Suzanne Blackburn
Chester, Maryland
Associate since 2003
"I had a notion that Associates supported sisters in their living of the charism. I remember the day it dawned on me that the charism was for me, too.”
-Suzanne Blackburn
Suzanne Blackburn’s association with the School Sisters is life-long.
She was taught by SSNDs in elementary school; she then later entered the community after high school, but then left in 1981.
Suzanne has taught with SSNDs as a sister or as a laywoman for nearly 40 years, currently as a teacher/librarian at St. Mary’s High School in Annapolis, Md. In 2003, she became an SSND associate.
“I have an SSND way of looking at the world,” she said. “When I decided to enter the pre-Associate program, in many ways it was like coming home. I had a notion that Associates supported sisters in their living of the charism. I remember the day it dawned on me that the charism was for me, too.”
Suzanne adds that the teachings of Blessed Theresa and Mother Caroline ― that embracing diversity strengthens unity and that the world can be transformed through education ― and the stories of those who lived out those teachings have informed her vocation as a teacher.
“I’ve always loved the description of Mother Theresa as an ‘educator with a global vision.’ It is that vision that I hope to share with my students. I picture Mother Theresa gazing at the world with love, desiring to heal divisions, to build community, to make one,” she said. “We need her vision more than ever today. We who are drawn to the SSND charism dare to believe that we can be channels of that vision.”
In 2017 Suzanne was named our Director of Associates.
