Celebration tomorrow for beloved teacher

ROYAL CITY - Royal High School leadership, staff and students tomorrow, April 24, will celebrate the life of beloved teacher Kathy Schutz, who died recently.

The memorial service will be held in the gymnasium, starting at 4 p.m.

Kathleen Lee Schutz, a longtime teacher in the Royal School District, died on April 1, 2013 of pulmonary complications. She was 61.

Schutz, who was nicknamed Schutzie among her peers, lived in Royal City and taught at Royal High School for 33 years. She was born April 23, 1951 in Spokane to Fred Francis "Sonny" Schutz, and Floye Alice "Dolly" (Maxwell) Schutz.

"I am sure we all have wonderful stories about our encounters with Schutzie that will be told for years to come," Royal Superintendent Rose Search said. "She had a generous heart and loved her students, parents and especially her colleagues. Schutzie will be missed."

Schutz grew up in the Spokane Valley on Bessie Rd., and attended school there until she graduated from West Valley High in 1969. She graduated from EWU in 1973 with a degree in Teaching/Home Economics. Her first teaching job was in Troy, MT, the second at Wilpinit and last at Royal City.

Schutz is survived by her sister Patricia Freeman (Ornia) Spokane Valley, nephew Kevin Freeman (Lisa), grand nephew Nathan Freeman, and grand niece Abigail Freeman.

According to family and friends, of all things, Schutz loved teaching most. It was her passion and purpose in life. She taught Family and Consumer Science starting back when it was still called home economics.

"While considering how to honor Schutzie as an educator, the memories that initially flooded to my mind were personal, not professional," Laurie Lafser, RHS English teacher, said. "Soon after, it occurred to me that the personal qualities I loved about her are the same qualities that made her a beloved educator."

According to Royal School District staff, Schutz was a consummate humanitarian. Much of what she did for others - her generosity of spirit - was often behind the scenes.

"On many occasions, when she realized that a student was in need, that item magically (and anonymously) appeared for that student, whether a pair of shoes, a clothing article, or something else," Search and Lafser said.

In interactions with students, Schutz modeled kindness and compassion. In teaching several generations (yes, she taught children of former students), she scaffolded her teaching in a way that allowed students to have success.

"I remember one time having a philosophical discussion about completion scores for student work," Lafser said. "To her, the mere thought of assigning a completion score was ludicrous. Her response was that if a student turned in an assignment, she was reading all of it."

Schutz expected students to meet her expectations and modeled that behavior herself, Lafser said. First and foremost, that meant being respectful toward peers and staff.

If students did not meet her academic and/or behavioral expectations, she had no problem using a "tough love" approach. That meant a consequence - staying after school to get the work done or detention time.

"As kind as she was, her blunt communication style in matters of discipline rarely left room for misinterpretation," Lafser said.

In her interactions with colleagues, Schutz's willingness to learn was constant.

"When I served as a literacy coach for two years at the high school, meetings with her were always optimistic and productive," Lafser said. "She enjoyed sharing what students were learning and was interested in how to enhance that by using new strategies."

Schutz's passion continued with Step Up to Writing training, which has taken place for all middle and high school teachers the last two years.

"I can still picture her in the middle school and high school faculty rooms, sitting at the table, smiling the majority of the time while still focusing on learning the strategies," Search said. "She participated 100 percent and constantly reflected how the strategies could be applied in her classroom. And she applied them.

"This willingness manifested itself in small ways, too. I will never forget being in her classroom about 10 years ago and leaning over her computer, showing her how to make a table on Microsoft Word. You would have thought that I announced her a lottery winner, she was so happy."

Schutz will not soon be forgotten, Search said.