Sutter receives Power of One award

A long-time Aurora school administrator and coach has been recognized by his peers at the school in Arizona where he has worked for the past year. Jeff Sutter was presented with the “Power of One” award by his fellow teachers at Queen Creek School District on the southeast side of the Phoenix metro area in Arizona. Sutter is the former Special Education Director and Early Childhood Coordinator for the Aurora School District, who resigned in March of 2022. 
“Every school will give a Power of One award annually,” Sutter’s wife, Michelle explained. “Every building has its own Power of One person they nominate to receive the award.”
Sutter was recognized by the school board during its meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 5. His peers said he was “an exceptional resource teacher who consistently demonstrates a remarkable commitment to meeting the unique needs of each student.” 
Having moved from the plains and corn fields of Central Nebraska to the desert of Arizona in 2022, the Sutters say they have finally made the adjustment to their new home and school district. 
They say that after many years of working in Aurora they were ready to seek new opportunities in a different part of the country.
“We’d gone to a job fair in February of 2022,” Jeff explained. “We looked at different school districts and Queen Creek just kind of stood out as a little bit smaller of a community even though it’s getting bigger than what we’re used to in Aurora.”
With their daughter, Emma, having moved to Tempe, Ariz., to work in healthcare as a marketing assistant, the Sutters, along with their son, Emerson, moved to Queen Creek four months later.
They say the hardest adjustment was letting go of nearly 30 years worth of friendships.
“I think the transition was a lot harder than we thought it would be,” Jeff commented. “We don’t have the 28 years of relationships that we had in Aurora. We didn’t have that when we first came to Queen Creek and we were just here, brand new.”

Back in the classroom
They say part of their adjustment was also transitioning back into working directly with students. 
“Jeff was an administrator at Aurora and I worked at the service unit in Giltner where I wasn’t in the classroom,” Michelle explained. “The fact that we went back into the classroom rekindled this passion of why we went into education in the first place.”
For over a year now, Jeff has worked as a resource teacher for 5th and 6th graders at Queen Creek Elementary while Michelle works as a resource teacher for 3rd and 4th graders at Faith Mather Sossaman Elementary.
“We knew we needed to get to get to know the Arizona system and education systems,” Michelle stated. “We were like, ‘What better way than to just start in the classroom?’ It’s been great to get back into the classrooms and work with the students. We really have been enjoying it.”
“Both of us really felt like that teaching passion was renewed since we had been out of the classroom for so long,” Michelle commented. “Giving back to the students and giving back to the school system within the classroom was just different for both of us because we haven’t been in the classroom for at least 15 years.”
While the difference between the landscapes of Nebraska and Arizona is stark, the Sutters say there’s also a major difference in how the two states’ education systems work. 
“Aurora is a very fortunate with the school system and district,” Jeff stated. “All the resources that the teachers and the students have in Aurora are great. Here in a bigger district, we’re finding teachers aren’t given as many resources as what we had in Aurora.”
The suburb of Queen Creek has a total of 15 schools in its district with several charter schools running independently as well.
“Arizona is a choice state,” Jeff explained. “There’s more choices for parents to send their kids. Half of them go to charter schools and the other half will go to public.”

When school’s out
During after school hours, the family has taken time to explore what Arizona has to offer, both exploring the Grand Canyon as well as the foothills around their own home.
“We live close to the San Tan mountain region and we’ll go out and hike that mountain range very frequently,” Jeff commented.
The family has also tried out different golf courses and has gotten to see a whole new side to baseball.
“We’ve gone to the Arizona Diamondbacks’ baseball games,” Michelle commented. “Emerson and Jeff were able to attend the game where they went into the World Series.”
Michelle commented that her son’s time in Queen Creek has also allowed him to try new things such as taekwondo and pool billiards.
“He still loves golf and all sports,” Michelle said. “He expanded some of his interests because of moving out here.”
Jeff noted that after making the adjustments the move has been a good experience for his family. 
“You never know until you get to experience it,” Jeff said. “We settled into a good church that’s right across the street from us. We established relationships with the teachers and the school system and that helped a lot.”
Michelle commented that hardships the family had experienced previously had helped prepare them for the life-altering changes that took place because of the move.
“I feel like some of the life experiences that our family has been through, definitely have prepared us for this move to Arizona,” Michelle said. “We’ve been through fertility issues, we’ve been through cancer and all of those life lessons throughout our 27 years of marriage have allowed us to transition to Arizona. Faith got us through, our friends and family got us through that hard time. Those things you experience in life, just continue to make you stronger.”