University receives its largest donation

Phyllis Washington can’t put a price tag on the valuable teacher education she received at The University of Montana. But the 1964 School of Education graduate and her husband, industrialist Dennis Washington, recently paid back campus in a big way.

During a sunny May 2 groundbreaking ceremony for the new Phyllis J. Washington Education Center, it was announced that the Washingtons have increased their pledge for the new facility from $3 million to $10 million.

That’s the largest gift in the University’s 115-year history.

“It’s about more than a building; it’s about building a better education,” Mrs. Washington said. “This additional boost will allow construction to begin immediately in order to have the facility ready for students in the fall of 2009. This facility will make Montana a national leader in teacher education.”

Built entirely by private funding, the center’s construction will begin this spring as a 27,000-square-foot addition to the Education Building.

The new facility will include high-tech classrooms and distance-learning studios, as well as classrooms specifically designed to teach math and science instructional methods. It also will house the Early Childhood Modeling Center, which will offer indoor and outdoor classrooms and learning spaces. In addition, the new education center also will feature the Learning and Belonging Preschool.

“Both emerging teachers and 20-year veterans must be fluent in current techniques and technology to do their jobs and meet our state’s—and our nation’s —education goals,” said Roberta Evans, UM education dean. “The center (will be) a building that invites you to walk into it and learn forever.”

UM President George Dennison said, “The (center) will enable the University to reaffirm its commitment to the most effective and responsive preparation of new teachers and service to current teachers across Montana. In a very real way, this center, with its modern information technology, will provide almost universal public school access to the University’s resources and, indeed, to the wealth of educational materials now available through the Internet.”

To emphasize the new center’s focus on helping children, the groundbreaking ceremony included toddlers playing in sand to one side and a medley of songs sung by fifth-graders. The podium backdrop was a billboard-sized architect’s rendering of the education center.

Mrs. Washington taught elementary school in Missoula for several years. One of her former students, Randy Mostad of Billings, spoke at the groundbreaking. He said she was an excellent teacher who started him down a successful path by making a gut-wrenching decision.

“I was held back,” Mostad said. “But it was a good call – it was a gift.” He said Mrs. Washington was a rock in the stream of his life that caused a lot of positive ripples.

Missoula attorney Milt Datsopoulos, a longtime Washington friend, said Phyllis was instrumental in making the education center a reality.

“One thing people have said about Phyllis,” he said, “if she tries to do something, just get out of the way.”

Washington said she and her husband have a passion to ensure children are raised with positive values and education, which is why they have established 400 scholarships in their name.

She was excited to be giving back: “Our children are like living messages we send to a time we will never see,” she said. “There is a Chinese proverb that says, ‘One generation plants the tree; the next gets the shade.’”

The Washingtons’ contributions to UM during the past two decades include significant gifts to projects such as Washington-Grizzly Stadium, the Prescott House, the Gallagher Business Building and the Montana Island Lodge at Salmon Lake, as well as investment in student scholarship programs.