By Sylvie Gumlaw, Winnie Brennan, and Tess Nelson 

So far, Mrs. Cruts has described her experience at Seven Hills as “pretty slick.” She is new to the Seven Hills community, and she teaches Algebra to eighth graders and high schoolers at Seven Hills. 

Mrs. Cruts knew she wanted to be a teacher because she “always liked tutoring and teaching.” Growing up, she always helped her friends with homework. She became a middle and high school teacher because “I always liked high schoolers and middle schoolers, and that was the age group I wanted to teach,” Cruts said. She felt that they needed a good teacher that would make class fun and educational. 

She was initially a part-time teacher for upper school and middle school. She would come in every other day to the school to teach her classes. But then she was offered another course, and now she comes in every day.

Mrs. Cruts is not only a teacher. Outside of school, she plays on volleyball teams known as “Empire Spikes Back” and “Setters of Catan.” She also collects board games with her husband, Brian. Her favorite board game to play is Gloomhaven. 

She has a pizza oven, and one of her favorite things on weekends involves making homemade pizza. Suppose Mrs. Cruts could live anywhere in the world. She would live in Italy with her family to “eat all of the pizza” and “learn from them.”

Her biggest pet peeve inside the classroom is talking while the teacher is talking because it distracts others and herself. But she makes her classroom educational as well as fun. “Mrs. Cruts keeps us engaged because she is funny, and we do activities instead of only notes,” said Julia Lee, an eighth-grade student. 

She also enjoys collecting many things, including; squishmallows and plants, and reading books on her kindle. She has many squishmallows that she is very passionate about. 

You may see her walking around school as a dinosaur or a holiday present, which are only some of the costumes she wears to school during the holidays. Mrs. Cruts gets excited when she sees on the calendar that there is a spirit week coming up because she enjoys finding outfits that connect with the theme.

Many students would agree that “Mrs. Cruts is not only a teacher but also our friend,” said eighth grader Stella Mosby.