(The following article originally appeared in The Huntsville Forester on April 8, 2009.)
Susan Lowe loves to help people succeed.
That’s why the president of the Muskoka Literacy Council (MLC) thrived in her career as a special education teacher and why she gravitated toward the literacy council when she and her husband Michael moved to Huntsville in 2002.
Lowe says the most wonderful part of both jobs is seeing people begin to feel good about themselves when they meet with success. “Relationship forming is most important,” she says. “If you have a trusting relationship, you can conquer mountains together.”
She gives the example of a favourite former Grade 6 student. “He was a nightmare on the schoolyard, a real hood. I loved him,” she says. “We had an amazing rapport. He was bright as a dollar, but it wasn’t coming out.”
Three years later, while waiting in line at a fast food restaurant, Lowe heard a booming voice calling her name, and there he was, thanking her for getting him the help he had needed. “I just about wept,” she says. “His goal was to be a truck driver. Every time I see a truck go by I think of him. I hope he made it.”
Lowe has formed those same strong relationships at the literacy council. “Each person comes in with an individual goal,” she says. “We’re not teaching a program, we’re teaching individuals.”
Born in England, just after the war, to a Canadian father and British mother, Lowe’s family moved to Huntsville in 1957, when she was 11. She met her husband Michael, whose family has a long history in Dwight, at Huntsville High School. However, the two didn’t begin dating until they reconnected in Toronto after she had attended Ottawa Teachers’ College.
The couple married in 1968 and had two children, Wendy and Jason. “Being their mom is the most important thing I have ever done,” Lowe says. She took 17 years away from teaching to be there for her family.
When Michael was ready to retire, the Huntsville area was a natural choice. Soon after arriving, Lowe responded to a newspaper advertisement for MLC volunteer tutors. Shortly thereafter, she was assigned the role of assessor because of her background. By 2003, she was on the board, and in 2005 she became president. That was a difficult time for the literacy council, which was in need of restructuring.
“The first huge change was to add computer classes,” she says. “That removed the stigma associated with coming to the literacy council.”
Now, courses are also being created that are specific to the education and skills required for jobs in different sectors. Last August, the MLC co-located with the Employment Resource Centre at 64 King William Street. “It’s seamless. It’s working beautifully,” she says. “More people are being served by both agencies as a result.”
Besides her day-to-day duties at the literacy council, Lowe’s biggest jobs as president have been running annual fundraisers the golf tournament and the Muskoka Novel Marathon, which takes place this year from July 17 to 20.
She has kept busy outside of work, too. For example, Lowe is an art aficionado and owned Gallery in the Woods in Dwight from 2002 to 2006. “I featured the works of 64 artists, 95 per cent of them local,” she says. “The whole premise was for people who travelled here to take back original local art to remind them of where they’d been.”
Lowe also organized Art Among the Pines, an annual event, in Dwight from 2003 to 2006, with help from her husband and children. She is also a member of the Huntsville Festival of the Arts board.
When asked about the future, Lowe says she plans to continue her volunteer work, but the recent death of her younger sister has reminded her of the importance of stopping to smell the roses and watch the birds. “Wendy was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in October and died Jan. 7,” she says. “My sister lived a very balanced life. I need to take lessons from her.”
Thanks to Doris Villemaire for suggesting that Susan be profiled.
