Meet Cindy Sturgis. Cindy recently retired from a long teaching career at the Hilton Head High School. After obtaining her master’s degree in education, she began her teaching career in English in Columbus, Indiana and taught there for 13 years before moving to Hilton Head Island with her husband, Rick, and son John in 2003. She taught IB English and Teacher Cadet at Hilton Head High School and went on to develop the Creative Writing Program that inspired so many of her students. Cindy also collaborated with the musical department for eleven years, showcasing the talents of the students in an annual production entitled “A Slice of American Pie.”
Today, Cindy’s passion for teaching is still burning strong as she fills her time tutoring struggling kids and also running her own business helping students prepare for the SAT and ACT. Cindy is also an adjunct at the University of South Carolina Beaufort campus as a practicum instructor for student teachers.
Her newest venture is a project called “Words and Art” teaming up with her friend and local artist, Polly Rowles, creating a unique Lowcountry timeout to refresh the mind and to find peaceful moments through creativity.
Q: What inspired you or led you to your career and what has been the most rewarding aspect?
A: My passion has always been teaching in different ways. In the early 70’s a school friend of mine and I started our own company, Head and Henny’s School of Music. As high school seniors, we went to students’ homes and taught them to play piano. For many years, I taught piano from home while my children were small. Later after obtaining my masters degree, I taught English, and I absolutely fell in love with the students and the subject matter. I’ve received some accolades over the years, including Teacher of the Year at HHIHS; however, the best awards are the letters and sweet notes from students letting me know I helped them in some way. They have always truly been my inspiration.
Q: Tell me more about your latest project Words and Art?
A: Words and Art is the culmination of a dream of mine to do creative writing for adults. This small workshop helps us dig a bit to explore the heart and to find out who we are inside – and to color outside the lines a bit! We are more than our roles and more than our to-do lists. Luckily, I have an amazing artist friend, Polly Rowles, who shares this idea of reaching people and pulling out their creativity. Once each season, we hold a workshop by the beautiful backdrop of the May River. We have a Facebook page if anyone would like more info: https://www.facebook.com/PeacefulCreativity/.
Q: What is your favorite restaurant in the Hilton Head Area, and what do you love there?
A: There are so many wonderful restaurants here – but my favorite has to be Hudson’s Seafood House on the Docks. What I love the most about it is sitting outside on that deck on the water, whether it’s in the bright summer sun or in the fall watching the fog roll in. It’s just magical. with great sunsets, wonderful live music and fresh, local seafood.
Q: Why did you move to the Hilton Head Area?
A: We moved here in the summer of 2003. My daughter, Jessica, had moved here first to teach at the Hilton Head High School and now teaches at the Bluffton High School. Since then we have been able to watch our grandsons Connor and Nick grow up here. That is a true gift! Our eldest son, Craig stayed in Indiana while attending Purdue University and now lives in Indianapolis. John, our youngest, was in the 7th grade at the time, and through him we met the most wonderful parents and people! We are so glad we came here – I love it that there are no neon signs and that it’s just more about the natural beauty.
Q: Who is the most interesting person you’ve met here in Hilton Head Area?
A: Mel Campbell without a doubt is one of the most interesting people to meet on the island. His family has deep roots in the local Gullah community. I taught with him at Hilton Head High and learned so much about the traditions and history of the island and its people through him.
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be? And why?
A: It would be to Bern, Switzerland. There’s a little terrace behind the Cathedral of Bern, and I would sit at a table with a cup of coffee and listen to the church bells and see the Aare River rushing below. My father was Swiss, and so I’m also a Swiss citizen. It’s like home to my heart.
Q: What is your favorite movie OR what is the first movie you remember seeing in a theatre?
A: The first movie I saw was The Sound of Music; I just was entranced by that whole story. That’s also what turned me on to Broadway musicals.
Q: What advice would you give a crowd of people?
A: There are so many bits of advice to share, but it has boiled down in my life to “just be kind” You never know what someone may be going through.
Q: What is something on your bucket list?
A: To travel is my big thing. I recently checked off a big bucket list item when I took my whole family to Switzerland where their grandfather come from. I would also love to start a program for struggling students who can’t afford tutoring. I know there are some great outreach programs, but it seems like we’re not reaching some of the neediest in our community
Q: What is your favorite music/ 3 bands you would like to see (dead or alive)?
A: I’m a classic rock ‘n roll girl, but I like all kinds of music because it’s poetry, and I am a poet at heart. I was lucky enough to see Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, and James Taylor in the same summer a couple of years ago. I’d really like to see Fleetwood Mac, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, and the old gang Crosby Stills, Nash and Young. All are poets and great musicians.
Q: What current/former local business makes you the most nostalgic about Hilton Head Area?
A: Coligny Plaza iconic; we used to bring our children on vacation to get ice cream and to visit the shops. Now I take my grandchildren there to get ice cream as well.
Q: Choosing anyone alive and a non-relative with whom would you love to have lunch? Why and where would you have lunch?
A: I would have lunch with Maria Shriver somewhere in a tiny cute coffee shop in New York City. I feel she has such an optimistic spirit and has accomplished much to help others in her life. I could learn a lot from her.
Q: What is your favorite thing or something unique about Hilton Head Area?
A: My favorite thing about this area is that everybody is from somewhere else, and they all bring that uniqueness. People’s personalities shine here.
Q: Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years?
A: I see myself still teaching, growing, and trying to help people’s hearts grow, helping people slow down smell the roses, to explore the things they don’t know about themselves.
Q: What is something interesting that most people don’t know about you?
A: When I am passionate about something, and when I feel something is wrong, I will address it. I’m not a pushover.
Q: What 3 words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word HOME?
A: Three phrases: a gathering place for family, a place I feel safe and can be myself, a center to welcome good friends.
Q: If you had a full-time staff member that was fully paid for, who would you choose? Chef, Housekeeper, Driver, Coach, Physical Fitness Trainer, or Nanny?
A: Definitely a housekeeper – I like a clean house, but I am out and about too much!
Q: If you were cast into a major motion picture and had your choice of anyone to be your co-star, who would you choose?
A: Meryl Streep. I love that she can be funny and serious; I love that she can show us a complexity of spirit, but she connects to each role she plays. I can see her as a friend of mine.
