When many people think of a hero, an image of Superman in his vibrant red cape may enter their mind, or perhaps they think of Batman, behind his ominous mask. Nevertheless, as the cliché states, not all heroes wear capes. In fact, there are many plain-clothed heroes who work diligently to make a lasting impact on the world, and we are so lucky to have one particular hero in our community. Samuel Kirk, commonly referred to by his students as Captain Kirk, has been a devoted teacher, coach, house father, and resident assistant at North Broward since 2003. Between his leadership in the U.S. military and dedication to the North Broward community, Captain Kirk is the epitome of what living a life dedicated to service, kindness, and mentorship is. 

Born and raised in the blue-collar community of East Peoria, Illinois, Captain Kirk was the oldest of three children. After graduating high school, Captain Kirk enrolled in Wheaton College, graduating within three years, “I was a social science major and PE minor,” Captain Kirk explained, “my dream was to be a teacher and a coach, but the Vietnam War got in the way of that.” At this point, the war was in full motion. After graduating and getting married to his high school sweetheart, Captain Kirk realized that he would be drafted to the military, so instead, he enlisted in the Marine Corps, on his own terms. Due to having a college degree, Captain Kirk went straight to officer candidate school, where he got his commission in December of 1968, later serving in Vietnam for a year. 

After fulfilling his three-year commitment, Captain Kirk was ready to finally become a teacher and coach, but his wife talked him into staying in the Military. Captain Kirk’s stipulation was that he was going to go into flight training, and that is exactly what he did. Eventually, though, it came to an end, and it was Captain Kirk’s time to fulfill his dream. 

The first school that Captain Kirk worked at was in Manassas Park Schools in Virginia, where he taught history and coached for a year. However, it did not go as planned, “I did get to coach. I did get to teach history, which is what I wanted, but it was a horrible year.” Disheartened by the extreme political state of the world at the time, Captain Kirk felt that being a social science teacher wasn’t in the cards for him, and he left his teaching job to work for Northwest Airlines to be a part of their Crew Resource Management (CRM) team, where he trained pilots and flight attendants in his new home of Minneapolis. Eventually, Captain Kirk took an amazing job opportunity from American Airlines. However, the new job required a move to Texas, and Captain Kirk never felt at home there. He decided to start his own consulting business, training pilots and flight attendants on his own. However, after the tragic September 11th attacks in 2001, Captain Kirk’s business slowed drastically, as people became too fearful to pursue careers in flight. Captain Kirk had to pursue a new career, which is how he began working in schools once again. His first experience, teaching at Westminster Academy. He taught seventh-grade geography and coached high-school junior varsity (JV) baseball. Still yearning to teach history at the high-school level, Captain Kirk immediately jumped on board when there was a high-school history teacher position available here at North Broward. Captain Kirk taught high school history, coached a JV team, and immediately knew that this was the place for him. However, Captain Kirk did not settle in for long, as he worked as a teacher overseas for over a decade, teaching conversational English to students all over Europe. Finally, after arriving back in Florida, Captain Kirk has settled back into the rhythm of North Broward once again, as a substitute teacher and residential assistant. 

Throughout his time here, Captain Kirk has been committed to making a difference in his students’ lives, “I really love the students here…my teachers and coaches are responsible for any success I had in life, and I want to return that. I want to give that back.” Clearly, a life of service doesn’t end when the war is over–it continues through everyday acts of kindness and mentorship. Captain Kirk reminds us all to take action and live lives committed to the value of service, and continues to serve the country by inspiring his students to live a selfless lifestyle.