Dear Ron Clark...

Dear Ron Clark,
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for being the absolutely amazing and inspiring educator that you are. Your keynote speech today was by far the most inspiring, intense, high energy, and slightly crazy (which I loved) talks that I have ever, ever heard. I'll admit that I didn't know much about you until this semester. I knew that you were a great educator, and that you had won many awards, but I was totally unaware of your story. For my Classroom Management class, I was assigned the movie "The Ron Clark Story" at random for a video critique that was part of an assignment. We had to watch the movie and answer questions and share our opinion on how it related to education, what aspects of classroom management we would like to one day implement, and what about the movie (story) made us (the students at UNCP) want to be better educators. I have to admit that I was more excited about the movie because of the star that portrayed you, than I was about hearing your story. You see, I have a huge obsession with FRIENDS... and adore Matthew Perry. However, it only took the first 30 seconds for the words "Aurora, North Carolina" to appear on the screen before I knew that I was going to like this movie. I, am also from North Carolina. Wilmington, to be specific. You're story is very inspiring, and while I'm sure that you hear this quite often, it really struck a chord within my teacher's heart. I've known that I wanted to be a teacher since I was little. I loved playing "teacher" with friends and family. And, I'm the daughter of a teacher. My mom taught 4th grade for 31 years (and if I end up half the teacher that she was, I'll be blessed). I have a soft spot for children in my heart. I want to help them. I want to love them. I want to teach and instill in them knowledge and common respect that will prepare them for the rest of their lives. What got to me most about your story, was the fact that you never gave up on those students. Ever. No matter how hard it seemed... You were always there for them. They knew that you loved them and that is why they began to trust you.
Today at the NCAEE conference, my eyes were opened even farther by the way you spoke of the Ron Clark Academy. I left that conference room wanting to become a teacher even more...wanting to have the chance to come to your school and be trained with your teacher educator program.
What I'm trying to say, Mr. Clark, is that  you are amazing. You have inspired so many teachers and not just in North Carolina (but let's be honest, NC teacher's are the best) but also all over the world. Kids WANT to come to school because of your rules and the way you conduct your class.
I only hope that one day, more schools will be filled with children wanting to learn and teacher's dancing on tables and rapping with their students. And that one day, there will be a Smithfield's BBQ and Bojangles next to each other in Atlanta.

Sincerely,
Kara Greer
Aspiring Educator, wanting to one day make a difference