By: Emma Arthur
Making a difference is the main thing Ty Sweeney wants to do for Salem Community Schools. Sweeney’s freshman year of high school was not great. He had a hard time with his mental health and motivating himself. There were people in the community who helped him when he needed someone the most. Now, he wants to help kids who also struggle to feel like they’re not alone. He said this community saved him and he can’t turn his back now.
“My personal story was freshman year of high school, I was suicidal and depressed. … I want our kids to know that they’re not alone and that they have hope and they have a future ahead of them,” Sweeney said. This shows he can make a personal connection with kids today, something that some other adults may lack.
Sweeney is the youngest person to be voted onto the school board in Indiana. He is only 20 years old and he has many plans and ideas for the community's schools. Some people don’t fully understand what he really wants to do with the school system. Sweeney knows that they are doubtful about his age, and he said nobody has had a reason to trust him yet.
“... I don’t expect them to have trust in me. I want to earn that over the next four years, and I want them to know that they should be skeptical,” he said.
Sweeney is still friends with some of his past high school teachers, who were some of his biggest supporters and inspirations throughout his campaign. Other people in the community encouraged him, too. Past board members have even reached out to him and supported him further.
“I was like, just blown away by the support. …just hoping to have a spot on the board to make a difference… I was blown away, I’m humbled by it,” he said.
Sweeney ran with very clear values, truth, transparency and accountability. He knows that he doesn’t know everything yet, but he’s doing research and still learning about the schools. He said he has a new and different perspective to bring. He has multiple goals and ideas for benefiting the schools.
Sweeney hopes to make an impactful difference. He wants to create a student advisory board so that students can also be a part of decision making. Sweeney said he knows a lot of the students in the school system feel as if they don’t have a voice, and he wants to change that. He graduated high school in 2022, so he is close in age with some of the seniors. He’s also able to relate to some students because of his own high school experience.
“I don’t think you’re ever too young to make a difference,” he said.