What Ever Happened To...Anne Fox Clarkson: Living the vision
by Ric Clark, Coeur d'Alene Press, Idaho, August 9, 2004

LINK

She was a free-spirited 7-year-old living an altogether idyllic childhood in upstate New York when something magical and mystical occurred.

Tears well up as Anne Fox Clarkson describes how a wonderful presence slipped through her bedroom window along with the morning breeze and the sweet aroma of a spring storm.

"It went through my whole body. Suddenly I felt God in the room. He told me that one day I would be caring for all these children," she said pensively. "I had this image of the property. I had this incredible feeling within that I was supposed to do things in my life helping people."


Anne was far too young to realize what the vision meant, that one day that spiritual encounter would compel her to build a safe haven for abused and neglected children on 10 wooded acres in a place she had never seen.

It's been 14 years since she opened the doors to Children's Village in Coeur d'Alene. More than 1,000 kids have been comforted and cared for at the facility, which a community rallied remarkably behind and which Anne remains passionately committed to.

It's a story that does indeed seem fraught with destiny.

Anne's life changed that special morning. She felt an overwhelming need to assist others. At age 10, she began caring for the community's elderly by running errands and delivering mail from the post office. She bought pet food for the stray dogs and cats that skulked the alleyways. She secretly sprang muskrat traps that had been set in a nearby swamp.

She was thinking of medical school as part of her mission, but reconsidered. Anne was a bright student leader in high school who excelled despite a limited ability to read and write. She feared that shortcoming would catch up with her as a medical student.

Still, Anne was determined to confront the issue head-on. She enrolled at Bucknell University as an education major.

"I became very committed to how the brain works and how people teach," said the former state superintendent of public instruction. "If I knew how people learn, then I could help children so they're taught correctly in the English language and not be limited."

Anne received her master's and doctorate degrees in reading from Syracuse University and took a job as an assistant professor of reading and language arts at the University of Kentucky.

"That was great for me because I had to learn the English language in ways I never knew about," she said. "I had to learn it in order to teach it."

Anne personally overcame the obstacle and was becoming recognized as an expert in helping others do the same. She was attending conventions around the country as a lecturer when she met Coeur d'Alene School District superintendent Barry Steim, who offered her a job.

In 1978, she arrived in Coeur d'Alene as principal of Winton Elementary and unleashed a level of energy that the school district had rarely seen. Parents and students raised thousands of dollars to renovate the aging school and improve a pathetic playground.

She took a campaign to install a pedestrian crossing light on nearby U.S. 95 all the way to the governor's office.

While she was leading an effort to develop Winton Park, Anne discovered she had a special skill that would pay huge dividends later on -- grant writing.

One issue proved especially troubling to the tireless principal, however, and beyond her ability to find a solution. Winton seemed to have an inordinate number of students from troubled and disadvantaged homes.

Winton's staff washed students' clothes, provided coats and hats and heaped affection on those who were starving for it. Two students in particular -- young siblings Becky and Donald -- had found a place in Anne's heart.

Then the crisis hit. Becky and Donald arrived home late one night and paid a brutal price. Becky was beaten with a croquet mallet, and Donald's head was repeated slammed against a refrigerator.

The Department Health and Welfare moved Becky and Donald into a series of foster homes throughout the school district, but Anne managed to keep them under her care at Winton.

She was making congratulatory banners late in the year for Becky and Donald as Winton's most-improved students when a Health and Welfare case worker arrived at the school. Anne was told they would be moved immediately to foster homes in Shoshone County.

"I brought them into my office and we held hands and I told them to close their eyes," Anne said. "I told them that for the rest of their lives, no matter where they went, I would love them. And I would build them a home.

"That's when the whole image of the village came into my mind again and I felt like God was talking to me. I was shaking.

"The next thing I knew, they were gone. I didn't even have time to give them their banners. I cried my eyes out."

Anne had made a promise that she intended to keep at all costs. She was on a crusade. As she worked to earn a superintendent certificate at the University of Idaho, she occasionally slipped into the university's foundation office to learn how to raise money.

She was hired as superintendent of the Post Falls School District in 1984, the same year she held her first community meeting on the concept of Children's Village. Thirteen people stepped forward to serve on the board of directors.

Over the next six years, Anne wrote dozens of grant applications, contacted scores of corporations and gave hundreds of presentations. The money poured in and the crusade moved forward.

In October 1990, Becky, who had been in seven foster homes, and Donald, who had been in 14, met with Anne at the Children's Village site with gold-painted shovels in hand. Together, they broke ground on Anne's vision, which was home to Becky and Donald the following year.

The work and endless fund-raising continued through the years as the Children's Village complex grew. Anne's prayers were always answered as the community donated cash, construction materials, labor, clothing, food, furniture and appliances.

Meanwhile, Anne worked as a professor at Gonzaga University for six years before serving as state superintendent of public instruction for a single four-year term ending in 1998. She also found time to write two books analyzing the declining quality of textbooks, which was her primary concern as state superintendent.

Today, she operates her grant-writing and consulting business, Grant Writers Inc., from her home in Post Falls. She and her husband, Mel, have a second home in Boise, where he works as a corporate research designer.

At 61, determination still burns in her ever-beaming brown eyes. Retirement is simply not an option. There's too much to do.

"I feel lucky. I really do," she said. "I just kind of make it all work."

Children's Village remains her top priority and her passion. She still serves as president of the board.

She's still living the vision.

Ric Clarke can be reached at 660-8720 or by e-mail at anozira2@aol.com.

What most people don't know about Anne Fox Clarkson

• She's a fitness freak. She bikes 10 miles a day and rows 1 1/2 miles.

• She was a pilot and once owned a Cessna 172.

• She graduated from Annapolis Sailing School, and is licensed to captain a sailboat up to 46 feet in length.

• She loves classic cars, and owns a 1967 Cadillac convertible. Her husband, Mel, built a replica of a 1913 Mercer Raceabout, which they drive every chance they get.

• Mel's marriage proposal was broadcast nationally on "Good Morning America." He took the podium following a press conference when she lost a re-election bid for state superintendent of public instruction.

• She has three children and one grandchild from three marriages.

The Children's Village Website