Mr. Clark— one of the most beloved teachers at Louisville is back, teaching an honors history course to freshmen! In my interview with Mr. Clark, we discussed how he taught at Louisville for 36 years before his one year departure. Yet many don’t know that before Louisville, he worked in the Burbank/Pasadena school system as a long-term substitute teacher, and before that as an assistant manager at his parents’ store in Indiana.
Mr. Clark originally wanted to go into archeology and become a translator, as he is well versed in different languages besides English. However without a PhD there “wasn't a whole lot [he] can do.” However, Mr. Clark always loved history and anthropology, and his freshman year history professor told him he would make a great history teacher one day—which is clearly true!
The most unique thing about Louisville to Mr. Clark is that “99 percent of the students are here to actually learn” in comparison to the students at the past schools he taught. He recognizes that even the students that consider themselves to be“goof-offs” actually are learning here. At his other schools, he wouldn’t tell his students what his car looked like in fear that they would slash his tires, but at Louisville he told his students what his car was and one day, the “next thing [he] knew they were out there washing it.”
Although Mr. Clark is not a Harry Styles fan, he does enjoy listening to Frank Zappa and Jimi Hendrix. He believes that the entire Abbey Road album is the “best recorded music” and thoroughly enjoys Neill Young's “Rust Never Sleeps” live album.
If on an abandoned island, the three things Mr. Clark would bring are a re-readable book, 60’s and 70’s music, and Mr. Telesca—solely to bother him.
Overall, Mr. Clark is an outstanding teacher who has phenomenal music taste and a clear love for history. We are so excited to have him back on campus again!