Notable educator inspires students

Oprah told him that he’s living her dream. He’s done the Harlem shake on national television. He’s casually ‘run into’ Nelson Mandela – and he’s just a fifth-grade teacher. \nAward-winning educator Ron Clark concluded his lecture, “Educating America: The Ron Clark Story” standing on a chair, wearing striped socks in front of a crowd who gave him a standing ovation Tuesday night in Alumni Hall at the Indiana Memorial Union.\nClark, who received the prestigious Disney Teacher of the Year Award in 2000, has made it his life’s work to change the face of education as it is currently known, one rule at a time. \nIt started with five rules posted on the wall of a North Carolina classroom and grew into his famed, The Essential 55 – his teaching expectations for students, parents and even himself.\n“We are going to set the example for education,” he told audience members. “I feel like we could make a global change, we are going to make a global change.”\nClark has made it his life’s work to educate underprivileged students in areas such as his native rural North Carolina, Harlem, and as of next fall, Atlanta. \nThe Ron Clark Academy will open its doors to 60 students ranging from fifth to eighth grade in August 2007 and will attract more than 3,000 teachers from around the world.\n“This is a school for teachers,” he said in an interview. “And it will change the world.”\nAnd it will change the way young teachers grow to see their profession. Students attending the lecture were inspired, education major or otherwise.\n“This was the most powerful lecture on education I have ever attended,” said Anita Updegraff, a freshman majoring in education. “I’ve seen him on television, but in person, well it was just so much more.”\nClark, whose life story was made into a movie, “The Ron Clark Story” starring “Friends” actor Matthew Perry drew even more national attention outside of the realm of education.\n“I’ve seen the movie, but this was definitely something I’m glad I saw before I got a classroom of my own,” said Kristen Holmes, a senior education major. “I student teach for some students who definitely need motivation to succeed. This was incredible.”\nDuring a question and answer session following the lecture, Clark spoke to education students, many of whom wanted to know how they could improve their own training and carry it into their future classroom. \nThe answer: innovation – and a better college education program.\n“As a college professor you can’t stand in front of a room of education students boring them to tears, and then expect them to become great teachers,” he said. “You need to be engaging. It needs to be passed on.”\nIU master’s student and local Bloomington music teacher John Visel read Clark’s book, “The Essential 55,” prior to hearing him speak and after picking a seat in the front he spoke of Clark as an inspiration.\n“I read this book and thought, ‘God, hope does exist,” he said. “Teaching is struggle. He gets that, and rises above it all.”