Orcutt sees different side of students as one-on-one associate

     Panther Professionals is a weekly series highlighting educators, administrators, staff and aides who are dedicated to the future of the Monticello Community School District.

     Traysa Orcutt enjoys working for the Monticello School District, and sees just how far the teachers and staff are willing to go for the students.

     “We have some amazing teachers here,” she said. “I have not come across one yet who doesn’t go above and beyond for their students.”

     Orcutt has been with the district sine 2013 as a one-on-one associate. She started working with an autistic student in the preschool class her first year, and has since been assigned to fourth-grader Haley McElmeel since McElmeel was in kindergarten. That year, McElmeel was diagnosed with ataxia-telangiectasia, or AT, a neurodegenerative disease.

     “When I started out with Hayley, it was to see if I would be a good fit with her,” recalled Orcutt. “I’ve been with her the whole time.”

     Now, the duo is preparing to leave the comfort of the halls of Carpenter Elementary School as McElmeel and her classmates enter fifth grade in the fall.

     “I will follow Hayley to middle school,” said Orcutt. “That will be a new building for us, a new routine.”

     McElmeel gets around with the use of a wheelchair and walker, always with Ocutt by her side, as well as many of McElmeel’s friends. As the school year comes to close, the fourth graders, and Orcutt, have been touring the middle school to become familiar with their new surroundings.

     Before coming to work for the MCSD, Orcutt worked for 12 years at Rainbow Daycare in Anamosa, which was part of the Anamosa School District. Orcutt left a couple of years before the facility closed its doors, but said she enjoyed the children and families she got to know quite well.

     Living in Monticello, she said it is nice to be working close to home.

     Despite being assigned to one particular student, Orcutt said she feels like she works with many students throughout the day.

     “Some associates work with everybody, but Hayley is so reliant on my help,” she said.

     So many of McElmeel’s classmates in Steph Isaac’s class will volunteer to help Hayley, too.

     “I think the kids see me as just another kid,” joked Orcutt of the time she spends with the other students. “They talk freely in front of me; it’s funny because I get to see another side of the kids.”

     She said it’s been fun being around this particular group of students because her nephew, Grant Gassman, is in the class, too.

     Orcutt summed up her job responsibilities simply as “whatever Hayley’s needs are.” She helps McElmeel eat lunch in the cafeteria, and gets her where she needs to be between classes. Orcutt also scribes for McElmeel during class.

     “I help keep her safe at school,” she said. “I help her make it through the day.”

     She also takes McElmeel outside for recess, which she said is McElmeel’s favorite part of the day.

     “She tires easily, but we want to make sure she has enough energy for recess,” said Orcutt.

     Aside from being one-on-one with McElmeel, Orcutt also takes on recess duty when needed and school bus duty before and after school.

     “I’ve always enjoyed working with kids, and this is a job where I feel like I can make a difference,” she said. “These kids all have different family situations, and hopefully I can be that caring, smiley face for them every day.”

     May 7-11 was known as School Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week. Orcutt said the fourth-graders made her cards to thank her for all she does.

     “Being in the classroom gives me a different perspective,” she said of seeing the kids in a different light.

     Before pursuing a career in education, Orcutt attended Clarke (College) University for elementary education. She’s also taken advantage of associate training opportunities through the years.

     “A friend of mine was a preschool associate and really planted the seed for me,” she said of working in the environment that she is in.

     From her perspective, Orcutt has seen first-hand the mentality that the MCSD has when it comes to incorporating all students into the general education classrooms.

     “Everything is inclusive here, which is good for the kids to see that,” she said of incorporating the special education students in with the entire class. “Hayley doesn’t want to feel different, and you see that when the kids play together. They all help her out. It’s second nature to these kids.” Orcutt said every day McElmeel picks a different friend to sit by her at lunch.

     When she’s not at school during the school year, Orcutt and her husband, Aaron, have two sons. Jayden will be a freshman in the fall, and Landon will be in sixth grade.

     “I will be in middle school with Landon next year,” said Orcutt of joining her youngest. “The boys just love Hayley.”

     The Orcutt family enjoys camping, swimming, going to movies, and raising their sheep, which the boys exhibit at the Great Jones County Fair.