The hero behind the scenes

Karen Sutton and her contributions to NuVu

By Cleo Podrasky

A woman sits on the edge of her seat, typing in ebbs and flows as she writes an email. She stares, thinking, and then bursts into a flurry of words. Her desk is fairly organized with notes about her plans for the day strewn on the right side of it, while pencil-holders and knickknacks are to the left. The incessant clicking of the keyboard continues as she gathers her thoughts and explains the programs offered by her workplace. She smiles faintly and sends the email, moving on to the next.

Karen Sutton, the Director of Operations at an experimental school in Cambridge, MA, tends to have a busy day. She either spends her time at her desk, writing miscellaneous emails to faculty, or she paces around, listening to people on the other side of the phone. NuVu Studio is a busy place, too, with students ranging from 8th to 12th grade working on their projects, racing in and out of the workshop with safety glasses still on their heads. However, few of these students truly know what she actually does, and realize her contribution to their education.

First off, she has to communicate with people outside of NuVu to make sure that the employees are getting paid and to discover whether or not the organization is adhering to the budget. This can take up most of her day, as these communications are coming in constantly. Because of this, she works within a certain policy; she consistently answers all of her incoming messages within 24 hours, even if she doesn’t have the answer. “Maybe it’s outdated or old-fashioned,” she says, “but I can’t stand a full inbox, especially when it’s in the double-digits.”

She also has to answer questions posed by companies who are helping NuVU expand their space. “I have quite a bit of responsibility with the financial aspect of this company, so I need to make sure that the invoices are being sent out, bills are being paid, and budgets are being adhered to,” she tells me in an interview. “I communicate all of this and work very, very closely with Saeed on that end. I don’t really share much information regarding finances with anybody else except for Saba, and to make sure that we are financially solvent is the biggest thing.” This tends to leave her fully in charge of communicating with companies about finance and services.

As she types one of these emails, she discovers questions piling up in her inbox. She purses her lips in thought and leans forward slightly. Oftentimes, she spends her whole day responding to contractors and employees, but that doesn’t stop her. “I love a challenge, and I love to take things on and do them well,” she says to me while working tirelessly on a letter. “I love my job, and the reason why I love this job is that, at my age, I got a second opportunity to really work hard, and learn, and sort of relive my thirties.”

As she’s about to begin another email, Saeed walks over to her desk and explains something about the plants. She glides over to the hallway full of Elephant Ear plants and other tropical greenery and clears the plants of insects and other critters that might harm them. While doing so, she explains to me her relationship with Saeed. “The only person who knows that I make a mistake is usually Saeed. l I stress out when I make a mistake. I hate, more than anything, when I make a mistake, and when I make a mistake, it’s like I just stabbed somebody. It’s just awful.”

In addition to taking care of plants (and her mistakes), she does many other things around NuVu. From staff to scheduling, to letting students in the front door, Karen oversees it all. “I make sure that all of the staff has what they need to do their job and feels supported by NuVu, and that falls into the category of HR,” she explains emphatically. “Benefits, insurance, making sure that they have information, that their questions are answered, so that in everything, from health to travel to expenses to day-to-day operations, people are informed.”

Originally, though, Karen didn’t have the same job here at NuVu. She started out as the Vice President of an educational travel company at age 25, which required a lot of effort and dedication to perform well. She had two kids soon afterward, though, and she made a decision to due to the complications of being a full-time mother. After floating around several easier, part-time jobs, she wanted to have more of a challenge. She joined the NuVu team, but for the first six months, few people, including Karen herself, thought that it was going to work out, as it was hard for her to adjust to. However, after those three months, “Things clicked, and I think I had personal growth; I understood dynamics much, much better.”

Now, Karen is sitting at her desk again, typing into her schedule. As usual, it is fairly packed, and yet she always seems to make room for more; after all, NuVu can be unpredictable, and many things change on a day-to-day basis. NuVu is busy, and because of this, Karen is too. However, she always makes an effort to look on the bright side, despite her worries about events; “There’s always a value in responding, and you never, ever know if your positive response will lead to some amazing opportunity to NuVu. You just never know- It’s better to be positive and professional because that generates good vibes everywhere.”

