Submitted by Paul Webb.
1988 was a big year for the Clover Park Rotary Club. It had been in existence since ’82, bragged some 55 local business and government leaders in membership and thousands of dollars given to local charity assistance. They had demonstrated a desire to take on whatever was needed to help people – especially the needy in Lakewood. Dave Sclair was to be Club President for the 1988-89 Rotary year.
While the Club was not afraid to take on big tasks, Dave had something a little bigger in mind: fund a college education for potentially 30 to 35 6th graders at Southgate School. Southgate served in an area of moderate-to-low-income families. It was this group the Club set its sights on.
The historical record indicates that about half way through Dave’s year, he sent a letter to a group inside the Club, presumably set up to review the idea.
In a letter to Jack Asby, Gene Pankey, Bruce Piland, Warner Scharmach, and Steve Wurster, Dave laid out the specifics of his idea:
Announce to the 6th grade classes that Clover Park Rotary will provide a 4-year scholarship including tuition and books. The first two years to be at Pierce College (or if a four-year college, the Club would provide equivalent support at the Pierce College tuition level), and the remainder being paid at the State university level. They also gave consideration to food, lodging, and transportation during the last two years of college.
Dave went on to discuss how the project would be financed including pledges from Club members, appealing to local foundations, and other service clubs for assistance as needed.
As for the students, they were expected to maintain a grade-point of at least 2.5 GPA through school, to graduate on time, stay out of trouble and away from drugs, and to report to the club routinely on their progress.
Dave’s speculation was that, of the 30 to 35 offered the opportunity, about 9 to 12 would be able to stay local and complete all the necessary requirements.
While it appears, there were some “fits-and-starts” in the launch of the program, in June of 1989 during the installation of Gene Pankey as Club President, Dave Sclair, outgoing President, was surprised with the announcement that $5,000 in initial pledges from Club members had been made to kick-off the Southgate School Scholarship Program!
The program, supported by Club members and moved ahead by Dave, was now a reality.
While a concerted effort was made in estimating the numbers of students taking advantage of the program, we know 36 years later, that more people moved away than expected, more could not maintain the expected GPA, and some could not adhere to other aspects of the program.
But there was one. And she represents all the good things that Dave and the Club, envisioned in a program like this.
Leeann Whalen came to our club last Wednesday as our program. Leeann went into nursing, achieving her LPN in 2000 and eventually her Registered Nursing Certification in 2010.
Leeann was one of those 30 to 35 Southgate students that Dave Sclair had in his sights the night they presented the program to Southgate students and parents in 1989.
Leeann’s story is one of perseverance, tragedy, faith, and love of people that took her from that night at Southgate School to standing in front of the Club as our weekly program.
Leeann made it through Southgate without much trouble, and while “regular” high school did not work out for her, she entered an alternative high school and persevered to graduation – on time, thereby meeting one of the key requirements to remain in the Rotary scholarship program.
However, when she hit her mid-teen years, she like many others, began rebelling. Against what is always hard to explain. Spreading wings, which many times hit those closest to you in the face, resulted in her parents pushing back. In Leeann’s case, she opted to go on her own and ran away.
Leeann sought association with, and protection from, a gang. Soon thereafter, she found herself pregnant with her first child, a boy. Before long, she had another child, also a boy.
By the time she hit 20 years old, she was working to support her two boys and herself with a job at Domino’s Pizza. The gang association had disappeared some time earlier, and she now found herself responsible for her two boys. It appears this may have been her turning point. We hear lots of stories like this one, but some of them seem to have no “turning point.” Many if not most of them, continue down a path of self-destruction. But more than just the “self” is destroyed. It carries others with it.
It was during this period that Leeann came home to a home ransacked by a burglary. Seeing what little she had been able to acquire gone in an instant, a devastated Leeann took a walk. Living in Bremerton at the time she came across a local church who welcomed her inside. She explained her situation. They prayed with her and brought her into their church. She found solace in the building and in the faith. She credits that walk with having a lot to do with how her life’s direction changed.
Another part of Leeann’s awakening came as she remembered her 18-month-old nephew who had passed away. Seeing the devastation created for her family, and considering how she was to care for her little family, Leeann realized she wanted to do something to help. She researched where good training could be obtained in nursing. And along the way to this point, Leeann looked back on her first big accomplishment: graduating from high school, and the promise made by the Rotary Club to fund her post-high school education. Subsequently, she entered Clover Park Technical School’s nursing program. Leeann was back in school, this time with financial support Dave Sclair and Clover Park Rotary promised almost 10 years earlier.
Leeann was not done with hardship however. During her time at Clover Park Technical her oldest son was hit by a car, during that same stretch of time, her younger son contracted a rare bone infection.
Fortunately, both boys recovered from their injuries and illness, mostly from nursing provided by their mother while she labored to formally be a nurse!
Leeann’s own words best explain her predicament during those times:
“My experience in the LPN program at Clover Park Technical College was a defining chapter in my life. This demanding 12-month course pushed me to limits, requiring an unshakable commitment to succeed. I’m grateful for the renewed sense of faith that guided me through the most trying times. As my family faced one unimaginable challenge after another my oldest son’s devastating accident, my youngest son’s rare illness, and the subsequent hospitalizations-I drew upon a deep well of resilience. The memories of those long, difficult, nights spent in the hospital, and the struggle to balance work and childcare, are forever etched in my mind. Yet, I emerged stronger, graduating in 2000. This achievement sparked a sense of purpose, leading me to embark on a missionary trip to Haiti, where I was entrusted with the care of a vulnerable 3 ½-pound infant, a poignant reminder of life’s preciousness and fragility.”
After graduating from the LPN program, Leeann met and married a young man who she had two beautiful daughters with. The marriage did not work out, however Leeann, in what was now becoming part of her character, turned that setback into an opportunity. Always looking out for her now-larger, family, she went back to school taking one-class-at-a-time while balancing her work schedule, and graduated as a Registered Nurse (RN) in 2010.
Leeann, compelled to do more positive things in the world, took a missionary trip to Nicaragua to demonstrate God’s love which, in her words, “has made a significant difference in my life.” She is looking forward to more such trips.
She presently is working in Seattle. Her nursing experience to this point, includes:
- Medical Surgical
- Veterans Clinic
- Pediatric Home Health
- Labor and Delivery
- Emergency Room
- Behavioral Health
- Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
She found her niche in Neonatal care, mostly from exposure to it while in Haiti. In addition to her four biological children, she has is now caring for a baby boy left abandoned at the hospital. She is working to adopt him.
Leeann is also looking ahead to expand her education yet again. She wants to pursue a Bachelors in Nursing, as well as a Master’s degree.
So, did the “carrot” of a mostly free post-high school education motivate her? Maybe. To go through everything she did and land on her feet the way she has, most likely involved a number of factors. It could have been good parenting, DNA, something a family member or friend said, some experience she had, or her visit to that Bremerton church. We may never nail it down, but somewhere along the line she figured out the responsibility for her little family was hers. And her accomplishments on that front are obvious.
Dave Sclair passed away in 2011. Because of her progress reports, he was aware of some of her accomplishments.
People may say, “that’s a lot of planning and work for just one person.” Dave would have liked do this for a hundred students. But considering the “downstream” effect she has had on our world to date, with more to come, clearly, we can see that Dave and Clover Park Rotary can be proud to be even a small piece of her experience. Thank you, Leeann!
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