Principal at Home in Mooseheart

By Meg Mcsherry Breslin, Chicago Tribune

Jan. 17–As he looks around the spacious Kane County campus for kids with no place to call home, Gary Urwiler can’t help but recall his past.

It’s hard to put aside the long days walking the streets of Mooseheart, playing football after school, choking back sadness on lonely nights, he said. Yet the facility was able to transform Urwiler, a lost child when he arrived at 12 after his father’s death, into a standout athlete and academic success story.

Now, it’s Mooseheart that needs him.

As the long-standing institution tries to revitalize itself for a challenging future, Urwiler, 37, is settling in as the school’s principal, football coach and public face. He’s been a busy man since taking the helm in 2003.

He has helped Mooseheart recover from the blow of a sex-abuse scandal in the late 1990s by guiding the restoration of confidence in its staff, student body and outside backers.

He took over after a financial crisis that threatened to close the school and, under his tenure, enrollment has grown from to 230 students from about 180.

He has instituted musicals and a choir, and wants to add more extracurricular activities to help students discover their hidden passions.

"I tell the kids: ‘Whether you like it or not, I’m your brother, you’re my sister. I grew up here, I graduated from Mooseheart, and we’re all in this together,’" Urwiler said.

Still, there’s much to accomplish for the scrappy Urwiler.

Mooseheart recently became the state’s largest residential child-care facility of its kind, and is gearing up to expand.

Because membership in the fraternal organization that supports the school, Moose International, has steadily declined to 1.3 million from 1.8 million in 1991, Mooseheart faces financial strains.

And with valuable land being the institution’s greatest asset, a threat of an eminent domain grab of as many as 150 acres of the 1,000-acre Mooseheart campus last year had everyone on edge.

While that crisis has been temporarily averted, some Mooseheart leaders have begun to consider expanding the facility’s reach by taking in foster children from the Department of Children and Family Services for the first time.

It would be another sign that, like Urwiler, Mooseheart has come a long way.

Mooseheart, which began in 1913, was a "white-only" institution until 1972, when race was removed from Moose International’s membership qualifications. In 1994, the school began allowing students from families not associated with the Moose fraternity. And 12 years ago, it began accepting students through Chicago’s Daniel Murphy Scholarship Foundation, which draws many Latino and African-American students from the Chicago area. Today, the campus is 43 percent minority.

Kids usually end up at Mooseheart when their parents or guardians can no longer care for them but want to retain custody. The campus is a virtual city unto itself, where the children attend school, play sports and live in one of 30 "family homes" with 10 or 12 children.

While most parents or guardians tend to see Mooseheart as a child’s temporary home, it often becomes a long-term solution, like in Urwiler’s case.

He arrived at Mooseheart from his home state of New Jersey after his mother ran out of options. Helen Urwiler had tried to work through a rebellious and lonely period with her son after his father’s death. There were stints at an uncle’s home, a foster family, even a juvenile detention center in Pennsylvania. She then turned to Mooseheart.

While first scared, Gary Urwiler came to be comfortable with firm rules for homework hours and bedtimes, a long list of chores. Trips off campus were rare and strictly supervised.

There was a push to get children involved in athletics to channel their energy. That’s where Urwiler found his place.

As quarterback, Urwiler helped lead tiny Mooseheart to the state football playoffs in 1985. He instantly impressed his former coach, Mark McDonald, now principal at Downers Grove South High School, despite standing just 5-foot-6. McDonald said Urwiler had a strong, endearing personality you don’t easily forget.

Urwiler took advantage of one of the biggest benefits Mooseheart offers–a college scholarship–which he used to play football at Eureka College.

After receiving his master’s degree in educational leadership and working as a dean and teacher in West Aurora schools, Urwiler couldn’t resist returning to Mooseheart in 2003, when it was emerging from a public scandal. From the 1990s through 2001, seven Mooseheart house parents were convicted of sexually abusing minors on campus.

Because of that scandal, the school has improved its screening system to include more extensive psychological testing and reference interviews. The school also trains candidates how to identify signs of sexual abuse among students.

Then there was a financial crisis in 2002, when Moose International’s endowment shrunk dramatically, forcing some to consider closing the school. A last-minute decision to raise dues saved the school.

And just this year, the Batavia park and school districts floated the idea of taking up to 130 acres of the campus. Town and school leaders are working toward a compromise. In the shadow of these challenges, many say Urwiler has managed to make some important headway in returning Mooseheart to its former prominence.

His schedule is exhausting, as he coaches football in the fall and attends many extracurricular events, sometimes bringing along his three young boys.

"It was kind of weird at first having a former student as your boss," said Curt Schlinkmann, who coached Urwiler in football and is still on the Mooseheart faculty. "But it’s really great now because he’s a constant reminder that our efforts often pay off in a positive way. … He’s just a great role model for the kids."

Mike Tovar, 17, originally from Chicago’s South Side, has adopted Mooseheart as his home. He remembers the day, in 7th grade, when his mother walked out of her sister’s apartment and never came back.

After a lonely first year at Mooseheart, Tovar blossomed and is now a standout basketball player and role model to younger kids. "I’m kind of happy she [his mom] left now," Tovar said. "I realized I had to forget about her for a little while."

After welcoming more students like Tovar–with no family connection to the fraternity–the next logical step is reaching out to Illinois’ foster children, and expanding Mooseheart’s enrollment overall, said Executive Director Scott Hart.

Urwiler wants to help make that dream happen.

"I remember walking this street as a kid and I’m walking the same street now," Urwiler said one evening after sharing a family dinner with students. "Not a lot of people get that chance to come back home and work, and a chance to help others at the same time."

mbreslin@tribune.com

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Copyright (c) 2007, Chicago Tribune

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