Dayton Reporter

"Do something good." That was the advice Jack Hutter received from a high school teacher. Hutter thought he would do good as a lawyer. But eventually, he was drawn to the classroom.

"Some of the best people I knew were teachers," said Hutter, a junior, who changed his major from political science to UD's pre-kindergarten to Grade 5 program. His mother, Gina Hutter '94, and grandmother, Kathy Hutter '69, are teachers but he needed to find his own way to the profession.Growing up, Hutter only had a few male teachers, a disproportionately low number compared to classroom gender demographics, but one that's all too common. Male teachers make up only 20% of elementary and middle school teachers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics."When you get through sixth grade without a male teacher, that impacts students," Hutter said. "It's not representative of what most kids are seeing at home, so having a male teacher at school is important, especially because sometimes kids see teachers more than their parents."Thinking about overall student mental health and his challenging experience of starting a new high school 30 minutes away from home, Hutter went deeper into his major, diving into a credentialing course examining mental health and development."That's kind of where it started, my affinity for mental health and men's mental health," Hutter said. "I thought this course and credentialing is a great way I can promote mental health while staying in my field."Hutter's growth in early childhood education doesn't stop in the classroom. Every week he works with toddlers and preschoolers at the Bombeck Family Learning Center, which is known for its leadership in child development."When I see them on the playground laughing and enjoying the moment, it's hard not to see the innocence and potential. They don't have worries in them yet and they're just pure joy," Hutter said. "Or when they have ah-ha moments. When you're explaining something and see them get it for the first time, it's rewarding."Seeing that on a recurring basis, I think I'm doing something good."

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