BELLEVILLE – Retired teacher Susan Sweet focuses on making sure that every kid in her community is treated equally.
Sweet has always had a passion for education.
"I always loved school from the time I started. There were several teachers who really stood out for me," she said.
Sweet attended Quinte Secondary School and then had ambitions to become an educator, which led to her attending Peterborough Teacher's College. She then finished off her degree at Queen's University. She began her career as a teacher, spent time working as a principle, and now acts as a leader within her community.
Currently she is involved in The Prom Project, which gives students the chance to find formal clothes for school events that they might not otherwise be able to afford.
"It's a great project because the foundation was receiving information from schools that they had students who weren’t attending because they couldn’t afford the clothing," Sweet explained.
Sweet shared why this is an important project.
"I really love projects that involve kids and enabling kids to reach their potential and feel good about themselves and empower them," she explained.
Sweet explained the impact of being able to help out the children.
"My co-worker always tells the story of one young women who saw a dress she liked and kept being encouraged to try it on. When she came out she made the comment 'I didn’t know I could be beautiful'," Sweet said. "There is a lot of satisfaction in those stories."
Sweet enjoyed her career as an educator, but also likes the work she is doing now in the community.
"In my retirement I think offering those skills and the knowledge and experience that you have back to your community is really important for making sure that students have a level playing field," she said.
She had a lot of people impact her growing up.
"My parents just gave me the confidence to do whatever I wanted to do and they supported my ambitions. And along the way colleagues impacted me through teaching. It opened my eyes to opportunities for leadership and for really developing my skills," she said.
Sweet was the eldest in the family of four, so it was only natural for her to feel like a leader and role model in her community.
"I keep coming back to the word responsibility, that sense for setting good examples. I just think that sense of responsibility always stays with you. For instance, keeping the family connected as your parents age and making sure that there are occasions and traditions where you stay connected as a family," Sweet explained.
As far as being a hero for her community, she would disagree.
"No, I really don’t think of myself as a hero I just feel that I have skills and background knowledge that I can offer to the community," she responded.
There is no benefit for Sweet, except the satisfaction of helping out young people in the community.
"It's great to be able to work with people and share ideas and have new experiences and develop projects like the Prom Project. To see that go from the initial year and how is this going to go develop into something that really has become a great experience for everybody. You do it because you really love what you are doing," she said.