A fixture for 33 years at Trinity Lutheran School in Tinley Park, elementary school principal Steve Stec, 65, is set to retire this fall.
Stec said it was about 50 years ago, while he was attending Luther North High School on Chicago’s Northwest Side, that he made a conscious decision to become a teacher.
Inspired by his high school Latin teacher Nathaniel Grunst’s obvious love for teaching, Stec said he wanted to experience that same enjoyment in his future career, and thought his first career choice — to “put away the bad guys” as an attorney — might not accomplish that.
After high school graduation, Stec entered Concordia Teachers College (now Concordia University), a school that Stec said was “designed primarily for those who wanted to teach in Lutheran schools.”
He earned a bachelor’s degree in education and accepted a teaching and athletic director position at St. John’s Lutheran School in Lombard, remaining there for 11 years.
Stec said that although he loved working with kids on a day-to-day basis, an “incident” prompted him to think about making a slight career change. He said he thought “the only way I can make things better is if I’m in charge,” so he pursued a master’s degree in administration at Concordia.
Stec and his wife Susan moved to Tinley Park in 1982 when Stec was hired as the Trinity Lutheran School principal.
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There, his goal — “make things better” — is very kid-oriented. His educational philosophy includes balancing his role as an authority figure with his role as a Christian.
“I’ve always been a ‘kid person.’ I love to see the kids, I love to be with the kids, which takes time away from what you need to do,” Stec said. “If there are basketball games, I’m there; if there are volleyball games, I’m there; if there are soccer games, I’m there cheering kids on. That’s what we’re doing. We’re educating today’s kids for us in the world, but also for Christianity — sharing our Savior with them. So they need to see me being more than just the guy in the office.”
Stec accomplishes that by trying not to be “Darth Vader” when the kids are sent to him for discipline, he said, referring to the ruthless character from “Star Wars.”
“(But) sometimes you’ve got to be Darth Vader,” he said. “That’s just the way it is.”
However, Stec thinks that as a parochial school principal, he has a distinct advantage over anyone disciplining children in a public school.
“We have an opportunity at Trinity. … because we are faith-based,” Stec said. “We can pray with them. We don’t have to leave them with a warning.
“I just pray God gives me the wisdom to do what’s right with the kids as they come here. I think the kids know that,” he said.
Stec also makes sure he is as visible as possible throughout the school day. He not only attends student events, he teaches an algebra class to eighth-graders, and has for 30 of his 33 years there.
For 10 years, he coached basketball.
“It gives me an opportunity to see the kids on a different level, to relate to in a different way,” Stec said.
He said he “can’t sit still for more than an hour or so” and is often up and around the school.
“I think if you were to ask the kids, they would say, ‘Yeah, we see Mr. Stec around the building a lot,’ ” Stec said.
Stec doesn’t take credit for the school’s successes, which include maintaining an enrollment of about 300 students at a time when many parochial schools are experiencing declining numbers. He said it is admissions counselor Nancy Butterfield’s work and “the power of prayer” that have made that happen. And Stec credits the staff of 17 full- and part-time teachers and the support staff for teaching children rather than a subject.
“From a secular standpoint, we have great teachers. They’re relational. It’s interesting how many alumni will come back because they’ve had a relationship with teachers,” Stec said. “It takes place in the school; it takes place in the classrooms.”
Stec said the school rises to the educational challenge it faces, too, offering accelerated classes in reading and math from fourth grade to eighth grade and special education for children with special needs.
Stec said unlike most public schools, where it is known which high school most students will attend, Trinity Lutheran teachers must prepare students for success in “anywhere from eight to 10 high schools.”
Stec cited a recent example of Trinity Lutheran’s success: Six 2015 high school graduates who had graduated from Trinity Lutheran in 2011 were named Illinois State Scholars, and each attended a different high school.
Stec said another important element to the school’s success is the congregation, which includes many of the parents of Trinity Lutheran’s students.
“I think our school is as successful as it is because we have a congregation that is extremely supportive of Christian education,” Stec said. “They realize that when they are contributing on Sunday mornings to the work of the Lord, a great deal … of every dollar they give goes right back to this building, so we have to be sure we are good stewards of those dollars and do the best we can with the children they give us.”
Stec said he has “always been a kid person,” and that facet of the job is one of the things he will miss most when he leaves Trinity Lutheran at the end of September or when his replacement is found.
Fortunately for him, he and Susan have three grown children who have given them nine grandchildren, and Stec said he intends to spend as much retirement time as possible with them.
Other pursuits will be golf with his friends, reading and taking “the time to do the things I enjoy,” Stec said.
“Being able to have the time to sit down and read a book or say, ‘Honey, why don’t we go visit the kids this week?’ … I look forward to that.”
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Ginger Brashinger is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.