The word “bittersweet” has taken on a new, personal meaning for me as I join the team here at ReSolutions and assume the editing duties of the Charter School Monthly. For I realize that the opening for this position would not have existed were it not for the death of Suzanne Carpenter-Raeth in January.

Suzanne loved her job, not just as editor of the Charter School Monthly, but as grant writer and e-rate guru as well. You no doubt have your own stories to tell about Suzanne; I have mine. Four years ago, when I first entered the charter school field, Suzanne and I were competitors of sorts, working for two different companies that found themselves sometimes applying for the same grant funding. So I was a bit surprised when my supervisor suggested I give Suzanne a call to answer some grant-related questions I had. But she obviously knew something that I didn’t at time: Suzanne was a very knowledgeable person, but more important, a person willing to share her knowledge…and herself. Suzanne immediately took me under her wing, explaining the in’s and outs of e-rate, the bureaucracies of the charter school program, and the perils and pitfalls of electronic grant submissions. We would see each other frequently at grant-related meetings and conferences, and she always made it a point to seek me out to say hello. Grant writers are sometimes a lonely, misunderstood breed. For someone like me, working in a sea of accountants, it was very comforting to be able to commiserate with someone who “got it”: who understood the challenges of trying to wring out specifics from grant makers, sweated out the details of putting together a final budget, and experienced the andrenaline rush and sheer terror of submitting a grant with literally three minutes to spare.

Suzanne was all about collaborating and sharing information, which is, in my view, the whole point of the Charter School Monthly. What you’ve seen in past issues is education leaders, teachers, public officials, and others sharing news, sharing best practices, sharing successes…and failures. Without this sharing, there is no collaboration…no community…no growth. I look forward to carrying on where Suzanne left off.