The former teacher at Fairfield Center School, Corrie Sweet, enters his first year at BFA;

“I came to BFA for a new adventure,” Sweet said.

As well as teaching Algebra I, Sweet works towards integrating math into the Northwest Technical Center.

Sweet enjoys his work as a teacher; he finds it rewarding when students enjoy what they’re learning and have fun.

Regarding the new proficiency based grading system, Sweet shares a mixed opinion.

“It’s hard because we’ve all been taught to think in grades. For ten years I’ve had that mindset,” Sweet said.

He points out the conflicts proficiencies have with traditional grading, such as GPA, Valedictorian, and student honors.

“I do like, however, how it gives students multiple chances to show proficiency,” Sweet said.

Sweet lives in Fairfax, VT, with his wife, a teacher at Fairfax, and their two children: the eldest is a social studies major at UVM, and the youngest is a sophomore at BFA Fairfax.

Sweet is a seventh generation Vermonter, and grew up on a large farm in Fletcher. During the summers, he and his family go to a camp in Canada; there they enjoy activities such as blueberry picking and boating.

Gardening proves to be a focused hobby for Sweet. His property houses an impressive garden, full of a variety of fresh vegetables, fruits, and herbs. In addition to making jams, jellies, and pickles, Sweet enjoying sharing his homegrown produce with friends, including those in the Northwest Technical Center, to whom he recently donated fennel, tomatoes, and cilantro.

In addition to gardening, Sweet enjoys sugaring on his property in the spring, going to his kids sports games, and trivia.

“Even though I’m a math teacher, I have a history and geography brain,” Sweet said.

He labels himself as quite the expert in the game.

“No one likes playing with me,” Sweet said.

Sweet graduated from BFA Fairfax high school; His favorite class out of all seven years there was not math, but social studies.

“Remember that trivia brain I was talking about? That’s why I loved history, it’s easy for me to remember that stuff,” Sweet said.

His favorite social studies teacher held “current event jeopardies.”

“I loved those. They were only group thing I was picked first for,” said Sweet.

Despite Sweet’s love for history and trivia, he decided to go on to teach math.

“After I attended a meeting at the VMI (Vermont Mathematics Initiative), I was inspired to teach math. I saw that the kids today weren’t being taught math the same way I was, and I wanted to show kids that math can be fun and interesting,” Sweet said.

The Mercury welcomes Sweet as he starts his new adventure here, at BFA.

Edited: 9/27/2018