Published: August 30, 2008 01:17 am            

MSU education majors, area teachers motivated by Ron Clark

special to the star



Teachers from all over the Meridian and Lauderdale County area, along with college students studying to become teachers at Mississippi State University Starkville and Meridian campuses, packed the historic theater at the Mississippi State University Riley Center for Education and Performing Arts to hear a dynamic presentation by Ron Clark. A leader in education and a voice for teachers, Ron Clark’s message is one of hope, dedication and belief in oneself to accomplish anything. His tireless work and commitment to making a difference in the lives of children, including his work with disadvantaged students in rural North Carolina and inner-city Harlem, has garnered worldwide attention. The Phil Hardin Foundation and The Riley Foundation partnered together to bring Ron Clark to the MSU Riley Center. Phil Hardin Foundation Executive Director Rebecca Combs and Riley Foundation Executive Director Becky Farley had seen Clark speak at a regional conference in November 2007. Inspired by his message, the foundation directors were determined to bring him to Meridian for area teachers and MSU students and faculty to experience.

“Teachers fulfill a vital role, as they help prepare our young people to become active members of society, ultimately becoming our community’s future leaders and workforce. Our goal was to inspire our area teachers, providing them access to a recognized leader in education who actively works in the classroom and knows what they go through day in and day out,” said Becky Farley, executive director of The Riley Foundation.

“We were so inspired by Ron’s message and thought what better way to help kick off the school year than to bring him here to motivate and connect with our teachers,” said Rebecca Combs, executive director of The Phil Hardin Foundation. “Ron delivers an authentic and thought provoking message. Seeing the teachers engaged and inspired by his message was validation for us and this joint initiative. As foundations both committed to positively impacting this area’s quality of life, supporting public education is an absolute must.”

Clark spoke to a full house at 10 am and 2:30 pm and both audiences were completely engaged, laughing and applauding Clark throughout the presentation. Clark’s philosophy is that teachers must find relevant ways to connect with students to engage them in learning. That means bringing the outside world, art, pop culture and non-traditional teaching methods into the classroom. Whether it is making up new words to the latest pop song to teach the principals of algebra or allowing the students to express themselves through dance and rap, Clark is uninhibited in his relentless approach to reach every child. In contrast to his non-traditional teaching methods, Clark has very strong feelings about traditional values as it relates to manners, classroom behavior and proper etiquette. One of his books, The Essential 55, describes the 55 rules and expectations he had of his students in Harlem and how he used manners and respect to help his classes achieve outstanding test scores. The teachers responded to Clark’s presentation exactly as Combs and Farley had hoped.

“His renewed focus on home values and the need to relate to our students—meeting them where they are, versus making them come to where you are—really spoke to me. I already do some of the things he talked about so it was so good to hear him reinforce that I’m on the right track, and it inspired me to take it further,” said Edna Clark, Southeast Elementary art specialist.

“I had read his book but seeing him in person gave me the courage to try new things that would help me reach and challenge every child in my classroom. His energy was contagious, and his message that we should expect more from all of our students is very timely at the start of this new school year,” said Gena Dye, Poplar Springs School fifth grade teacher.

The event not only kicked off the new school year, it also kicked off a new season of programming at the MSU Riley Center. In addition to the 30+ performing arts events that take place in the evenings for the public at large, the MSU Riley Center offers 16 daytime shows for students in grades K-12. Each of the shows contain relevant connections to the targeted grades’ curriculum. The center provides study guides and workshops to help teachers prepare the students for what they will experience in the theater and build on their experiences when they are back in the classroom. As a participant in the Kennedy Center Partners in Education program, the center also works with Meridian and Lauderdale County schools to offer interactive workshops by arts integration experts throughout the school year. The workshop instructors are very similar to Ron Clark, in that they too have real world classroom experience and offer teachers new, dynamic techniques designed to engage all students on multiple levels. MSU education students and faculty from both the Meridian and Starkville campuses are also invited to participate in the center’s educational training programs and workshops.

About Ron Clark

Ron Clark has been called “America’s Educator.” His outstanding success with students from low-wealth areas of North Carolina and NYC led him to be named Disney’s American Teacher of the Year. He is a New York Times Best Selling author, and his classes have been honored at the White House on three separate occasions. He has been featured on The Today Show, CNN, and Oprah. Ron’s teaching experiences in NYC are subject of the uplifting film, The Ron Clark Story, starring Mathew Perry. Most recently, Ron founded The Ron Clark Academy, a dynamic and innovative middle school serving students in Atlanta. The privately funded institution provides an out of the box curriculum that focuses on raising test scores by using exciting, creative and engaging strategies. In addition to educating students, the Ron Clark Academy is a training site for teachers. Each year over 3,000 educators from around the world visit the academy to observe Ron and his staff in action and to learn more about how to help students of all levels achieve great success. Visit www.RonClarkAcademy.com for more information and to download lesson plans and watch classroom videos from the academy.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.