Volunteer Spotlight – Sue Griswold

By Lynn Johannesen

One of the most active of the SiVY volunteers is Sue Griswold. Sue learned bridge and played frequently in the active bridge club at her high school. In college, she still found some time for the game.

After graduation, Sue obtained her teaching credential and taught for a year at the American School in Mexico City. When she returned to California, teaching jobs were scarce, so she began a business career. Life got in the way of bridge. Sue rarely played until her retirement in 2006, when she began to be active in duplicate at the Palo Alto Bridge Center.

There Sue started to advocate for youth bridge, without much success. When Debbie Rosenberg arrived in the area, Sue and many others joined her efforts to promote youth bridge, and SiVY was born.

Establishing after-school programs was hard work at first. Some schools were reluctant to offer bridge classes and clubs. And even though Sue had loved to teach all her life, she found teaching at middle schools challenging. She has taught at both Jordan Middle School in Palo Alto, which she attended herself, and at Graham Middle School in Mountain View. One difficulty is that these programs often start strong because a student familiar with bridge—usually because a parent or grandparent plays—attracts friends, but the classes tend to shrink over time as the first students graduate.

Sue has done much more for SiVY than teach classes. She serves on the Board of Directors. She also oversees the food served at pizza parties and arranges for volunteers for those events.

Sue thinks one of the greatest challenges for SiVY today is “finding new blood.” Even before Covid-19, identifying potential youth players was hard work. With most schools closed, it will become even harder.