Inside the mind of NuVu | and how it affects the administration

Through the glass pane of the fishbowl, I observe a member of the NuVu administration; She has to substitute in because a coach is sick, taking time out of her already replete workday. She’s happy to help, but she had to reschedule a call and push back some work she was planning on getting done. Every little complication adds delay. The NuVu machine runs very tightly, there is little room for error without causing congestion down the line. When one part of NuVu sneezes, sometimes literally, the whole school catches a cold.

 I can always feel the draft beneath me as I walk up the cold concrete flight of stairs corralling me to NuVu Innovation School. Glass panes framed by the metal handrails slightly tint what lies behind. Up and around the corner is the entrance, it’s neon pink cavern pulling me in.

For the students, NuVu is the most freeform school experience on the east coast. People climbing into the laser cutter, trying to clown-car as many people in it as possible. Shooting each other with staple guns trying to pop the balloons attached to their opponents (wearing safety glasses, of course).

For the administration of the 10-year-old education startup, however, NuVu is a fast-paced regimented workplace with very little room for error.

In 2010 NuVu was founded by 3 MIT graduates. Saba, a calculated decision maker, the rhyme and reason of NuVu; David, the first coach; and Saeed, the visionary.

“Between Saba, myself and Saeed, Saeed came up with the idea.” Late in the night - sitting in our respective desk chairs - I'm interviewing David Wang.

“ I certainly would say NuVu isn't in its infancy anymore.”

Early on, Saeed saw NuVu as his baby; but he enjoys watching it grow. Predominantly he likes facilitating the proliferation of creativity, through teaching its methods to the younger generation.

“It’s true that Saeed has a strong hand in how NuVu runs and he has a lot of opinions of how things should be done.”

Saeed has become more mellow over the years; He’s learned an understanding of what it is like to be a teen, how they view the world and take in information. Using all the information he’s amassed over his time running NuVu he, in parallel with Saba, has created a pedagogy of creativity.

In 2014 there was a dilemma; how does NuVu grow? At the time, two options were present:

1. Grow mothership as it is now, a physical school
2. Create a program to spread the NuVu philosophy

The outcome: NuVux. A program where a NuVu studio is setup in other schools around the world in order to bring creativity education to students, not the other way around.

Notwithstanding their progress Saeed and NuVu still have a long way to go

 I sat in on a NuVuX / Mothership meeting on Monday. Similar to the Mothership only meetings on Wednesday, all the communication was very rushed. The administrators would almost fight to ask Saeed questions, like a White House press briefing. A short discussion followed the scuffle. “I don’t know” is his catchphrase, he uses it as a cue to share more information.

When a decision is made the administrators quickly move onto the next topic, wasting as little time as possible. If a decision is not reached, the topic will be pushed to the next meeting. They repeated this over and over in an almost methodical way; It’s clear its been this way for a while.

Commonly seen wearing bright, flashy clothing, Jenny Kinard is the administrative equivalent of Lesley Knope. She is the conduit between the administration and the parents, students, and coaches.

Jenny has 4 recurring meetings every week; the staff meeting, the NuVu mothership meeting, the NuVu mothership/NuVuX meeting, and the coaches’ meeting. During the mothership meeting is her chance to ask permission from Saeed for all things NuVu.

Jenny takes various questions and complaints from lower down and packages them for Saeed. She includes as much information as possible so he can be satisfied with the conclusion. If there is a troublemaker student or a big purchase that needs to be dealt with this is where it happens.

Naturally, given only an hour to get through a whole week’s affairs, the meeting becomes competitive in nature. Because of Saeed's grip on NuVu’s brain, staff don't have much freedom to act autonomously.

Jenny feels as this is not always enough time to process and receive feedback on all of her responsibilities. Despite growing pains and hiccups, Jenny, just like the rest of NuVu Cambridge staff, remains determined and presses on. She is dedicated to the students, her co-workers and NuVu’s mission. And so, she filters in and out of studios to substitute for coaches during a season of runny noses to ensure the school continues to run as smooth as it can. 

