There’s more to the story behind his teacher badge. JP Quirk isn’t the stereotypical English teacher. He didn’t start teaching until he was in his 30s. He has traveled the world, been a professional actor, earned his cosmetology license and was born in Ireland. He brings a new dynamic to Kaneland High School.
“I get to bring a lot of really cool life experiences that I did before teaching into the classroom,” Quirk said.
Along with his life experiences, he brings kindness, energy and passion into everything he does.
Quirk embraces all parts of himself, refusing to hide his emotions from his students.
“I’m a teacher and an adult, but I still have bad days,” Quirk said. “I’m sad, or a lot of the time confused.”
Bringing all of his emotions to the table helps students relate and feel less alone. It gives students a reminder that everyone is allowed to express their feelings.
“I think that makes me a really good teacher,” Quirk said. “I don’t come to work and pretend.”
Just as open as he is with his emotions, he is open about his sexual orientation. He lets students figure that out for themselves.
“If you were to ask me, ‘Hey, do you have a wife?’ I would say no,” Quirk said. “If you were asking, ‘Do you have a husband?’ I would say, ‘Absolutely.’ I’m like, ‘What is the answer you want to get?’ You need to ask the right questions.”
He doesn’t lead by telling his students he has a husband. Similarly, a straight female teacher’s main identity isn’t usually their significant other. He believes his sexuality is just a fact about himself, not his whole identity.
“I don’t think [my sexuality] is the most important thing about me,” Quirk said.
Quirk has been married for nine years. He and his husband, Jason Hardman-Quirk, met after one of Quirk’s shows and soon began hanging out together. They like to try new restaurants, go to T.J. Maxx, buy things they don’t need and watch live performances.
Quirk has also built a career on stage and screen. He appeared in various movie and TV show productions, including Divergent, Chicago P.D., Wicked, Batman v. Superman and a national production of Romeo and Juliet. He has been involved in over 100 stage productions.
Of all his stage productions, one stood out to him the most. He directed a TV production of the Columbine High School shooting. The production retold the Columbine tragedy through the eyes of high school students, a perspective Quirk found deeply moving.
After Quirk did a TV commercial in late elementary school, he found his love for performing. He was involved in middle school plays, and he eventually climbed his way to a higher level. Quirk attended Larkin High School Visual and Performing Arts Academy in Elgin. That’s where he performed and really found who he was as a person.
Quirk still loved acting, but in 2017, he was looking for another fulfillment. One day, the idea dawned on him to become an English teacher because of his love for analyzing literature. He went to school to get his second degree in English education when he was in his late thirties.
Quirk came to Kaneland looking for a fresh start and a change. He had been teaching English at South Elgin High School. Before that, he taught at Kenyon Woods Middle School in South Elgin.
“He seems really happy at Kaneland,” Hardman-Quirk said. “I know it was a big shift from his last school, but he comes home happy and talks about it a lot.”
Despite this being his first year at Kaneland, Quirk is wasting no time getting involved. He is one of the Student Council advisers this year. He also works well with his new coworkers to understand everything there is to know about the English classes he’s teaching.
“I’ve only known him for a few weeks, but I definitely think he’s like an energizer bunny at all the team meetings,” English teacher Rachel Giles-Bachman said. “He’s really good at asking questions and wanting to understand the curriculum.”
Quirk has taken a step back from acting, but he is still involved in the performance world. He performs and directs on the weekends at the Albright Community Theatre in Batavia. The Albright produces about five shows a season.
“A lot of kids ask me, ‘Why are you teaching? You were famous!’” Quirk said. “I’m like, ‘What defines fame?’”
Quirk never regrets choosing the teaching profession. In fact, he found that teaching was his calling.
“I instantly realized teaching was exactly what I needed to do,” Quirk said.
Quirk is good at bringing his diversity and life experiences into his classroom. He is engaging, energetic and extremely passionate about the things he loves.
“He’s probably one of the most authentic people I know,” Hardman-Quirk said. “He wears his heart on his sleeve. He really loves people and he loves them hard, whether it’s his students, his friends or people he’s performing with. There’s something really awesome about watching him work and watching how excited and passionate he is.”
Additionally, his relentlessly supportive nature is an important part of his relationships.
“He was there with me when my mom passed away,” Hardman-Quirk said. “He was really good at being there. He never wavered. If he needs to be there for someone, he is there for them 110%.”
Quirk’s positivity and kindness extend beyond the classroom into his everyday life.
“He looks at the world through a brighter lens than most people,” Hardman-Quirk said.
In the classroom, that light is something students get to see every day.
His passion and kindness now flow through the halls of Kaneland. It is proof that sometimes the most unexpected journeys lead someone exactly where they’re meant to go.
