A Teacher Like No Other: The Ron Clark Story

Holy amazing teachers Batman! I can’t remember how I first heard about Ron Clark, or why it took me so long to rent the biographical movie made about him: The Ron Clark Story. I finally watched it yesterday, and it was pretty amazing. Ok, maybe I should clarify: The movie itself was good (i.e. a bit on the cheesy side with several above  average performances, and I confess to welling up at the end with genuine tears), but the story it tells will blow you away.

Ron Clark (aptly played by Matthew Perry), a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed middle school teacher from North Carolina, moved to NYC in 1998 and landed a job teaching sixth grade at an elementary school in East Harlem. His was the class with the “problem” kids that no one else wanted to teach. Getting the picture? Yes, we’ve seen this story line before (Stand and Deliver anyone?), but the strategies Clark uses to reach his students, and the ensuing results, are remarkable – and true. Ron Clark had an active role in the writing of the script and the making of the movie.

Definitely check out the Special Features at the end of the DVD to see Clark’s acceptance speech at Disney’s American Teacher Awards (he was voted Teacher of the Year in 2000), watch him travel to South Africa with his students, and get a peek of the new Ron Clark Academy he designed in Georgia. Honestly, Clark himself is such a passionate, engaging, animated, and charming guy (with a Southern drawl to boot!) that he could easily have played himself in the movie.

Check out this video introduction to Ron Clark:

takepart in watching The Ron Clark Story, and read Clark’s best-selling books The Essential 55 and The Excellent 11. Support the new Ron Clark Academy in Georgia.