Clark College students shared the obstacles they have overcome during the pandemic during “Student Voices: The Realities of Being a College Student during COVID.” The April 15 Zoom panel was presented by Clark’s Teaching and Learning Center and moderated by Director of MESA Dalila Paredes.  

The panel grew from Paredes’ work with MESA, a program that supports underrepresented student populations pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. When she meets one-on-one with a student for the first time, she starts the Zoom session by asking the student how they are doing and what challenges they have faced during the pandemic. Their common struggle is figuring out how to pay their tuition. But their challenges go far beyond money. 

Paredes said, “So many of their stories are incredible. Many students have been furloughed from their jobs not just once, but twice. Many are parents. They are in multiple-generation households and are taking care of their parents, grandparents, aunts and uncle and their children—with very little resources. We have students from war-torn countries, intergenerational households, poverty. Students who have lost their housing. Family members who are ill.” 

She added, “I wanted faculty to hear these stories—to hear students say, ‘These are my hurdles. This is how I overcame them.’ For underrepresented students, COVID is just one more hurdle. It’s just one more thing for them to navigate.” 

Two of these Student Voices stories are featured below. 

Pearl Muodzi 

Pearl Muodzi, 20, is majoring in biology at Clark with an eventual goal to become a doctor. She had a comfortable life in her native Zimbabwe where she lived with her parents and three brothers. She had a private school education.  

But her life changed drastically beginning with her father being diagnosed with a rare type of inoperable cancer. She became his caregiver. Her father died in 2017. A few months later she was walking with her brother when men driving fire trucks and army trucks pulled up and began shooting people. 

Muodzi recalled, “I found myself sprinting for my life with my little brother.” 

Things in Zimbabwe grew increasingly unstable. The president was ousted, inflation was rampant, and life became more difficult. Muodzi, her mother, and younger brother took a two-week vacation to visit family in Vancouver and to get a break from the challenges back home. But the week they arrived in Vancouver, civil war broke out in Zimbabwe. Friends and family in Zimbabwe sent videos showing soldiers killing people just outside the gate of their family home.  

Muodzi said, “I cannot begin to explain how shocked I was. We could not go home. Our two-week vacation turned into an immigration situation. When you’re going on vacation, you carry a small suitcase and just a few things from home. We left everything behind.” 

Muodzi’s two aunts welcomed her family into their home and helped them. Eventually, her mother found work and they moved out into their own place. 

Muodzi said, “There we were, trying to start a new life.” 

In fall 2020, Muodzi enrolled at Clark College as a full-time student. To help pay for her education, she works 25 to 30 hours a week at a mail-shipping business. 

In Zimbabwe she had just completed her Cambridge exams and already had studied college-level biology, chemistry and math, but those classes were not accepted. She had to start over. Despite the challenges of a new country, new education system, online classes and working, she earned a 3.9 GPA at Clark.  

Navigating college in America during a global pandemic has been just one more challenge for Muodzi.  

She said, “I’m proud of my growth. I’ve learned how to tackle challenges differently. To endure challenges. I’m proud of myself for stepping up in my academic life.”  

Money and time are her biggest barriers.  

“Balancing working and going to school is challenging. Most of the time I am tired. I’m not doing as well as I could.” 

Muodzi said, “A big motivator for me is my parents. I want to be a doctor because I want to find a way to cure the disease my dad had. I also am inspired by my mother who works day and night to provide for us. I see my mother work so hard. I can’t take school lightly.” 

Muodzi’s pathway to become a surgeon includes completing two years at Clark, then transferring to WSU Vancouver to earn a bachelor’s degree in biology. Next she plans to attend University of Washington Medical School. It’s a long road ahead of Muodzi, but she already has come so far. 

Marcell Richard  

Marcell Richard, 31, is a full-time Clark College student who is pursuing a biology degree. His eventual goal: to earn a degree in forensic toxicology. Richard is experienced at climbing over obstacles to reach his goals. 

He’s a first-generation college student raised by his single mother. His father is black; his mother is white. When his mother was diagnosed with cancer last summer and became very ill, Richard stepped up to be his mother’s caregiver.  

