Amanda Cutsinger is a teacher at Cedar Heights Elementary in Woodward. While she enjoys teaching her students and watching them learn, she says that she also enjoys getting to know them better as the year goes on.

“What I love most about being a teacher is the relationships that I get to build every year with my class,” she said. “We create a family each year, and I love watching them grow throughout the year, and when they come back by my room to visit in the following years.”

In her sixth year at Cedar Heights, Cutsinger teaches second grade. She also works at ExStream, the school’s afterschool enrichment program.

Teaching has been a lifelong passion of Amanda’s, all the way back to when she was a child. 

“I have always wanted to be a teacher, even from a young age,” she said. “I would play school with my sister and our toys. I also had a few teachers who made a huge impact on me and my desire to be a teacher. Sandy Fowler was my Kindergarten teacher, Tina Lopez was my first-grade teacher, and Audrea Halderman was my third-grade teacher. Some of my favorite school memories come from their classrooms.”

In her years as a teacher, Cutsinger has been given various pieces of advice regarding the profession she has chosen. But for her, there is one that she keeps in mind daily.

“I think the best advice I was ever given about teaching was this. ‘The day you stop learning, stop teaching’. As teachers, we are constantly evolving to new strategies and technology, and if we refuse to adapt, that is the time to step out of the classroom.”

Spending time preparing for class and teaching her class is something that she loves, but Amanda says that when she is not in the classroom, she loves to spend time with her niece and nephew.

With a new year finally underway, Cutsinger is looking forward to a great year.

“I am excited to teach my class and get this school year going.”