WK 1 Free Choice - Ron Clark

I love true-life stories where educators make a difference in someone’s life.   When I watched the Ron Clark Story I was fascinated with his life story.   He was a North Carolina teacher who had an amazing record of success with students and he taught them to Dream Big.   This has been my motto long before I ever heard of Ron Clark.   But, he took it a step farther and quit his comfortable job and went to New York City to teach a class no one wanted.   Because he saw the potential in each one of them and did not give up on them, they are successful even today.   He has since then written many books and has an academy in Atlanta, Georgia that I was lucky enough to go and visit.  

First hand I was able to see how hard he was on them, but how much they were learning.   They also travel to all of the continents and the field trips are everyday experiences that he turns into a lesson.   He stands on desks, raps with lessons they need to learn, and teaches them respect for others as well as themselves.   His Co-Founder, Lauren Bearden has the same enthusiasm and it motivates me to be a better teacher every time I look at anything on his website.   He was able to purchase the building in Atlanta with money from a book he has written.   One day he was on the Oprah show and the next day his book was in the top ten best seller list and the proceeds went towards the purchase of the building.   The location was not great and he was vandalized quite a bit in the beginning.  But, he quickly realized he needed the locals who were drug dealers and prostitutes to see the benefit for them to keep it safe.   He went door to door selling his philosophy and now they are completely safe.   His story is worth checking out and he has a teacher’s club you can purchase that shares his ideas and suggestions for a powerful class.   Check him out!