Due to COVID, last year Richard was laid off from his job waiting tables and bar tending. He exhausted his unemployment benefits. He and his partner, also a Clark College student, have a two-year-old daughter. When their lease expired in January, they could not afford their apartment. Richard moved in with his mother, in Gresham, Oregon, to be her caregiver. His partner moved in with her own mother in Vancouver with their daughter. Richard spends the night with his partner and daughter two to three times a week to maintain some continuity in their young daughter’s life—and to be a couple with his partner. They are saving their money in the hope of eventually being able to rent their own place and be together again. 

Richard diligently is overcoming challenges. He recently started a work-study job with Clark’s Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion as a student consultant. He’s a member of Phi Theta Kappa, the honor society for community and technical colleges. Richard is a BUILD Exito student, a MESA student, and is a student advocate for MESA.  

He explained, “I’m trying to uplift students and form a community, especially during these times when we’re isolated and apart. I’ve been given an opportunity to go to school and have received scholarships and help. It’s time to give back.” 

Richard listed his biggest barriers: “Trying to take care of my mom and watching her health deteriorate. Also, I’m away from my daughter half of the time. It puts a strain on my relationship with my daughter and my partner. I bury myself in my studies. That’s how I cope.” 

Through all the loss and challenges, Richard said, “Many times, I’ve tried and failed due to pitfalls, but I’ve never given up on my education. Despite the difficulties, I’ve stayed in school. I have a lot more schooling to go. This is the path I chose.” 

Richard plans to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, a Master of Science degree in Biology with a minor in chemistry, and eventually apply to medical school to study forensic pathology. 

He added, “Everyone has a different narrative. We don’t know what other people are going through. Kindness goes a long way.” 

His advice to fellow students navigating through the pandemic: “If you’re like me, you have this sense of imposter syndrome. That you can’t do it. But you can do it. Take one leap of faith. Reach out to resources and groups. Make connections. It’s all about breaking out of your shell and creating a support system. Get as much tutoring help as possible if you have problems with math like I do. Clark has so many programs and resources to help students. Use them.” 

Being a college student during the COVID-19 pandemic can be tricky enough, but it becomes exponentially more challenging when you’re also taking care of young children whose school or child care facility has been closed or moved online.

About a quarter of Clark College students have dependent children. Many of these parent students have found themselves trying to manage their own studies while also serving as teacher’s aide for their children.

Clark 24/7 interviewed some of these parent students to find out how they are coping. We also spoke with Michele Volk, director of the college’s Child and Family Studies child care center, which has remained open during the pandemic to serve parent students and their families. Their responses, edited for clarity and brevity, are in the links below.

Note: These interviews were conducted in late 2020, when public schools in the region were still operating remotely. In the time since, some schools have partially re-opened.

Child and Family Studies Q&A

• Michele Volk: Child care during COVID

Parent student profiles

• Jessica Bull: “Take extra care to reassure them.”
• Samantha Golden: “You can’t be 100 percent all the time.”
• Moses Kimeli: “Eventually, it’s getting easier.”
• Monserrat Soriano: “This is not the way it’s supposed to happen, but that’s all we got.”  

Monserrat Soriano is a full-time Clark College student on track to complete the Administrative Assistant and Management program in Spring 2021. She’s also a single mom to daughter, Melody, 7, in first grade at Martin Luther King Elementary; and son, Emmett, 4, who attends the college’s Child and Family Studies child care program. During the COVID-19 pandemic, both kids have attended CFS so that Soriano can study at home. Soriano and her children live with her mother, uncle and brother, but none can help with childcare. 

This story is part of a series of interviews with Clark College student parents about how they are balancing school, life, and work, during quarantine.

Q: How has CFS helped you focus on your schoolwork? 

MS: After my daughter completes two hours of online school via Zoom each day, I take both kids to the childcare center at Clark. Then I come home and do my schoolwork. I’m grateful that the state has paid for childcare during COVID. Fall quarter was the first quarter I’ve had childcare, because my daughter’s previous childcare center shut down during COVID. 

Q: How are your children coping with doing remote school at home? 

MS: When we pick up my daughter’s school work packets at King Elementary, she doesn’t understand why she can’t be in school with her teacher and other kids. She asked me why she is in daycare instead of school.  

Q: What are some challenges you’ve faced during COVID? 

MS: I’m a first-generation college student. Sometimes it feels like I’m breaking through walls. When I’m working at home, my family sees me struggling. My mom wants to help with the kids, but she’s working two jobs. We all need compassion right now. And grace! When I’m home with my kids, I want to distract myself. I’ve been sober for almost a year. My testimony is of struggle. Clark needs students like me. I am resilient. 

Before COVID, my degree was part of a teach-out program [a process in which a program that is being discontinued teaches the students who are part-way through the degree program]. Then because of COVID, our labs were removed. It adds so much anxiety and pressure. It’s been hard to stay motivated. With COVID, I can’t plan. I don’t know what my next step is. Sometimes I feel that I can’t make it. I come into the childcare center crying. I leave crying. That’s how I’m coping. I’m going week by week with the kids.  

Q: What’s one particularly challenging story of taking remote classes while juggling parenting?  

MS: Last quarter I thought I was going to give up. When I was taking my final via Zoom, my three-year old burst in and shouted, “I have to poop, Mom!” My instructor heard him and gave me more time to complete my final. This is not the way it’s supposed to happen, but that’s all we got. We have to keep going. We have to keep our sanity.  

Q: How are you coping? 

MS: I attend Zoom counseling workshops with other parents, so I don’t feel like I’m not alone. I learned to give myself some slack. Be gentle with myself as a parent. It’s OK to cry in front of my children sometimes. This is not normal times. I’m trying to relax when I can, but I don’t even know what that looks like.  

When COVID-19 restrictions moved learning online for all K-12 and college students in the state in March 2020, Clark’s Child and Family Studies (CFS) kept its doors open to fill a vital role of providing childcare to families of essential workers and Clark students, as well as providing jobs for Clark students. 

Clark 24/7 interviewed CFS Director Michele Volk to find out how her team has been safely serving families during the pandemic. “It’s been a journey,” she said. “We’ve received such positive feedback from our student families about the difference it makes having a community there for their children. … By caring for the children of Clark students, CFS is equipping our students to do their own schoolwork and be successful.”

Throughout the months of pandemic lockdown, CFS remained open—and welcomed school-age learners, too. It’s been a learning process for all involved, as the edited interview below proves.

Q: Did CFS operate during spring term when pandemic restrictions first were enacted?  

MV: Yes. Throughout the pandemic we remained open for essential workers as defined by Washington State. We erred on the side of caution as guidance changed frequently.  

Q: How has CFS adapted to continue operating during COVID restrictions?   

MV: CFS has adapted to COVID by continual monitoring of the recommendations, guidance and mandates of licensing, Washington Department of Health, CDC, Clark County, and Clark College. We are following safety protocols and best practices. Here are some of ways we adapted:  

Q: How many children are attending CFS during the pandemic?   

MV: Pre-pandemic during fall quarter 2019, we had 128 children enrolled at CFS. In contrast, the 2020 numbers during the pandemic are a fraction of our earlier enrollment: summer break, 41 children; summer quarter, 47; fall quarter, 71; winter quarter, 69. 

Q: What have been some of the biggest challenges of operating CFS during COVID?  

MV: One challenge has been battling the emotional fatigue of the staff and families. Their stress levels have been high, yet they have continued to be present for the community. It’s been difficult missing all in-person family gatherings, community meetings, and the in-person collaboration of a full program. It has been both challenging and touching to see how remote instruction has adapted for ECE lab and Family Life credit. People are finding unique ways to build relationships through Zoom, examining practices, videotaping and sharing of resources to meet outcomes. Despite the decreased enrollment and ratios, stable classroom groups and increased costs, we are committed to keeping everyone employed and engaged.  

Q: What are some highlights–some uplifting, heartwarming moments at CFS during COVID?   

MV: Hearing family stories has really touched my heart—knowing we have contributed to student retention and success. Having families grateful for our services so they can continue or return to work. Families have stopped by the front desk and expressed their gratitude for being able to either go to school or go to work to provide for their family during this time. Some have brought teachers and office staff flowers and treats.  

Q: Are there any positive elements to the children’s experience? 

MV:  It was heartwarming to see children coming back after time away—to see them reunite with their peers and teachers. Seeing children run to be together. School–age children have been reunited with their peers, with whom they attended toddlers’ class or preschool.

With fewer children, it seems children are working longer on projects and working more together. The learning stories feel deeper, more connected. Teachers have more time to observe, document, and expand children’s learning. Families have been connected in these moments and connected us to home. This has become a very connected community. 

Q: How has your staff stepped up to the plate throughout the pandemic?

