Colfax school district dedicates Dee Clark Pavilion and Outdoor Classroom

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By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX — On a beautiful, sunny, warm spring day, the Colfax school district, with an all-school assembly and other guests present, dedicated the Dee Clark Pavilion and Outdoor Classroom at Colfax Elementary.

Dolores (Dee) Clark taught at Colfax Elementary from 1970 until she retired in 1991.

In 2019, the Colfax school district received two checks from the John and Delores Clark Trust, one check for $50,000 and another check for $25,000.

The pavilion/outdoor classroom is a way to honor Mrs. Clark’s memory and her contributions to the school district.

Mrs. Clark started out teaching reading from 1970 to 1972, and then she taught fourth grade at Colfax Elementary from 1972 until she retired in 1991, said William C. Yingst Jr., district administrator.

Dee Clark was a 19-year member of the American Legion Auxiliary in Colfax, and she is described by many as a “kind and caring person who loved teaching and who loved her students,” he said, adding that many of her former students said she was their favorite teacher.

Dee Clark donated a portion of her estate to the Colfax school district because “she loved her school,” and the pavilion is to honor the dedication of Dee Clark and to honor the one-room schools. The pavilion has a real one-room school bell from the Norton school donated by Vickie Hendricks, Yingst said.

Yingst also recognized Dale Schiferl from Timber Technologies in Colfax, a company that makes Glulam products. 

Timber Technologies donated a portion of the materials to make the pavilion/outdoor classroom, he said.

And Yingst recognized Market and Johnson and Mike Brantner, job superintendent with Market and Johnson,

Mike Brantner assembled the pavilion during the winter months and on some very cold days, he said.

Arntson

Pam Arntson, who taught kindergarten in Colfax for many years, was a close personal friend of Dee Clark.

“Dee was a beautiful, classy, dedicated and loving person,” Arntson said.

Their lives had parallels — no sisters, two sons, husbands who golfed, “so we decided early on we would be sisters from other mothers,” she said.

Dee started out teaching reading, and took over Arntson’s job in the reading program, then Dee taught fourth grade and took over Arntson’s 4b classroom when Arntson started teaching kindergarten.

Dee was “mostly” from Missouri and earned her teaching degree in Nebraska, Arntson said.

“But when she talked about home, she was a Colfax girl. She referred to Colfax as her home. They (Dee and her husband) did move back to Missouri after awhile, and both Jack and Dee were sorry they had done that. They wanted to be here because this was their home,” she said.

“Dee treasured her connection to the school and to the people of this community. Even when her mind was imprisoned by dementia in her later years, when I would talk to her on the phone and mention some good old days at Colfax Elementary, she would perk right up and join in that conversation just like it was yesterday,” Arntson said.

“When she talked about giving a gift to Colfax schools, she was hoping that the money would be used to enhance education here for years to come. I know it would make her very proud and happy to have this beautiful facility named in her memory. Please remember her love of education as you watch children pass through this wonderful addition to our school,” she said.

Vickie Hendricks

Vickie Hendricks, who will celebrate her 100th birthday in September, taught at Norton school on state Highway 170 about seven miles of west Colfax.

“When I started teaching way back in ’43, Norton school was one of the first places I taught. My husband thought I would be interested in the bell when it went up for sale (on an auction),” she said.

“I really didn’t know what to do with it. We intended to hang it, but it never got hung,” Hendricks said.

Vickie’s husband, Dale, a World War II veteran who served in the United States Navy, passed away in October of 2016. They celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary May 18, 2016.

“The Norton school bell sat out under the lean-to for many years and it was kind of going to rack and ruin, so I thought, I’ll just give it to the school and let them do something with it. So that’s how it got here. I’m happy to be able to give it to you,” Hendricks said.

Vickie Hendricks lives on the farm west of Colfax where she grew up as an Iverson and where she and her husband settled after they retired.

She taught at Norton her second year of teaching, and her first year was at Wayside school, she said.

Later on, after the ceremony, Hendricks noted in addition to teaching the students, the teachers in the one-room country schools had to act as their own janitors — although the students were good about helping clean up the school — and had to light their own wood stoves for heat and sometimes even had to perform their own pest control.

Hendricks said that after the students had gone home from school and the building was quiet, “then the mice would come out. I’d sit at my desk and wait for them to come out, and then I’d go after them with a broom,” she recalled.

The original Norton school was a wooden structure that caught fire and burned down earlier in the 1900s when the school children had raked leaves in the spring. The pile of leaves was burned, and some of the burning leaves blew under the school building and set it on fire.

The brick structure that remains today is the building where Hendricks taught.

As part of the dedication ceremony, Hendricks and Arntson rang the Norton school bell together.

Others

When Yingst asked if anyone else wanted to say a few words about Dee Clark, Al Stai, who served as the principal at Colfax Elementary for many years, said Mrs. Clark was a great teacher to have on staff.

Two teachers, who are now retired, said Dee Clark was their mentor their first year of teaching at Colfax Elementary and that she “was a wonderful mentor.”

Plans

Yingst said the plan is to ring the Norton school bell for ceremonial occasions and during some athletic contests, if Colfax scores a touchdown in the football game, for instance, or when the milers are running track, perhaps the Norton bell this will be the bell for the final lap.

The pavilion/outdoor classroom has picnic tables, and the teachers will be able to take their classes outside when the weather is good for reading time or other activities, he said.

Colfax Elementary has traditionally had a picnic on the last day of school so that students can eat their lunch outside as a way to celebrate the beginning of summer vacation.

The pavilion/outdoor classroom also will be a welcome addition for the last day of school, Yingst said.