Doris Ann Schmidt Stanton, right, presents a check for $500,000 to Tarkio College Foundation President Tim Pratt, left, at a ceremony held Friday, September 6, 2024. The money will be used for the welding program at Tarkio Technology Institute.
To keep her late husband’s legacy alive and to help the school that he cared so much about, Doris Ann Schmidt Stanton donated a $500,000 endowment to the Tarkio Technology Institute’s welding program. An official ceremony was held Friday afternoon, September 6, 2024, at the Dr. Jack Schmidt Welding Center on the Tarkio Tech campus. The welding center is named after Stanton’s late husband, Dr. Jack Schmidt. Dr. Jack Schmidt was a professor at Tarkio College and dedicated many years to the students and community. He was a hands-on teacher and made learning fun for all.
The welding program began at Tarkio Tech in January 2020 and now boasts 50 graduates who have gone on to earn their American Welding Society National Certification and employment across the country. Part of that success has been because of Doris Ann’s commitment to seeing that the welding center receive new equipment to keep the students learning and competitive in their fields. Now with this $500,000 installment, the welding program at Tarkio Tech will be sustained for many years to come.
Tarkio Tech President Johnnie Davis says Stanton set the endowment with the stipulation that the proceeds be used for the welding program, including supplies, scholarships, salaries or any future construction of a new facility. “Working with her family, and with her investor, she made the decision last spring that she wanted to set up an endowment for the welding program,” he said. “So, she had put together a plan to give us a $500,000 endowment so that we could invest that money, and use the interest off that to grow and to support our welding program. Just recently, she made the decision to move that money, and get it into our foundation’s hands so that they could start investing it.” Tarkio College Foundation President Tim Pratt remarked that communities and schools are built by people with big hearts, and Doris Ann’s heart is as big as a mountain.
The welding program remains the school’s most popular program between basic welding, structural welding, and pipe welding, and is one of the most lucrative careers these days. Welding companies working with Tarkio Tech offer wages as high as $120,000 a year.