MV: Our staff are the true heroes. Throughout the pandemic, they have been present to care for others, even as their own worlds are impacted. The way the teachers, office staff, and ECE faculty have respectfully altered their own lives, dug into deeper practice, meeting children and families where they are, the commitment and collaboration with one another and to safely keep children at the heart of their work–that’s inspiring!  

Q: How have Clark’s CFS student employees made an impact during the pandemic? 

MV: For many of those families, that part-time position at CFS also allows the family to have some stability financially. Those same student employees provide continuity for our children in our classroom. The sense of the routine and continuity for everyone in the community has been exceptional. I believe these children are resilient because of the model of the adults—both their family members and staff—who surround them and keep those consistent routines. These adults revel in the joy with the children. That’s made the difference. 

Q: How many Clark students currently are employed at CFS? 

MV: It has ranged each term between 19 and 25. We are currently hiring for several positions in both classroom and office, for those who have interest. 

Q: How has the Clark community supported CFS through this challenging time? 

MV: I so appreciate the larger Clark College community and their contributions to making this successful: Emergency Management Team; Facilities Services and the custodial team; Culinary and the treats for our staff and families; the Office of Diversity Equity and Inclusion’s equitable decision-making and connecting students to one another; Communications and Marketing for supporting our communications to parents; Instruction and the creativity they have shown; Student Affairs’ weekly tips and resources. So many more. 

Q: Going forward, do you see some COVID precautions continuing with CFS?     

MV: Yes. Post-COVID we will continue with hand-washing, increased sanitizing, and face masks will continue as long as guidance recommends. Pre-COVID we already were doing many of the recommended safety precautions, but we increased the frequency. After COVID we will continue having families wash their hands in the office before entering the program. We plan to continue the sanitizing of the office spaces and commonly touched areas. Clark’s Facilities staff have been helpful and responsive. We appreciate them.   

Q: Will CFS continue its school-age children classroom after public schools open their doors to in-person learning later this month?  

MV:  Yes, we are working with families to make schedule changes to their CFS attendance days to meet their public school-schedule needs. We made a commitment to our children and families for the full school year. They have experienced so much change, and we are here as one of their few support systems. 

Q: How do Clark students register to use CFS? Is there a waiting list? Are drop-ins welcome?  

MV: We have limited spaces available. Families can check availability in their child’s age group by emailing cfs@clark.edu or calling 360-992-2393. If we have no current availability, the family will be asked if they would want to complete an interest form. We prioritize our student families when placing new families. We do not have drop-in care available but operate on stable and consistent groups for best practice in early learning.  

Clark College recently received a $496,800 grant to help low-income parents pursue higher education.

The grant, which will be disbursed over four years, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s CCAMPIS (Child Care Access Means Parents in School) program. The bulk of it will be used to subsidize child care in the college’s Child and Family Studies program for Pell Grant-eligible student-parents. About one-quarter of Clark students have dependent children, and 43 percent are low-income.

“We are thrilled to be able to take this step forward in serving our student-parents with the CCAMPIS Student Parent Support Program,” said Clark College Child & Family Studies Director Michele Volk. “We know that child care can be a barrier for many people who would like to go to college, so having safe, high-quality, and affordable early-childhood care and education right here on campus can help these students succeed and create brighter futures for their whole families.”

According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, only 33 percent of students with children complete a degree or certificate within six years; for single mothers, the rate is 28 percent. One study showed that student-parents who used their college’s on-campus child care services were more than three times as likely to graduate on time as those who did not. At a time when many colleges across the country are shutting down their child-care centers, this grant will allow Clark College to expand its services to more students.

Founded during World War II as a parents’ cooperative, Clark College’s Child & Family Studies program has evolved into a full-scale child care center providing care to children ages 12 months to 5 years. Serving more than 123 families per quarter, it also serves as a learning lab for the college’s Early Childhood Education program.

Student parents can receive CCAMPIS-funded subsidies through an application process and could begin receiving subsidized child care as soon as the beginning of winter quarter on January 7. CFS hopes to serve 40 student families during the first year of the grant.

Earlier this year, Clark College employees donated 91 backpacks filled with school supplies to the children of Clark students–a new record for what has become known as the Backpack Project.

Approximately one quarter of Clark’s students have dependent children, and back-to-school supplies can easily run to more than $100 per child. Recipients for the backpacks are identified each year by staff in Clark College departments like Workforce Education Services, Financial Aid, Veterans Affairs, Transitional Studies, Child and Family Studies, and the Office of Diversity and Equity.

As one family wrote, “Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is absolutely amazing and I am so taken with your generosity and thoughtfulness. Our family is so grateful to you!”

This was the 14th year that employees have participated in the Backpack Project. We want to acknowledge and thank all of you who have helped to provide more than 822 backpack over the years.

Each backpack is unique because the project’s organizers ask the children what their favorite colors and characters are. Many donors go out of their way to find the perfect backpack for a child, scouring stores or the Internet for the perfect Seahawks or My Little Pony theme. Others load the backpack with extra supplies and fun items. This year, one Clark employee created a book about her own horses for a young child who liked horses.

More than 70 employees donated backpacks to the project this year, for a variety of reasons. Some do not have children at home but want to participate in the excitement of back-to-school time, while others are parents who are working to instill the value of giving in their own children. Many departments also make this a team project and take an after-work shopping trip together. Whatever their reasons, the Backpack Project brings as much joy to those who give as it does to those who receive the backpacks.

If you would like to participate in the Backpack Project next year, watch for a collegewide email sent in July; backpacks are generally due by mid-August so that children can receive them before the new school year starts.

This article was contributed by Planning & Effectiveness Administrative Assistant Cindy Heck and ctcLink Manager Susan Maxwell, who co-organize the Backpack Project each year. Photos contributed by Clark College Workforce Education Services and by student parents.

When Nicholas Freese heard his name announced as the recipient of the Community College Presidents’ Scholarship in Honor of Val Ogden, there was one person he wanted to discuss it with, above all others: his 4-year-old daughter, Sadie.

“I really want to know what my daughter thinks about this,” he said as he stood in line to receive his degree, clearly still stunned by the news that he would be able to attend Washington State University Vancouver for two years, tuition-free, in order to complete his bachelor’s degree. Clark College President Bob Knight made the announcement during the 2017 Clark College Commencement ceremony.

It might seem strange to want to know a toddler’s opinion on your academic achievements, but for Freese, Sadie has been at the heart of his pursuit of higher education. “With her, I have the opportunity to be awesome, just from the get-go,” he said during an interview prior to Commencement. “She can just think of Daddy as this great guy who’s worked hard and pursued his goals.”

Freese is painfully aware that many people who have known him since his own childhood might not see him in such an unambiguously positive light. Growing up in Alburquerque, New Mexico, Freese began getting into trouble around the time he entered high school. Trying to escape a violent home life with an alcoholic father, Freese began staying with friends—including “some people I probably shouldn’t have been hanging out with,” he said.

By his junior year, Freese was struggling with his own addiction issues. He bounced between alternative schools, but didn’t graduate from any; he tried rehab, but it didn’t stick. For the next few years, he wandered from city to city: Denver, Seattle, Honolulu, Saipan. By the time he landed in Vancouver, he had made the commitment to get sober, but hadn’t found much direction past that.

All that changed after Sadie was born. “At first, it was like, ‘Daddy’s being clean,’ but after a while I felt like, ‘That’s great, but what’s Daddy going to do?” Freese recalled. “I don’t want to be borderline poverty, like I grew up. I want to be a role model.”

Freese enrolled at Clark College. At first, he found college daunting—less academically than logistically. “I didn’t understand how registration worked,” he said. “I had to use my resources. I had to ask for advice, and I’m not used to asking for advice. I’d be in the Financial Aid Office every day for a week, trying to figure things out.”

But as Freese continued at Clark, he learned how to navigate its support systems. Advisors showed him how to plan his degree; he met friends while working out in the Fitness Center; he took advantage of other free and subsidized services like the Counseling and Health Center and the college’s dental clinic. In the end, Freese graduated with honors, earning a cumulative GPA of 3.77.

It hasn’t always been easy. Freese had to balance his studies with caring for Sadie and volunteering in his community. He serves as a mentor to other recovering addicts, works on clean-up parties in his neighborhood, and participates in activities aimed at improving police-community relations. Additionally, he has worked during much of his time at Clark, though he credits his wife, Ashley, with keeping the family financially afloat while he pursues his education.

“She’s paying the bills,” he said. “She’s working toward this just as much as I am.”

Freese, now 28, plans to major in public affairs at WSUV, with the long-term goal of becoming a lawyer. “I want to be a voice for those who don’t have a voice,” he said. “I want to help people.”

