There weren’t many young people in attendance, but that’s often true at fund-raising events. Sophia was there, a fifth-grader, standing patiently as her mother spoke eloquently about the ARK program’s impact on her daughter. And Gavin was there, home from college, also an ARK beneficiary.
ARK is an acronym that stands for Applied Research Knowledge. The organization’s full name is ARK Institute of Learning. It’s based in Tacoma, Washington, and traces its origin to 1968, when former Iowan Carol Stockdale began a deep dive into understanding learning disorders. Soon, her life goal became diminishing, even eliminating, the severe impact learning disorders can have on people’s lives.
To achieve this, in 1980 she helped start an organization, Another Door to Learning. In 1996, when this entity dissolved, Carol and her husband, Ron, founded ARK, to sustain instructional methods, tools, and knowledge gained through years of experience.
The purpose of the gathering that Sophia and Gavin – and my wife Paula and I – attended last Saturday was twofold: 1) to secure philanthropic funding essential for ARK’s continued success; and 2) to honor Carol Stockdale, ARK founder, approaching her 90th birthday. We were there for both purposes… but primarily to demonstrate our support for Carol, who is Paula’s aunt.
Sophia was poised and a bit shy; Gavin was outgoing and eager to connect. At the program’s conclusion, he made a beeline for Carol, someone he’d never met. “I wanted to thank her for creating this program,” Gavin told me. “For many years, I received ARK services. I’m now working on the ARK ‘app’ (short for a software application) while studying at the University of Utah.” He’s an impressive young man.
Carol and Ron have three sons, seated with family members at the Stockdale table. During the program, middle son Russell proposed a toast to his mother, starting with “country school” in Ludlow Township #3, Allamakee County, Iowa, where, as Russell recounted, Carol became a successful independent learner. She and Ron met when they were both first-year students at the University of Dubuque.
Russell explained that as a child, he was misdiagnosed with dyslexia – one motivation for Carol delving into learning disabilities – plus he had a speech impediment that hindered his ability to pronounce “Rs” and “Ls”. (We were amused when Russell cited these speech challenges given his name.) He didn’t mention, but the Stockdale table already knew, about his Wharton MBA and his successful Microsoft career.
The deputy mayor shared a City proclamation with multiple “whereas” statements, one praising ARK’s “unwavering commitment to excellence and inclusivity, enriching the lives of students, families, and the entire Tacoma community” before declaring May 18 “ARK Institute of Learning Day in Tacoma and recognizing ARK founder Carol Stockdale for her outstanding contributions to education in Tacoma.”
The evening’s fundraising was accomplished by a three-phased auction, people making live, silent, or online bids, ultimately generating a six-figure funding infusion to advance ARK’s vision: “to provide outstanding academic testing and instruction by knowledgeable educators in a supportive environment.” As the program concluded, there was ample time for socializing.
ARK board member, Dianna, Carol’s daughter-in-law, proposed leaving an empty chair next to Carol, enabling well-wishers to briefly sit and visit. The empty chair also conjured up thoughts of Ron, steadfast partner in ARK, who died in 2017.
Sophia and Gavin are thriving now. One parent said about Carol, “I don’t think she has any idea how much difference this program has made in our lives.” Several years ago, I spoke about ARK with Washington Governor Jay Inslee, campaigning in Iowa before our precinct caucuses. He knew the program well and couldn’t say enough good about it. An ARK staff member also lauded Carol, “Her life work is now my life work. We just gotta keep it going.”
It’s apparent that Aunt Carol, former Iowa farm girl, made her mark on Washington’s educational community. Yet, the ultimate measure of any such program is in participants’ lives. Based on conversations with Sophia and her mother, with Gavin and Russell, and with numerous others encountered in Tacoma, ARK merits very high marks indeed.
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I’m pleased to be part of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. These are my colleagues: