Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Cindi Cox

ALBANY — Some of the words used to describe educator, author and motivational speaker Ron Clark after he spoke to a full house at Albany’s Municipal Auditorium on Thursday were “energetic. hilarious, overly animated, transparent, helpful, real, inspiring, memorable and obviously passionate.”

With the new school year starting in just a couple of weeks, Southwest Georgia teachers came out in droves to hear Clark speak, to get inspired and to find some new ideas that they could put to good use.

The event, called “Summer School: An Evening with Ron Clark,” was sponsored by the Dougherty County School System and the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce.

“We pre-sold 850 tickets,” said Barbara Rivera Holmes, CEO of the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce.

Educators from 85 different schools throughout Dougherty County and Southwest Georgia joined with local and regional business leaders, who came out to be “schooled” on how to inspire, build and motivate teams and individuals.

Clark used humor, combined with stories and lessons from the classroom, to give insight into ways to reach and move people forward.

“Ron Clark’s message transcends all professions,” Holmes said.

The key to Clark’s message: engagement.

“Its all about having the passion, energy and the strength to engage with students,” Clark said. “Too many teachers are just getting by with handing out worksheets and sitting back — and they wonder why their students aren’t performing. They wonder why they aren’t responding.”

Clark’s own nontraditional methods have included jumping up on desks, creating and delivering impromptu rap songs, visiting students at their homes, attending Little League and other nonschool events where his students are involved, taking high school students out for pizza, and delivering dinosaur eggs in handmade crates to every student at the start of a recent school year. At the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, an electric blue slide was installed a few years ago to help students, and teachers, get from the second floor down to the ground level quicker and to lighten up the school day with a little fun and laughter.

“One of my students said she wasn’t even allowed to jump on the bed at home, but here I was jumping up on the school desk to get my students’ attention,” Clark said. “During a training session at my school in Atlanta, a group of teachers came and one of the elderly ladies in her 80s wanted to try out our slide. I was worried at first, but she tried it and enjoyed it so much she went down a second time.”

While not every teacher needs to go to the extremes that Clark described, and not every school administrator needs to add a slide to his building, the point that Clark said he hoped to get across was that teachers, school administrators and business leaders need to be creative and need to do things out of the ordinary if they want to get extraordinary results.

Persistence pays off and destiny wins, the educator said. And Clark’s life story exemplifies both. So much so, a made-for-television movie starring Mathew Perry called “The Ron Clark Story” premiered on TNT in August of 2006. Based on Clark’s real-life experiences, the movie centers on a teacher from a small town who moves to New York City to make a difference in the lives of his students.

What the film did not show were some early life experiences that set the stage for Clark’s story.

Clark grew up in rural North Carolina and worked his way through college with a part-time job at Dunkin’ Doughnuts. He decided to tour Europe soon after graduation. With limited funds and no real plan, he was able to reach his goal by working odd jobs and staying at youth hostels. When he was employed at a Texas-style restaurant and desired more tips, Clark said he created a colorful song and dance that he performed while delivering each meal. His efforts paid off, and he was able to enjoy a full year of travel.

“If you wait until you have the money to take the trip, you might never take the trip,” Clark said.

Returning to North Carolina, Clark said he was ready to go back to the doughnut shop when his mother convinced him to apply for a teaching job at a nearby school.

“I didn’t really want to teach,” he admitted.

The school, he said, was on the “wrong” side of the river — high poverty, low attendance, filled with youths with many barriers and problems. He reluctantly applied for the job. When the principal took him to the classroom, Clark said something stirred within him — a challenge he couldn’t let slide. He took the job.

“I am from the country,” he said. “We didn’t have anything. No computers. No whiteboards. Not even enough textbooks or supplies. I learned you can teach with just a pen and paper underneath a tree. What makes a good teacher is not a computer or technology. It’s not even a building. It’s a relationship that shows you care. Look your students in the eyes. Move around. Ask questions. Shake their hand. Let them know when they are doing well — even the smallest compliment goes a long way.

“It used to be when you asked kids in the fifth grade what they wanted to be when they grow up, many would say they wanted to be teachers. Not anymore. They see teachers hand out worksheets and then go back and sit at a desk. They see the disrespect teachers get from students and from parents.”

While working in North Carolina, Clark went to a local bank to try and get funding for a class project. The banker refused. But he said that didn’t stop him. He challenged the banker to just give $5. The banker reached into his own wallet and complied. Clark went back to class and had every student write a “thank you” card. He took pictures to show the banker how the students went on with the project.

“The banker was embarrassed,” Clark said. “I went back, and his foundation gave us $100. The next year, $500. Finally, we received $4,000, which enabled me to take my students on a trip to New York City.”

His theme for the night was “never give up”.

“America is ranked 27th in the world for education,” Clark said. “Something needs to change.”

Clark’s highly effective programs while working with minority students in a low-wealth area of North Carolina garnered national attention and led to a White House invitation, where he was honored by the president of the United States. Over his career Clark was honored by U.S. presidents three times.

While watching a television piece chronicling low test scores and the lack of teachers in inner-city New York, Clark packed up his car and moved to Harlem. After being warned by the principal that his class was the least-disciplined group she had seen in years, Clark prepared himself by visiting the home of each student before the first day of school. Clark also involved his students in projects in the city and state, and his “low achievers” soon began to excel. By the end of his first year teaching in Harlem, Clark’s students’ test scores were higher than the “gifted” classes in his district.

After appearing on the Oprah TV show, Clark was encouraged to write his first book. With proceeds from the book, he purchased an old warehouse in Atlanta and eventually opened his own school for what some might call “at-risk” youths.

Clark said he does not like such labels.

“‘Teaching down’ in the classroom contributes to many of the current problems in the education system,” he said. “’Gifted’ students are not challenged. Parents won’t let us challenge students. We have dumbed down our education system.”

Noting that he teaches to the level of the brightest student in his classes, Clark said, “That way the bar is raised and students will step up.”

Clark also said teachers should avoid coddling or giving in to their students who may feel they are “entitled” to getting better grades, doing sloppy work or not completing assignments.

“We have fun, but we set high standards,” he said. “The first week of school, many of our new students start crying because of the standards we set. We tell them to suck it up and get to work. Eventually they do.”

Merita Jones, a retired Dougherty County teacher and former school district supervisor for grades K-5 in Dougherty County, said she enjoyed Clark’s presentation.

“I came because my niece is opening a day care center, and we both wanted to get some fresh ideas,” Jones said. “I am very hands-on, and I like to see what others are doing in the classroom.”

Jones’ niece, Merita Henderson, has also taught in the Dougherty County School System.

“I especially liked his book and the talk he gave on how to move your bus and get other people on board with what you are doing,” Henderson said.

Another local teacher, Hope Wright, attended the event with a group of teachers from Lamar Reese Magnet School of the Arts, an elementary school in Dougherty County.

“We came as a group to help us prepare for the new school year,” Wright said. “What will be especially helpful for me is to focus on the highest achievers.”

Before opening the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, Clark said he traveled to all 50 states and personally visited more than 300 schools. Since his school opened in 2007, Clark has hosted teachers from all over the world who come to see his innovative teaching methods first-hand. To date, Clark has trained more than 25,000 educators from 42 states and 22 countries at the school’s home base in Atlanta.

Clark offered a bit of advice to Dougherty County teachers: “Be electric. Be passionate. Make kids feel like your classroom is the best place to be.”