Mill Creek students may recognize Peter Spelina from patrolling the halls. From sunrise to the dismissal bell he monitors the commons, the cafeteria, the halls and the parking lot. Once the tardy bell rings, he continues to monitor the school halls making sure students are where they are supposed to be. He also maintains security in and around the school. Other days you may seem him outside directing traffic or at the drop off lines. Spelina is the jack of all trades at Mill Creek. His day to day is never the same and he always reports for duty when he is needed.
Spelina started off his career in the Navy and was with a combat marine unit. He has been stationed in San Diego, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Chicago, Iraq and Hawaii. He was a combat medic and trained at the Naval Training Center in Chicago. He explains, “I was in combat operations in the field when we went to Iraq and Kuwait,” Spelina continues, “I treated gunshot wounds, I did sutures on people and treated amputations.”
He is a fourth generation navy veteran, he says, “Both of my grandfathers fought in World War II and my dad and my uncles were all in peacetime. Then I was a combat veteran in Iraq.”
After retiring from the military, Spelina went on to have a variety of careers. He became a volunteer firefighter in his hometown, worked at Amazon for a few years as a truck driver and at Home Depot. He came to Mill Creek for a change of pace, he says, “Change of schedule. It was a nice change and having summers and breaks off are nice.” He started at Mill Creek at the end of February of 2021.
Spelina says he enjoys how his days vary, “I consider myself a jack of all trades because I bounce around and do different jobs. It is nice not being stuck at a desk all day.” When joining the Mill Creek faculty he was hopeful on impacting young peoples lives. When talking to students he may throw in a joke or some free advice.
At the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year, a Mill Creek Alumni visited the school and payed a visit to Spelina, he recalled, “A graduate from last year who is currently a deputy sheriff came back and we had a nice conversation. He went on to say, ‘Hey your advice and learning from your life experiences has helped me a lot.”
Spelina goes onto explain, “I just wanted to say thank you. I’m not a teacher, but it was nice knowing that I influenced that young man. That’s a good feeling to have and I wasn’t even trying to be impactful,” he continues, “I try to be encouraging to students and interacting with them can be really fun.”
He says, “I try to be helpful. I know I gotta be tough sometimes, but that is my job. I am not going to allow anything bad to happen. This is my job and I take it very seriously.”