Steps in the process: Studio creation from the ground up

NuVu is an innovation school that uses project-based learning to teach students valuable life skills. NuVuX is an extension of NuVu that is in public and private schools around the world. NuVu works in studios where students create a project that is made for real-life implementation. Instead of having teachers, NuVu has coaches that are architects, designers, and engineers. Kristina Osborn is a NuVux Program Designer and manages a lot of the studios for NuVuX.

Kristina and I met to talk about the creation of NuVu studios. A NuVu studio is a two-three weeks studio that is based on real-world problems. Studios range from technical, to conceptual, to virtual projects.

Last spring, for example, 12 students at NuVu Cambridge experienced the Deployable Spaces studio. Students were asked to look at areas in Kendall Square, Cambridge and found places that were abandoned or vacant. Students created games that could easily be deployed into these spaces and could invite more people to interact in these unused spaces.  Deployable Spaces in one of the thousands of studios that have been created at NuVu. Kristina’s role is to take studios that have been done at NuVu Cambridge and perfect them for NuVuX.

The first step, Kristina explains, is idea creation.

“The key steps to creating a studio are having a solid idea: is the studio entirely new or does it take inspiration from previous studios? What are some projects that could come out of the studio?”

Initial ideas can range from covering a current event to diving into a type of craft, but ultimately, there needs to be a certain level of depth to the studio.

“The second step is to figure out what the brainstorming session will look like.”

Kristina opens a new google doc that shows this section completed in the google doc there are ideas for what should the sections for what ideas should come out in the brainstorming session.

“Now that the studio has been created coaches have to figure out the scheduling when will the studio take place will it be three weeks or two weeks, fall, spring, or winter trimester?”

 “How will breaks affect the studio will there be enough time in the day for students to complete sufficient amounts of work? These are questions that coaches have to answer during the studio creation process.”

For NuVuX this process is different because students have less time in the studio each week they have around 90 minutes a week so the studio is scheduled differently.

After thinking through these steps, Kristina then meets with NuVux fellows and staff for feedback. Kristina consistently has meetings throughout the day. Today, she’s meeting with Nadine. This meeting is about creating a new studio for Wheeler, a NuVux partner in Providence RI, during the spring semester. Kristina starts the meeting by opening her computer and going to the NuVu main page.

“ So Nadine what was your first step in the studio intro exercise?” Kristina asked. Nadine in a NuVux staff member and ran the Identity Vessels studio at Cambridge and the Jordan NuVuX.

“Students needed inspiration but some of the students worked really well and got a lot done,” she replied.

“How long the studio would need for the intro exercises?”

She continued to ask Nadine questions about the studio process. After the meeting, Kristina got a cup of coffee and an orange. She seemed worn out but still, she found a seat by the couches. She sat with her computer in her lap and sipped her coffee and slacked Max.

“ Max is a NuVuX fellow [in Vermont] and works directly with me and helps me manage the Wheeler studios for Wheeler,” Kristina responds. She continues to chat with him as lunchtime approaches.

After lunch, Kristina meets with NuVux staff Ramzi and Nadine. Wheeler will be doing a virtual exchange studio with the Karam house in Reyhanlı, Turkey.

“NuVu is planning to do a three-way Virtual exchange. Three-way exchange is too hard because there has to be something that all three can relate to,” Ramzi explains.

“What if we just did a two-way virtual exchange?” Kristina responds. She consistently is trouble-shooting and re-thinking NuVu approaches.

In this meeting, they are figuring out what the studio will the virtual exchange will be. Kristina asks about what are some problems that both schools can relate to. It’s important for students to feel connected to the project.

Ramzi replies with “Both studios are in places with very limited transportation. What if we created a studio around public transportation, where students create alternative forms of transportation?”

Kristina takes down notes about Ramzi’s idea. Her day is halfway over, and there is so much planning left to do. Now that they have an idea, she begins the studio planning process. With a notebook and computer in hand, she heads back to her desk and gets to work. 

its art, not engineering, or is it     Ji picks up a salad bowl for lunch the day of her interview. She walks over to a table in the hallway with Luis, a co-worker at NuVu Innovation School and friend. She is wearing olive green velvety pants, and a white sweater with grey cross pattern stripes, over that she wears a slightly clay covered grey apron, and on her feet are colorful patterned socks under brown leather shoes. She sits down calmly and crosses her right leg over the left before starting to eat.

