A Turtle on a Fence
Scholarship winner ends up in Iowa by way of Japan.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Anthony Clark, 23, likes to quote the late writer Alex Haley, the author of Roots and other novels. "Haley once wrote, ‘Anytime you see a turtle up on top of a fence, you know he had some help,’" says Clark.
He sees himself as just such a turtle, helped to the top of the fence by his parents and by AFSCME.
Having grown up in a working-class neighborhood in Washington, D.C., Clark says he often had to make tough decisions. "Kids living in a city like D.C. that is riddled with crime and drugs have but two choices: Life in the streets or success in life. I chose to be successful."
Clark credits his parents for pushing him in the right direction, and he thanks AFSCME — his mother’s union — for helping to make his education possible.
"My mother is my role model," he says. "She has always allowed me and my three sisters to dream about our futures, encouraging us to be whatever we wanted to be." Clark’s mother, Carolyn Monk, is an AFSCME Local 2776 (Council 20) member who has worked at the D.C. Department of Finance and Revenue for over 20 years.
The International union awarded Clark its AFSCME Family Scholarship to pursue his college education at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) in Tallahassee. The scholarship — one of several the union offers members’ children each year — provided Clark $2,000 annually for four years.
Clark says his parents instilled in him at an early age the value of a good education. "There was never a question of whether or not I would attend college, it was a matter of when and how ... so I knew I had my work cut out to meet that end."
He graduated sixth in his class from Dunbar High School’s selective Pre-Engineering Program in 1992. Dunbar Principal Judith Richardson, former director of the pre-engineering component, remembers Clark well. "He had true-grit determination to go beyond the scope of the curriculum to meet the program’s rigorous standards in mathematics and science, and he excelled," she recalls.
Clark’s steadfastness continued at FAMU. He cracked the books for more than 50 hours a week, earning a 3.7 cumulative grade point average and a bachelor’s degree in education.
"In learning how to teach I learned that I, too, can make mistakes but that I can’t be disturbed by them or dwell on them," Clark says.
In his senior year, Clark put his classroom learning to the test through a U.S. Department of Defense teaching internship in Tokyo, Japan. Clark taught a diverse group of elementary school students at Camp Zama, a U.S. military base. He enjoyed the experience, which helped to cement his decision to pursue a career in education.
Upon graduation, Clark entered the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program at FAMU. The program — named after the African- American astronaut who died in the space shuttle Challenger explosion — enables students to research a subject of interest in an effort to encourage them to pursue a Ph.D. Clark’s research paper, "Leadership Development for African-American Males in Grades 6 through 12," was published in the fall 1996 issue of The McNair Journal.
Clark hopes to earn a Ph.D. and teach at the college level. He is now one semester away from completing his master’s degree in educational technology at the University of Northern Iowa.
"Opening doors for other black males in the educational arena is a goal that I hope to accomplish," he says. "At the end of the day, I’d like to be remembered — unlike some highly educated blacks — for providing service back to my community, rather than for people to say I made it and never looked back."
For more information on the 1997 AFSCME Family Scholarship, members should contact AFSCME’s Education Department, 1625 L St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036-5687 or (202) 429-1250. Deadline for applications is Dec. 31, 1997.
By Venida RaMar Marshall
