For retiring Sangamon Principal Mark Cabutti, everything comes back to relationships.
Cabutti’s interest in reaching a large group of people led him into communications as a young college student, but once he realized that being a TV or radio personality was a one-way communication path, he decided to choose another career.
“I’ve always enjoyed kids, so I thought, ‘You know what, I want to be a teacher,” Cabutti said.“I’ve always liked kids. I’m kind of still a kid at heart.”
Seven years into his 10-year teaching stint at Bottenfield Elementary, Cabutti felt an urge to make a greater contribution by becoming an administrator.
“I would get to not only impact one class, but I would hopefully have an influence over a school of children and a staff,” he said. “I could try to craft that in a way that I felt was a healthy and appropriate way to reach children.”
Cabutti took the practices he used to engage 25 children in a classroom in the 1980’s and worked to create an environment where every student felt they were cared for and respected.
“You get a lot out of children when they know they are cared for and respected,” Cabutti said. “My dad always said, ‘Kids are like dogs; they know if you like them.’ And I truly believe they know if you like them or not. So what I learned is if you make a positive relationship with a kid, they will do a lot to learn and do the things you need them to do socially and behaviorally.”
Returning to Yankee Ridge as a principal ten years after he student taught there, Cabutti knew the challenge would be to work with a staff who held the same values. Later, he moved onto becoming a principal in Urbana before finding the place he’d call home for the next 22 years in Mahomet-Seymour.
He remembers the oil and chip roads and gravel parking lot that lined Sangamon when he arrived. And while he has watched as Mahomet has grown from a rural to more of a suburban atmosphere, Cabutti knows the expectations of parents and taxpayers are high every day.
“I come to school every day knowing there are super high expectations for me, for our teachers, for the school,” he said. “And I come to work and say, “We’ve got to meet those expectations in whatever way possible.”
As Sangamon has hired new staff over the years, Cabutti said the hiring committees look for three things: someone who has the potential to be happy, someone who has the potential to like children, even the difficult ones, and someone who has the potential to be a good teammate to the other adults in the building.
“When I became principal here, I inherited a lot of those types of people,” he said. “As we’ve hired additional staff, we’ve had a tremendous amount of success in hiring people who embody those three things. If they have those three things, you can teach them to do the math curriculum, the reading curriculum or how to run a SMARTBOARD. But you can’t teach those three things: those are intrinsic.”
Cabutti said he has been fortunate to work with a staff that embodies the same values as he does. And because he respects his staff so much, he said he has been able to let them do their jobs.
“My relationship with the staff is mutual respect,” he said. “ I want them to know I certainly have their back when they need me. I’ll also step aside so that they can do the job that they are paid to do if I trust they are doing it effectively.”
“My bosses have also given me a lot of latitude to run this school the way I see fit,” he also said. “There hasn’t been a lot of micromanaging. There’s a direction that the district needs to head, and what they expect me to do as a principal, but there hasn’t been a lot of daily micromanagement on their part over the years.I don’t have to put pressure on the staff here to do certain things because I’m trusted, I pass that trust onto them. “
And because test scores continue to be “phenomenal” at Sangamon, Cabutti said “ It allows me to step aside and say do your thing; you know what you are doing. You hire good people and you work with good people, then you do give them some latitude to not micro-manage what they are doing.”
When teachers requested to be able to run their own weekly meetings years ago, Cabutti was elated.
“Inside, I was really celebrating because that’s what you want a team to be: high-functioning where they can run their own meeting. That was a great thing for me.”
While Cabutti is known for being in the hallways and cafeteria with students, it is just as important to him for teachers to see his face throughout the day. Instead of using email or text message to schedule a meeting, Cabutti said he prefers asking teachers for a prefered time face-to-face.
He also believes that his time in the classroom builds a bridge between administration and staff because the teachers know he’s been in their shoes.
“There is a fine line between being their supervisor and also trying to be one of them,: he said. “I taught for 10 years, and I think there is some respect in that. They are like, Mark has been in the classroom. Mark’s walked our walk. And I’ve worked really hard to not get away from that. That’s why I get out of the office. I want to know what is going on in their classroom. I want them to see that I am invested in their students and in them.”
“I really love the people I work with. I hope it’s mutual. I sense that it is,” he continued.
Because being in the classroom, hallways, cafeteria and playground with the students and teachers are so important to Cabutti, he gets up at 4:30 a.m. to prepare any paperwork or administrative duties that need to be done that day.
