SPIRE Academy is excited to announce that the school has appointed James Duke as the new Dean of Students. This role blends his passion for sports with his love of education. With his background in education (teaching and administration) and his strong commitment to supporting student development, Duke is prime for the job ahead. As he steps into this new and pivotal role, Duke is eager to be a part of SPIRE, an academy that focuses on balanced mind and body development alongside nurturing a vibrant culture. He’s looking forward to helping the student athlete body feel valued and empowered so they can reach their full potential.

Jeff Javorek, Head of Athletics & Academy, welcomed James Duke saying, “We are excited and thrilled to add James Duke to the SPIRE team. He brings a great deal of knowledge and professionalism to our Academy, dealing with school discipline and residential life. James is a well-known professional in the greater Cleveland area and will make a large impact on our students, staff and families.” We recently sat down with James to gain insight into what he has in store for the 2024-25 academic year.

Q: How did you find yourself as the Dean of Students at an international sports boarding academy? Is this something you’ve always wanted to do?

A: I come from a background of traditional education. I was a teacher, and I was able to gain experience quickly. At the age of 27, I took on an administration job and it went from there. I worked at a Catholic school as an Assistant Principal, specifically Dean of Student Life. SPIRE offered an alternative approach to education that fit my core values.

I’m a sports guy, and I was fortunate to have the experience of playing some football at the University of Akron in college. I also played football and basketball in high school. I was always obsessed with the idea of sport and the routine of sport. I know that the routine that comes with sports really helped me become a better student and it’s one of the catalysts for why I was able to succeed as a student, and eventually in that administration role I mentioned previously.

Q: I saw you’ve been in Ohio for quite a bit of time. Did you grow up in Ohio?

A: Yeah, born and raised in the inner city of Cleveland…and that’s important to my story. I lost some friends to street violence, drugs and just choosing [to make] bad decisions, but I was fortunate to have two parents in my house whose lives revolved around my brother and me. They structured our lives around sports and supported our education.

Q: Did you look up to any athletes in particular growing up? Or have any role models that shaped you into who you are today?

A: Two part answer for you. I looked up to my high school football coach and my Social Studies teacher. My football coach kept a deflated football on his desk and would tell us “One day, we are all going to be that football”. I respected that – the idea that one day, our athletic lives would deflate and that we needed to be well rounded so we wouldn’t fall into that trap of having nothing after our athletic careers come to an end. As for my Social Studies teacher, he’s the reason why I even got into education, and he was the only black male in our school who was a teacher, and I looked up to people like that…I respected that.

I also looked up to Zydrunas Ilgauskas. He’s a big seven-foot-four Lithuanian, a center right. He was bigger than everybody ever in a room, but he really had to work at his skillset to match that type of height. He had to hone in on his skillset to match who he played within a day and age in the NBA to where their big man like Shaq and Charles Barkley. So, where you had to play with your back to the basket and have those skills and he could step away from the basket and shoot a little bit.

Q: What attracts you to SPIRE?

A: SPIRE attracts me because of the ability to create holistic students by using athletics within a highly regimented environment. That’s the world that I know…I know that concept works. We are working to create contributing members of society, and SPIRE puts the resources in the right places to make that happen.

Q: What do you anticipate a typical day to look like?

A: A typical day in any school is going to be wild. There’s no day that’s going to look the same in education…and that’s what it’s supposed to be, that’s what school is. I plan to be visible in our community…taking the hands-on approach to this job as Dean of Students. It’s more than just the discipline in which the job entails, more than that. It’s about making sure that our students enjoy their time here and they reach their full potential here. And yes, it’s kind of “the buck stops here” as far as what discipline looks like, but disciplines are more about just the iron hammer of saying, “You broke the rule and here’s the consequence.” You need the right discipline. “How do you treat your dorm space? How do you build routines there? A healthy life habit there, right?” That’s what discipline looks like. We all have a form of discipline. So that’s kind of what I see the day looking like; focusing on building relationships with our students in a present way.

Q: What does success look like to you?

A: Building upon the SPIRE Way, and that’s the standard in which we will carry ourselves here at SPIRE from our students to our adults, to our faculty and staff. It’s about how we treat each other. It’s about creating a positive culture and energy; you don’t do that by sitting behind a desk calling shots. You do that by engaging directly with people.

Q: What are your goals for the 2024-25 academic year?

A: My goal first and foremost is to make sure that every student at the end of the year says, “Wow…I did that!” I want them to leave our space and feel like this is a part of them, and that they can always come back after they graduate. And it’s a family; I want to build a family atmosphere here. It’s not just one or two people…everybody has to be on board. What is the standard and not falling short of that. My top priority is making sure that everybody understands what SPIRE culture looks like.

Q: What are you listening to these days? Any musicians in particular?

A: I listen to everything from Kendrick Lamar to Kenny Chesney, to Eric Church and Blake Shelton, to Drake and The Temptations too. I listen to all kinds of music, even some old school Waylon Jennings country sometimes. Anything to get me amped up in the weight room.

Q: Have you read any good books recently?

A: I’m not sure if you’re familiar with Tony Dungy. He used to be a head coach for the NFL for the Indianapolis Colts and then the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He has a book line called Quiet Strength. He talked about leadership in those books and what makes a powerful leader…it’s not always the loudest in the room! I like to refer to those sporadically to remind myself what a good leader looks like.

Q: What’s your ideal Friday night look like?

A: I have a wife and a son who is one year old, and I’m having a baby girl here in October. So, my Friday nights are really about engaging with my family and trying to be the best father and husband I can be. Family time is quality time.

Q: Where would you like to vacation & why?

A: I’d say if I had to pick a destination it would probably be somewhere in Italy. I really liked visiting Italy, and we also had a young man from Zimbabwe visiting. I got to talk with him, and that’s somewhere I would like to visit too. I am fascinated by other cultures outside of the United States.

Q: Any final thoughts?

A: I just want to say that I am thankful and fortunate to have the opportunity to drive that change in so many young people’s lives. SPIRE has nothing but an upside to it, and I am excited to be a part of that growth. I work with and for young people…this is an important job that I do not take for granted.