Salem University Athletics

Staci E. (Garret) was a four-year member of the Salem (then Salem-Teikyo) cheerleading squad and earned All-West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors during the 1997-98 season. She was a two-time recipient of the S-TU cheerleader of the year award given annually. The Tigers competed in the WVIAC Cheerleading Championship all four years she was at Salem, earning a third-place finish in 1998. As a cheerleader, Staci cheered on the Tigers at two NCAA Division II final four appearances. 

Nutter graduated from Salem in August 1999 with a bachelor of science degree in secondary education with a specialization in physical education K-12. She finished a second specialization at Salem in general mathematics 5-9 in December 1999. She graduated with honors Magna Cum Laude with a cumulative grade point average of 3.91, including a perfect 4.0 in all education and math specialization courses. She was a two-time recipient of the Underwood-Smith Teaching Scholarship and made the President's and Dean's list every semester of her academic career. While at Salem, Staci was inducted into Gamma Beta Phi, the school's chapter of the National Honor Society and was an active member for four years. She was also a member of Tiger Alliance, an organization that was affiliated with the American Alliance for Physical Education, Health, Recreation and Dance and attended many conferences. Since graduating Salem, Nutter has received a Masters in Educational Leadership for Administration from Grand Canyon University with a perfect 4.0. 

Nutter has been employed by Harrison County Board of Education for the majority of her professional career (1997-2020), beginning her junior year at Salem becoming a cheer coach at Salem Middle School in 1997. She began her teaching career in 2000 as a substitute teacher and began working at Washington Irving Middle School in 2003 as a math teacher. In October 2020, Staci began teaching in Monongalia County at South Middle School and is beginning her 22nd year as a teacher this year. 

Staci coached cheerleading at Salem Middle School for six years and track for one year, earning Middle School Cheer coach of the year honors during her tenure and winning many championships. She then continued her coaching career at Robert. C. Byrd High School for five years as the Varsity Cheer coach leading the Eagles to the state competition. She went on to coach at Liberty High School as the assistant varsity cheer coach for three years, Mountaineer Middle School cheer coach for three years and Washington Irving middle school dance team coach for three years. Nutter coached Liberty High School to two West Virginia State Cheerleading Championships (2008, 2010), as well as a state runner-up finish in 2009. She was named yhr 2008 Big 10 conference Cheer Coach of the year in 2008 while at Robert C. Byrd. While at Mountaineer Middle School she helped guide her team to a county title in 2015 and runner-up in 2016. After Nutter finished coaching school athletics, she served as the athletic director at Washington Irving Middle School for three years. Nutter also began and co-hosts a cheerleading competition with her sister (Salem International graduate Shell (Garrett) Albaugh), The Punky Garrett Cheer Classic for WV cheerleaders. The sisters award scholarships to deserving senior cheerleaders in their father's memory called The Punky Garrett Memorial Scholarship. 

In addition to coaching at the high school and middle school levels, she has coached championship- caliber all-star cheerleading teams for 14 years. She coached at Unlimited elite for six years and is beginning year eight at Champs Central. Her teams have competed in and won numerous national championships. Her youth team, Dazzles, finished second in the world at the D2 Summit in Orlando, FL and most recently her junior team, Blaze, won the D2 Summit Championship in May 2021. Staci coaches at Champs Central (and at Liberty) with her formal Salem-Teikyo cheer coach Debra Hartman. 

On a personal note, Staci is married to another S-TU graduate, Chris Nutter and they reside in Morgantown, WV. They have three children, Kaitlin Nutter is a freshman at West Virginia University in the honors program and is a member of the WVU Division I Blue Cheer team. Caleb and Kenleigh Nutter, twins, are sophmores at Morgantown High School and participate in multiple varsity sports and are honor students.