Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Couple’s gift to support Fayetteville teacher grants
FAYETTEVILLE — A local couple’s donation to the Fayetteville Public Education Foundation will help provide grants for the School District’s teachers.
Candy Clark declined to say how much she and wife Teddy Cardwell gave, but the gift qualified as a “keystone” grant under the foundation’s guidelines, which is a donation of between $25,000 and $50,000, said foundation Executive Director Cambre Horne-Brooks.
The gift will establish the Candy and Teddy Cardwell Fund in the foundation’s endowment. The money will go toward the district’s libraries and programs in history and communication, as well as those that teach “real-life” skills.
“The real-life applications component of their grant will ensure students are graduating more well-rounded and prepared for independence,” Horne-Brooks said.
Clark, in explaining the couple’s motivation for emphasizing real-life skills, spoke of a teenage relative who expressed bewilderment at the idea of having to deliver a college scholarship application by
U.S. mail.
“She is a bright young lady, but she didn’t have a clue how snail mail worked,” Clark said.
Clark and Cardwell own C&C Services, a commercial and industrial cleaning firm.
They also are responsible for setting up the Josephine S. Clark Memorial Fund in 2015 for grants focused on vocational education and biological sciences. The fund is named in honor of Clark’s mother, who was a longtime educator in the district.
Clark, a 1975 Fayetteville High School graduate, is a former debate coach and communications instructor for several universities. She served six years on the Washington County Quorum Court. She was inducted into the Fayetteville High School Hall of Honor in 2016.
The foundation, which manages an endowment of about $4 million, annually distributes hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants, scholarships, donations and corporate gifts to support Fayetteville educators and students.