USD Magazine Spring 2023

CLASS NOTES USD MAGAZINE

by Don Norcross [ a l t r u i s t i c ] Ed u c a t i o n p r o v i d e s t h e k e y t o a n ew l i f e DREAMS DO COME TRUE M ichael Duoto ’03 (DEd) has worked nearly his entire professional life

he says. “How to work within the system: organization, hiring, management skills.” Though he didn’t know it at the time, his educational path would eventually lead him and his wife, Jill, to changing the lives of two teenagers living in Afghanistan. Jill grew up in La Jolla and, by 2002, the couple had returned to San Diego. Through word of mouth, they heard that high school students were struggling in math and science when it came to the SAT and ACT entrance exams. “Kids were falling through the

Studies program while living in Singapore, waking up in the mid- dle of the night to take some of his courses remotely. He recalls studying with military leaders, politicians and educators. “The program prepared us for run- ning, I would say, a business,”

Japan. He served as principal of the Singapore American School for eight years and headed an in- ternational school for junior high and high school students in Bra- zil. “I like the change in perspec- tive,” he says of his travels. He started USD’s Leadership

in education. His chosen career path has served as a conduit for him to see the world. Duoto, who grew up in Texas, taught in Bolivia, Colombia and

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