'A dynamic culture builder' — Cassata brings veteran leadership to Lincoln's newest high school

After three decades of experience as a teacher and principal in Lincoln Public Schools, Sue Cassata has a decent idea of what the first day of school will be like on Monday.

But this first day will have a slightly different feel, as it marks the opening of Standing Bear High School at 11100 S. 70th St. This year, 307 freshmen and sophomores will roam the hallways for the first time, as will Cassata, who was chosen to lead the new high school after 15 years as the principal at Lincoln East.

“I envision it to be loud, I envision there to be moments of calm. I’m excited about the chaos that will happen,” Cassata said.

A few weeks ago, Cassata got a taste of what the school’s bustling hallways would look like when students and their parents came to check out Chromebooks.

“The building started coming alive,” Cassata said.

Presiding over the opening of Lincoln's newest high school is the latest, and perhaps biggest, challenge of Cassata's career, which began at Lincoln Southeast High School in 1992 as a social studies teacher. After about a decade, Cassata stepped away from public education for a couple years to be an assistant professor of education leadership at Doane College. While there, she had a chance to teach others about school leadership.

“When I was at Doane, I could have a conversation with a teacher or a future leader about their impact and the things that they could do and what they can see happen in schools, and then I would leave and I wouldn’t see what occurred,” Cassata said. “I wanted to come back to a space where I could actually see the impact and the decisions that I would make as a school leader on the lives of students and the impact that would have on teachers.”

Cassata returned to LPS as an assistant principal at Lincoln North Star High School during that school's first few years.

“I got to see a school whose foundation was still evolving and whose fundamental core values were in place, but how we served and what decisions we made and the manner in which we made those continued to evolve to both meet the needs of learners and meet the needs of staff,” Cassata said. “I was there early enough in its infancy that I got an appreciation for what it would take to open a school.”

From her time at North Star, Cassata said she learned to find humor in successes and failures — an attitude she hopes to bring to Standing Bear.

“We’re going to make mistakes and we’re going to not do things as well or as perfectly as we want at all times,” Cassata said. “You’ve got to be able to find humor in it. You’ve got to be able to be reflective in it and you’ve got to be able to then say, ‘We tried something. We’re going to continue to try it. We’re going to continue to change it so it meets the needs of students and staff.’”

In 2007, Cassata started as Lincoln East's principal and led the Spartans for 15 years. She said it was bittersweet to leave that post for Standing Bear.

“It was very hard,” Cassata said. “I remember I told staff that I’d been given the opportunity to come to Standing Bear and as thrilled as I was then about this opportunity … I sobbed when I told them because leaving a place you love is never easy.”

Cassata said she’s unfamiliar with the feeling of leaving a place she hasn’t loved. At Southeast, the teachers would attend football games and chaperone dances together. At North Star, her schedule was filled with athletic events and music concerts.

“It becomes your life identity,” Cassata said. “As a high school principal and as a school teacher, my existence revolves around the existence of the school that I serve.”

Cassata said she has always loved learning, reading and finding new topics to be interested in. As a principal, that hasn’t changed.

At Lincoln East, Cassata worked alongside associate principal Casey Fries, who took over last year as principal.

“(Cassata) is just a person that people will do anything for. She’s a very humble human being, very caring and personable,” Fries said. “People will just do anything for her because of the relationships she built with them.”

Cassata intends to continue building those relationships. When she was first named Standing Bear's principal, she said one of the first things she did was make a list of everything she thought she needed to know.

“The first thing I did was really reach out to members of the Ponca Tribe and the native community in Lincoln and just learn from them,” Cassata said. “I just learned and listened and I absorbed and I read and I welcomed conversation.”

Prior to her new position, Cassata said that she didn’t know much about the Ponca tribe.

“I’m a product of Nebraska schools and I recognize the fact that I didn’t know much about the Ponca Tribe, the Ponca history, the life and influence of Chief Standing Bear,” Cassata said. “I welcome that realization. At first I think I was a little embarrassed or saddened, but now I decided I just welcome the opportunity to interact or to learn and to absorb as much information and culture about Native culture as I can and seeing that, then how it plays out in what we want to see happen here at Standing Bear I think is really the key piece.”

Cassata has already utilized her research by showing a slideshow to every new hire about the history of Standing Bear and the Ponca Tribe to begin creating a curiosity. In addition, every meeting begins with a recognition of the land they are on.

Fries said that Cassata is often the smartest person in the room and a strong leader.

“She’s just such a dynamic culture builder,” Fries said. “When you’re opening a new building that doesn’t have an established culture, having somebody like her who is able to make it all feel like family and is able to make everybody feel unique and special. I just know they’re gonna have a great year there. It’ll be good for her and for the building.”

There’s a lot of pressure that comes with opening a new school and Cassata said it’s intimidating to be Standing Bear’s first principal.

“It’s a little weird to think about that every aspect of this building, in terms of its systems and structures, to even some aspects of the facility, I’ve had a hand in deciding,” Cassata said. “You can’t look at my house I live in now and say that I’ve had that much influence on those things.”

With a new building comes new traditions and Cassata hopes that the traditions she instills continue for what they are — such as bringing in Ponca Tribe members each year — rather than continuing because she started them.

“You want the institution or the place to be better almost after you leave, not only because you left, but because they’ve taken the great things that you’ve started and built even better things,” Cassata said.

While Cassata is feeling the pressure, Fries is confident in her ability.

“Sue is the best person to open that building,” Fries said. “She’s one of the most veteran principals in our district, but also, when you name a building after a historical figure, it’s really important to honor that person and honor what they represent and Sue is a historian.”

Although the school year is just beginning, Cassata is excited to see students discover themselves in the new space.

“I’m excited to see at the end of this first year how we can say, ‘Man that was hard, but it was a great year,’” Cassata said.