionally.”

There are four other teachers. And although he is the principal, Spalis still teaches.

Shana Wang, the English teacher there, said that in her 27 years of teaching, she didn’t think she’d ever had as supportive a principal as Spalis.

“He actually comes to my room and says, ‘What do you need in order to be happy and successful?’ ” Wang said.

Spalis also participates in Friday review games, using PowerPoint templates to play a version of “Jeopardy,” “$100,000 Pyramid,” “Family Feud” and “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?”

“It’s for team building and a chance ... to be positive and playful,” Wang said. “When he teaches, he has a song of the day and a riddle.”

What’s one of his riddles?

“How did the alien pay for coffee?” she said. “Using star bucks.”

Regional Superintendent Pat Sal Santo also praised Spalis in an email: “Mr. Spalis has shown profound dedication to the communities of Kane County in a career that spans many years and multiple roles. ... He has displayed tremendous guidance in leading our educational program there.”