Jiyoo Jye, or Ji, grew up in Seoul with two other siblings, an older brother named Sunny and an older sister who is also called Ji. She graduated from Centennial High School in Maryland and went to Carnegie Mellon University for college, and later attended Harvard Graduate School of Design. She knew that she wanted to do art since she was a kid, because she always would be always drawing and painting.

“Art is something that captures the remnant of that time period so whoever is alive during that time has the capacity to capture what they experience as a human [...] and express it in a non verbal way.”

When Ji is doing art, she feels very liberated and in tune with herself. She does art both for herself and to share it with the world. People say successful artists are the ones who make the most money but Ji doesn't agree.

“A very successful artist, in my opinion, is someone who can still value that practice for their own needs and fulfillment without the pressure and anxiety of a price tag. Because, ultimately, when you create something meaningful and valuable or beautiful you should be able to share that with as many people as possible without building walls around your piece.”

After lunch, Ji walks into work through a panther pink arch, into a bright modern room with plants studded around on windowsills and tables. On her left is the shop where Jon, the shop teacher, is sitting at his computer and typing. To her right are people chattering about various topics. She walks further down the hallway into her studio. Inside, students are working meticulously on modeling softwares and sketching their ideas. She walks over to a whiteboard and starts erasing and rewriting names.

“No one on this list is here right now. Ethan, would you like to be the first desk crit?” She is standing with a confident air, her feet are shoulder length apart and her arms are crossed.

Ji says that one of the reasons she likes coaching at NuVu is because she can convince her students that there is still merit and value in striving to become a certain type of artist in today’s society without selling themselves short. She says that NuVu is all about life long learning and how you can teach yourself and train yourself to learn everyday. She thinks that there should always be a way to access art in the public realm without having to go to a gallery or museum.

Ji is an inspirational and skilled artist and coach.

“There are always creative upticks and creative pitfalls. Both are very crucial, because without those pitfalls, you don't have inspiration. The times when you're bored and you can't work are also important ‘cause that's when it propels you forward to that episode when you're creating just lots and lots of work.”

Ji smiles and looks back down at the blend of ceramic and plaster spread across the table. She takes a rag and starts wiping down the raw clay in front of her. 

               A humongous figure stands in the room, dressed in all sorts of festive and colorful apparel, flickers of teal and golden cloth like candlelight and crimson hues like sparks dancing around his forest-green robe. His eyes twinkle with mischief, his face enveloped in dark, long dreadlocks tinged with streaks of gray and white. He chuckles to himself, transitioning into the voluminous tone of bells as he clangs merrily, "Get to know me better, man!" This figure, however, is not what he seems- he is not a physical entity, but is, instead, a ghost- the ghost of Christmas's present.

               The ghost of Christmas Present is a particularly jovial man, and has such a sonorous laugh that he almost shakes the room. After all, he is the embodiment of all Christmas cheer– one would expect him to be as such, since otherwise Christmas would not be merry! This ghost often takes delight in children’s games and stories, and shows his generous nature in the magic that he brings: filling people’s cups, furnishing feasts, and inspiring a joyous and forgiving spirit in all. However, the ghost himself is not forgiving– he takes little to no pity on Scrooge, responding to him, "If he had like to die, he better do it quick to decrease the surplus population,” when the miser asks him if Tiny Tim will die. He says this with a solemn air and a vindictive gesture, mocking Scrooge and putting forth his error in judgment. This shows that though he may seem kind and merciful, he has the power to harm, and will do so if he must.

               However, this jolly character is not all-powerful; two children, Ignorance and Want, plague him. Because of them, he ages as the night wanes, and at the stroke of twelve, he disappears off of the face of the earth. Before he goes, he warns Scrooge; “Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy (Ignorance), for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased.” When Scrooge asks about whether or not they have any place to stay, the ghost replies, echoing the miser’s former words, “Are there no prisons? ...Are there no workhouses?” He disappears forever, not to be seen again on the face of the earth.