The Influence of a Non-Traditional High School Chief

Joe Clark was a non-traditional high school principal whose unusual way of enforcing rules became the subject of a 1989 Hollywood movie.

Clark died late last year at the age of 82. He gained national attention for his leadership at Eastside High School in Paterson, New Jersey¹.

"You are not inferior," is what Clark would often tell his students. Many of the Eastside students were African American or Latino. They grew up in a difficult environment. Many of the students who attended his school faced violence, crime, drugs and troubled family life.

Clark believed that students had to be shocked often to understand the influences that could prevent them from succeeding in school and in life.

In Clark's first days of working at Eastside High School, he expelled 300 students for fighting, destroying school property, abusing teachers and drug possession. The students who remained at school believed that higher expectations were being placed on them. They felt more pressure to perform better.

Before becoming an educator, Clark served in the U.S. Army Reserve. His experience might have influenced how he supervised his school. He was known to walk around with a bullhorn and a baseball bat. Some praised his efforts at discipline while others criticized his methods.

President Ronald Reagan offered Clark a White House policy adviser² position after his success at the high school.

In 1989, actor Morgan Freeman played Clark in the movie "Lean on Me." That movie was based on Clark's experiences at Eastside High School. "Joe was a father figure to school kids," Freeman said. "He was the best of the best in terms of education."

Not everyone supported his methods. One teacher, who spoke³ to National Public Radio, or NPR, in 1988, said his methods were more like being in a labor⁴ camp than a public high school.

NPR recently spoke to Thomas McEntyre who said he was one of Joe Clark's former students. McEntyre said, "I never really got a chance to...thank him. We are your product. You did not fail us. No matter if you kicked me out, you did not fail me. You bettered me," he said.

After he retired⁵ from Eastside in 1989, Clark worked for six years as the director of a detention⁶ center for young people in Newark, New Jersey. He also wrote a book called "Laying Down the Law: Joe Clark's Strategy for Saving Our Schools." He described how he managed to turn Eastside High from a failing school into a success.

Clark was born in Rochelle, Georgia on May 8, 1938. His family moved north to Newark when he was six years old.

Words in This Story

principal – n. the head of a grade school

inferior – adj. lower quality

bullhorn – n. an electric device that make a person's voice louder that can be held by hand

bat – n. a long round stick used to hit the ball in the game of baseball

discipline –n. control that is gained by requiring that rules be obeyed and punishing wrong behavior

1 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

2 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

6 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。