“It’s easy to preach about what you think kids ought to be doing, but I try to lead and that’s one of the reasons I spend 90-minutes each day in the lunchroom being with the kids or in the hallways and classrooms.”
Cabutti said as a result, students don’t want to disappoint him. He wears a microphone during lunch, congratulating students on their good behavior in the classroom or on the bus, talking to them about healthy food choices and playing games with them. Even when the lunchroom erupts in celebration because a frisbee has hit the “Healthy Food of the Week” on the back wall or because Cabutti threw a fortune cookie through the blades on the ceiling fan, in a matter of seconds a pin drop can be heard because he has asked them to “Show Me 2.”
“They see their principal in a different light than what they may think of a stereotypical principal,” Cabutti said. “And what I’m trying to do is build mutual respect. And play, to a seven-year-old, whether it’s football or basketball or being silly with them, you build a relationship. And that thread of relationship is so powerful, especially with 6,7 or 8-year-olds.”
He hopes that as students build that mutual respect with him, they will be more receptive to the five expectations Sangamon upholds for all students: to treat others as they want to be treated, to be respectful of others, to walk quietly in the hallway, to listen to direction and to do what you are supposed to be doing.
“I hope they keep the values of being kind, fair and respectful for the rest of their lives,” he said. “If keeping their room spotless is not value learned, then that’s okay. It’s those lifelong values.”
“But I also want them to know that I learned a lot in first in second grade, but I also had a lot of fun, too. And those two things can happen at the same time,” he said.
What most parents who have had children go through Sangamon Elementary will remember most fondly, though, is that Mr. Cabutti knew their child’s name, interests and listened to their stories.
At the beginning of each year, Cabutti takes a photograph of every first grade student. Teachers help him mark each picture with the child’s name, and Cabutti begins to study the pictures, often taking them home.
Cabutti also engages with students as they come to his office to celebrate their good work or behavior, and he also participates in activities such a football, spraying them with water or the second grade Egg Drop.
“I respect (students) greatly and they know that,” he said. “And consequently, they respect me. I’ve felt that respect for a long time here. And it’s good. It’s healthy.”
And because Sangamon is a place Cabutti is proud of, he has always welcomed parents and grandparents to visit the school during lunch.
“When parents come to lunch, that may be their only snapshot of this school, but I want them to walk through the halls and see the kids in their class working,” he said. “I want them to see the respect we have in the lunchroom, but then the fun we have. I love it when parents or grandparents who have been teachers will leave and they stop me and say, “Mr. Cabutti, that was amazing.” And it’s not just me, it’s the staff we have (in the lunchroom) and the kids, too.”
Cabutti said that while he was growing up parents and grandparents were not involved in the schools. But throughout his time as principal, he wanted the caregivers to know that he respected them, too.
“If a parent sends an email or a voicemail, I will not leave the building before replying,” he said. “That’s respect. That’s very important to me. If they reach out to me, then I want to reach out to them.”
He’s also appreciated the business community supporting incentives for students and projects at the school.
“I live in a community that is super supportive of the schools,” he said. “So that sends me to work everyday saying, these people have high expectations. And it motivates me. That’s why I’ve been excited for 22 years.”
And after 22 years as a principal and 35 years in the educational system, Cabutti said he landed his dream job.
“This to me, I always wanted to be an elementary school principal,” he said. “That was my dream when I got into teaching. And when I landed here at Sangamon, there is no other job that I ever wanted. I feel like I’ve got the best job in America right here. I’ve never applied for any other job. I’ve never interviewed for any other job because I knew this is what I wanted to do.”
But because of the way the Illinois pension system is set up, Cabutti said it is time for him to step aside and do something else. Recruited by Chief Brand Officer Amy Randolph, Cabutti will work part-time at Busey Bank Corporation. A bank that is rapidly growing, Cabutti will help implement growth and brand strategies, public relations and customer service.
“I hope that I can share with some of Busey’s employees what it is to have a high standard of excellence,” Cabutti said.
But Cabutti also said he is really looking forward to serving the community. In retirement Cabutti hopes to take that same mantra as he plans to mentor students or help in the soup kitchen when he’s not working.
“As I’ve gotten older, my call to serve has gotten stronger. I love that everyday I can come (to Sangamon) everyday and whether it is bending down and tying a kid’s shoe or providing transportation for a child who would not get it, I get to serve. I come to school with the same mantra I’ve always had: I’m here to help you.”
