Be sure to check your emails because it’s guaranteed that Mr. Jeff Schutte, Woodgrove’s Student Activities and Engagement Coordinator, is sitting at the top of your inbox. Seeing his name in an email notification multiple times a day is a pretty average experience, but it begs the thought of what all his duties and devotions in a day are that create the necessity for all those emails. Mr. Schutte has quite the busy schedule. While he does send out a lot of emails throughout the day, he also receives large quantities of emails to reply to or redirect. Any questions concerning clubs or attendance are usually directed to him.
Schutte’s first concern is how he can best help and support students in need. Senior Olivia Cianciaruso had trouble getting into Woodgrove’s clubs as she was absent the day that they opened, and she said “Mr. Schutte took the time to help me add in a blue and green club after I had missed the deadline which closed them off. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to fix it but he made the process really easy and painless.” Having worked at Woodgrove since its opening in 2010, he has yet to lose focus on his original passion: helping where he can to improve student life. With this, he stays up to date with attendance and even addresses grade concerns at times. Not only does he reach out to those students with sub-par attendance, he makes sure to congratulate those with outstanding, or even regular attendance, encouraging that behavior to continue. Having won the SHINE award, an appreciation award granted monthly to a LCPS staff member who has shown above average efforts in their work, Schutte helped significantly decrease the amount of absences at Woodgrove because of his natural knack for analyzing numbers and organizational skills.
Additionally, Schutte is also the main Club Coordinator. He approves clubs, maintains the student presence, approves and helps plan events, and so much more. This means watching the fluctuation of the attendance in certain clubs versus others, and, with his background as a math teacher, this job was basically built for him. Along with all the clubs, Schutte has his hands in many different events throughout the year, such as graduation. The planning for these larger occasions can be in the planning stages for months and months before the event, taking lots of time and devotion. Schutte stated, “I love that I am able to make an impact, it is a huge reason I chose to be a teacher in the first place.”
Along with all of his daily activities, Mr. Schutte has been working on a passion project as a final for his dissertation paper. The goal for this project is to conduct a study surrounding those with spotty attendance. His intention is to question these families and gather their opinions on Woodgrove’s absentee letters sent out. He is trying to figure out if they are helpful, or worded in a way that encourages students and parents to seek help. “As of this morning I have held 18 interviews, and I would say it’s giving me the answer I am looking for on all our attendance policies. I plan to graduate in December so I think I’m on a good track to finish my paper.” Schutte mentioned.
At the end of the day, receiving dozens of emails is justified because they are always meant to benefit students and ensure the best learning potential for every individual. Staying organized is a grand part of Schutte’s busy lifestyle, so he manages this through capitalizing Gmail. Always looking for more efficient solutions to problems and keeping all the records that he does is not a simple task, so next time you see an unopened email from him, take a minute to read it and reply if necessary, as his intentions are always in students’ favor.