Long time supporters of Cook County schools, Dick and Joyce McFarland stopped by the newspaper last Saturday before leaving town. They are hoping some more people can come forward to help pay for the Youth Frontiers program so it can be brought to I.S.D. 166 again this year. Staff photo/Brian Larsen
Teachers, kitchen workers, maintenance personnel, secretaries and administrative office employees at Cook County I.S.D. 166 got to take part in an Honor Retreat on August 30 that was paid for by Dick and Joyce McFarland.
Retreat time was spent getting to know new staff and bonding between employees.
The next school project the McFarlands, who own cabins in Tofte and Lutsen, are involved in is Youth Frontiers.
“This is the seventh year we will have been associated with bringing Youth Frontiers to Cook County,” said Joyce. “We paid for it the first few years, but we have been asking for some financial help to keep the program going.”
When the McFarlands introduced the idea of bringing Youth Frontiers to I.S.D. 166, it was initially met with some skepticism. “April Wahlstrom, the science teacher and coach, went to bat for us and sold the administration on the program,” Paul said. “She attended Minnetonka High School and had been through the program, so she knew how good it was.”
While Youth Frontiers offers kids programs, it also provides educator retreats to help schools support their teachers and create cohesive teams focused in a common direction: their students.
Joe Cavanaugh, Edina, Minnesota, started Youth Frontier in 1987 after meeting a student named Diane who told him about being bullied at school. She said, “There are these kids at school who make fun of me every day. Can you do anything to stop them?”
Youth Frontiers is the leading character education organization in the Upper Midwest. In collaboration between the Cook County Schools, the Northlands Foundation, Dick and Joyce McFarland and other local and metro based funders, Youth Frontiers has been serving local 4th-, 7th-, 9th- and 12th-grade students since 2012.
In the last few years funding for the Youth Frontiers programming come from the Northland Foundation, Joyce and Paul McFarland, and others who donate privately to bring this affirmative program to CCHS I.S.D. 166 and Sawtooth Elementary.
“The next Youth Frontiers program is scheduled to take place here in January 2019,” said Dick. “We are hoping to find more people who will help support this valuable program. Both of us feel it really helps the kids who take part in it.”
If you would like to help with financial contribution, contact Joyce at 1-952-477-8298, or contact CCHS assistant principal Mitch Dorr, 1-218-387-2271.
Who are Dick and Joyce McFarland?
AFP (Association of Fundraising Professionals) Minnesota 2017 Outstanding Individual Philanthropists Dick and Nancy McFarland lend their time and money to many organizations.
You can blame that giving spirit, at least in part, on the late, great philanthropist, educator, businessman, and politician Wheelock Whitney.
Whitney was CEO of the company Dick was working for. One day Whitney called Dick into the office and said he had been doing a great job for the company and he was going to make him a senior vice president, but he added, with that title comes responsibility.
He noted that for the last 15 years Dick hadn’t done anything for the community. “I am going to give you one month to pick out two nonprofits,” he said. And Dick picked out United Way and Junior Achievement.
“I have been with the company now for 60 years. The last speech I give to the training class each year is the Wheelock Whitney speech,” he said.
Both Dick and Joyce are arm in arm in their belief about giving back to their community, whether it’s on the North Shore or their Twin Cities home.
Dick is a retired CEO of Dain Rauscher RBC and former chairman of the board. Throughout his life he has given his time and expertise to numerous boards and committees, among them serving as a member and chair of Abbott Northwestern Hospital.
Joyce holds a Master’s of Theology, and works with the Ministry of Spiritual Companioning and Supervision, and was active with the Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches.
She has also served as a board member of Collegeville Ecumenical Institute and is a co-founder of the Episcopal House of Prayer in Collegeville. She also served as a board member of Abbott Northwestern Hospital and is actively involved with the George institute.
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