Maria GrosskettlerIn finding our greatest passion, we spread greatness to others.
For many, this enlightenment happens later in life—after choosing a college major, or after earning a degree, or even after working in a particular career field for many years. Luckily, for Dr. Lisa Cutting, it happened when she accepted a tutoring assignment during her sophomore year of college and discovered that law was not the career path to her true passion.
Tutoring Paves Way to a Teaching Passion
Cutting, the current assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction for Saratoga Springs City School District (SSCSD) in New York, explained, “I found my path into education during my sophomore year of college when I was helping out in a writing center at the University at Buffalo. It was at that time that I felt the pressure to decide exactly what route I was going in life, which up to that point had been law. But then I had picked up an opportunity in the tutoring center, and as I got closer to taking the LSATs, I thought, ‘I’m not really excited about that.’”
For her, tutoring connected her to people. She was able to work with individuals, witness their growth and recognize the impact she could have. “I enjoyed that,” shared Cutting. “And I wanted to go into teaching really for that—to work with people, especially kids.”
With an education degree superseding a law degree, Cutting earned her master’s degree from the State University of New York at Albany and began her teaching career in the Danbury School District in Connecticut. It was here that she received extensive experience as an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher in a high school with a diverse student population.
Classroom Experience Is Essential
“A lot of the work, when I first became a teacher, was really trying to just get a better grasp of how to teach and how to relate to students,” said Cutting.
“I quickly learned that students just want to know that you care, that you will support them and that you respect them. For the majority, they would do anything for you, even if that was the hook to get them learning. And knowing that you would pretty much do anything for them to ensure their success.”
As she continued to hone her classroom management and student rapport skills, Cutting began seeking opportunities for curriculum writing and program development. Her experience working with diverse language learners gave light to establishing an end goal, and then back mapping and programming to meet that goal. No matter what language any of her students spoke, the end goal was to speak English. Cutting applied those pedagogical aspects to her classroom teaching, which gained recognition and opened opportunities to connect with administrators.
But it wasn’t until Cutting switched to East Hartford High School in Connecticut to be an English teacher that she began to pursue roles in administration. “At this point, I was better skilled as a teacher, and I wanted to start making an impact on a greater level to reach students beyond the ones in my classroom, so I enrolled at the University of Connecticut for a degree in administration.”
Recognizing the Power of the Team
“A key facet of education that really started coming to light more as I progressed in my career was, it’s a team effort, and everybody plays a role in establishing the relationships and the connections with kids,” stated Cutting.
“The kids, regardless of whether English was their first language or their second language; whether they were from a suburban area or urban—knowing that you connected with them and cared about them as a person first has always been the key.”
Upon completing her administration degree, Cutting kept her ties close by accepting a position as an assistant principal at East Hartford High School. “I joined a team of five building administrators, and I had about 600 students that I was responsible for, so that team piece was essential.”
Those 600 students increased to 6,000 students when Cutting moved into her current role at SSCSD, which has six elementary schools, one middle school and one high school.
The team mentality continued to permeate as she strived to uphold the district’s four core values: equity of opportunity, collaboration, community and personalization These values are shared districtwide, from the board and administrative level down to the buildings and the teachers and students, as well as across the entire extended geographical community.
“Our school board is made up of community members,” said Cutting. “And there has always been a focus on students first, and then how to support the adults supporting the students, and this board has been amazing with that.”
It’s truly a team effort.
“As an entire district team, we really worked on re-establishing connections with students, especially coming back after the pandemic. We really wanted to make sure that all students, staff and parents feel welcomed, as well as to create a safe space, physically, intellectually and emotionally,” shared Dr. Cutting.
Creating a Larger Community Base with iTutor
Cutting found her path to education because of tutoring. It was through this that she realized how important human connection truly is, but when the pandemic continuously and sporadically dispersed workers and students, weakening the team and creating a gap (particularly for homebound students), Cutting knew she had to find additional team members.
“That’s when I started looking at iTutor,” she explained. iTutor provides state-certified educators where education programs need them most, and for Saratoga Springs, it was very much needed for students who were homebound.
“iTutor was very responsive and able to work with my team and me to build a program that was COVID-proof, something that if kids were out on quarantine, they could log on and still be connected to instruction.’”
Cutting again turned to the team-first attitude as her existing staff worked with iTutor to develop a virtual workforce of people who were not already district staff members. Technology is a powerful educational tool, but when student safety is a priority at the school level, a secure platform must be used to connect additional teachers to students—and iTutor had just that.
“iTutor is approved by New York State to be used with kids. They met the technology security laws and compliance, and they were willing to work with us to provide the best program for our students,” explained Cutting. “They basically said, ‘What do you need?’”
And as a team, iTutor and SSCSD set up tutoring schedules for students in 6th grade , and then in grades K–5, and then grades 7–12. There was movement and collaboration and establishing something new, and as with any newly formed team, there were wins and losses, and there were adjustments to the game plan and unforeseen substitutions. But that passion that ignited Cutting’s desire to help others succeed back in college began to unite a school district with the invaluable connection of certified teachers, whether they were geographically close or not.
After their season as a team working together, Cutting expressed, “It was fantastic! The tutors were amazing!”
When technology surpasses obstacles, greatness can indeed be achieved.
