To those living in Third World countries, positive opportunities are few and far between.  Susan Schmaltz saw a way she could help and made a difference in the lives of people over half a world away.  Her contributions to helping those in need earned her a 2003 Ontario College Premier’s Award.

It all began in 1980.  After raising her own children, Schmaltz decided to apply her love and care to others.  Schmaltz graduated from the Early Childhood Education (ECE) program at Algonquin College after six years of part-time study in night school.

Upon graduating from Algonquin, Schmaltz set up the Town of Osgoode’s first co-operative nursery school and two years later opened the Children’s Garden Nursery School in Pembroke. 
In 1986, when Algonquin College began offering ECE at its Pembroke campus, Schmaltz joined the faculty and helped design several new courses.

After four years of teaching, Schmaltz did research for the Pembroke and District Association of Community Living.  This was a study on the integration of children with special needs into the pre-school system.

Schmaltz also took on a role as director of the Family Enrichment Network – a provincial community-based program for parents and preschoolers in Pembroke.  Here, she supervised daily drop-ins for 40 children and parents and planned programs and workshops to enhance family life.

In 1993, she opened a part-time clowning business in Pembroke.  This allowed her to combine her ECE skills with her wonderful sense of humour. The business also inspired her to establish a Caring Clown program to cheer up patients and boost staff morale at the then Pembroke General Hospital.

Four years later, after many discussions with her husband Richard, the couple took their passion for helping people to the Third World.  To prepare for their planned missionary work, Schmaltz returned to Algonquin College at the Pembroke Campus to complete her certificate in Practical Nursing and she and her husband spent time in cross-cultural training.  They also started an ambitious fundraising campaign and in 2000, they departed for Antigua, Guatemala.

Once in Guatemala, Schmaltz helped to create the ‘English Garden’ – Antigua’s first English, child-centred learning-through-play and pre-school program.  A feeding program for the homeless of Antigua was also set up by Schmaltz and her husband.  They delivered lunches to street dwellers.
By January 2002, Schmaltz established three activity-based programs for children aged three to six and initiated a fourth program in a remote mountain village.  She trained local women in the basic principles of early childhood education.

“Through my work in Guatemala, I realized that most of us have the same human potential and it is the gift of opportunity that makes the difference.  The playing field can be leveled for all children when we build their self-esteem, value their unique ideas and teach them critical thinking and problem solving skills.  Love, sharing, co-operation and care for others – these are the values I learned in ECE and the ones I am committed to passing on to the next generation,” said Schmaltz.

The Premier’s Award includes a $5,000 Bursary.  Schmaltz provided this to Algonquin College to help cover the costs of bringing two Pembroke Campus ECE students to Guatemala to complete a five-week placement at one of the learning centres she has developed.

Marguerite Donohue, former Dean of Algonquin College in the Ottawa Valley said, “We are extremely proud of Susan and the work she has done in the Ottawa Valley and Guatemala.  Her community and missionary work has been exemplary and we are thrilled to have her as an alumnus of our Ottawa Valley campus. The extraordinary gift she has presented to two of our ECE students provided them with an incredible learning experience they will always remember in their future careers with children.”

Every year, six graduates are chosen among Ontario’s 24 colleges to receive the Premier’s Award.  Schmaltz is the fifth Algonquin College alumnus in six years to receive the Premier’s Award but the first graduate of Algonquin’s Pembroke Campus to win a Premier’s Award. 

The Award acknowledges the important social and economic significant contributions college graduates have made to their community.  The Award consists of six categories: Business, Community Services, Creative Arts & Design, Health Science, Recent Graduate and Trades & Technology.

Algonquin College in the Ottawa Valley is proud to have a Premier’s Award graduate – Susan Schmaltz.