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When I met him, I had a lot of anger inside of me．I've lived my whole life in Spanish Harlem, but in my neighborhood, there are shoot-ups all the time．I know kids who have been shot or beaten up．I have friends who ended up in prison．I could have ended up that way, too, but Mr．Clark wouldn't let that happen．
Mr．Clark worked long hours, making sure I did my work．My grades rose．In fact, the scores of our whole class rose．One day, he took our class to see The Phantom of the Opera, and it was the first time some kids had ever been out of Harlem．Before the show, he treated us to dinner at a restaurant and taught us not to talk with our mouths full．We did not want to let him down．
Mr．Clark was selected as Disney's 2000 Teacher of the Year．He said he would draw three names out of a hat; those students would go with him to Los Angles to get the award．But when the time came to draw names, Mr．Clark said,“You're all going．”
On graduation day, there were a lot of tears．We didn't want his class to end．In 2001, he moved to Atlanta, but he always kept in touch．He started giving lectures about education, and wrote a bestselling book based on his classroom rules, The Essential 55．In 2003, Mr．Clark took some of us on a trip to South Africa to deliver school supplies and visit orphanages(孤儿院)．It was the most amazing experience of my life．It's now my dream to one day start a group of women's clubs, helping people from all backgrounds．