A first-generation college graduate, Freese said he hopes that sharing the story of his struggles and success will help to inspire others who might be facing their own challenges. “I want to show people in a similar case that this is possible,” he said.

For Freese, earning this scholarship means that he will be able to concentrate on his studies at WSUV instead of on how to pay for them. But it also carries deeper meaning than the easing of financial burdens.

“What it means to me is that I’m there, I’ve reached that level,” he said, raising his hand to about chest-height. “I’m not just getting an associate degree—I’m doing well.”

And he knows just the little girl to celebrate that with.

Photos: Clark College/Jenny Shadley

Holly Varner had always meant to go to college. She tried taking classes a couple times, but life as a Navy wife made it difficult—she was constantly having to move to follow her husband’s 21-year-long career, not to mention taking care of three boys, now ages 8, 13, and 18. It was only when her husband retired and the family settled in Washougal that Varner could pursue her dream. She enrolled in Clark with just a GED and a handful of community-college classes on her transcript, determined to succeed academically.

During the 2016 Clark College Commencement ceremony, that determination payed off when Varner heard Clark College President Robert K. Knight announce that she was the recipient of the 2016-2017 Community College Presidents’ Award in Honor of Val Ogden. The scholarship award provides full-time tuition at Washington State University Vancouver (WSUV) and is renewable for one additional year, essentially providing full tuition to complete a bachelor’s degree.

As soon as President Knight made the announcement, Varner stood and hugged her son, Jonathan, who had attended Clark alongside his mother through Washington State’s Running Start program, which allows high school students to attend college tuition-free. The two had taken three classes together and even quizzed each other before exams.

“It was great to see him progress, to see him grow,” said Varner.

Varner’s own growth at Clark has been exceptional. She graduated with a 3.98 Grade Point Average (“I was so upset about that A-minus!”) while managing multiple volunteer and extracurricular activities. Varner served as Vice President of Service for Alpha Sigma Phi, Clark College’s chapter of the international honor society Phi Theta Kappa. In that role, Varner helped organize a Thanksgiving basket drive that provided holiday dinner supplies to more than 100 Clark College students and their families—negotiating an agreement with a new vendor that brought down the price of each basket that in turn allowed Alpha Sigma Phi to serve more students. She also coordinated drives to provide books and art supplies to families in local homeless shelters. She interviewed more than 60 homeless individuals to learn what they needed most; based on those interviews, she developed a shoe and sock drive to help them.

“She is the go-to person if advisors, other officers, or administration have questions,” wrote Professor Ruth Trejo, who serves as Alpha Sigma Phi’s advisor. “We joke about her three-inch binder, where her sticky tabs have sticky tabs.”

Varner will begin studying at WSUV this fall. She intends to major social work and/or public health. Varner said that, while her family had educational funding available to them through the GI Bill, she needed to save that funding to help put her children through school. Receiving the Community College Presidents’ Scholarship will allow her to pursue her own education, hopefully to a master’s degree.

Photos: Clark College/Jenny Shadley

We are in the midst of change at Clark College. The STEM building is being built and people will begin moving next year. ctcLink has many of us reviewing our business processes and anticipating a modern ERP (enterprise resource planning) college-wide management software. The new Academic Plan is focusing us on developing academic pathways that will lead students to gainful employment and further education.

What hasn’t changed is Clark College employees’ willingness to go above and beyond to help students. This year, for the 12th annual Backpack Project, employees donated backpacks and supplies to 52 school-aged children of Clark College students. The support and generosity of employees has sustained this project through the years, and employees tell us that they always look forward to the announcement of the project.

Names of children are gathered and referred by Workforce Education Services, Financial Aid, Veterans Affairs, Child & Family Services, and the Diversity Center. Each child is asked their favorite color and characters so the donors can find a backpack that is specific to that child. The characters from the children’s movie Frozen were the favorite this year.

This year we received some wonderful drawings and heartfelt thank-you notes we wanted to share with you.

“Hey, thank you for the backpack, it was very helpful for me. I know you guys didn’t have to do it but I’m very thankful so thank you!”

“Thank you so much for the backpacks, you have no idea how much this helped out our family.”

“I ♥ my backpack!”

No matter how things change, we know we can count on Clark employees to keep helping our students and their families, year after year. Thank you!