As an undergraduate at the University of Connecticut, Aaron Clark ’06 (ED), ’07 MA anticipated pursuing a career in sports broadcasting. But he quickly discovered that extensive traveling and unpredictable hours were not part of the lifestyle he wanted. Instead, he switched gears and began working toward a degree that would afford him a reasonable schedule, with time for athletics and family, and also enable him to work in a profession where he could make a difference.

Clark enrolled in the Neag School of Education’s rigorous five-year Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s Teacher Education Program (IB/M), where he was inspired by his professors’ expertise, and gained real world experience in the schools.

As he embarked on his new career path, Clark was able to tap into his strong presentation and public speaking skills, as well as his passion for kids. “I loved the idea of working with troubled youth,” says Clark, who has been employed at the Connecticut Juvenile Training School for young men for more than three years now. “It was a challenge I knew I would enjoy and thought would be fun.”

The lessons Clark took away from the required course on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports for Students (PBIS) with Disabilities in his junior year are some that have particularly benefited him in his current role as a math teacher working with a troubled population.

“It’s all about reward. They [his students] want to be given something. They’re deal makers. A lot of them are there because they’re trying to do what they need to survive. Sometimes that means making deals with people to get by,” says Clark. “PBIS is about rewarding positive behavior, which is something a lot of kids in my population get excited about.”

The PBIS approach is part of the Neag School’s Center for Behavioral Education (CBER), which was established in 2005 by Professor George Sugai to research and teach in the areas of positive behavior support, behavior disorders, literacy, school psychology, and special education.

Clark has come to recognize first hand that reinforcing positive behavior and academics boosts his students’ confidence, leading to higher success rates. As they buy into the approach, his students become more task-oriented, better disciplined, and more inclined to focus on their schoolwork.

Relating to Students

Instilling the message in these young people that they do not have to revert back to whatever circumstance originally put them in the facility is also key. Clark hopes that by relating to his students as much as he can, he will inspire them to discover a personal strength or skill they can use to better themselves after they serve their time.

“I struggled too, but I knew what my goal was and worked hard to get that accomplished,” says Clark, whose own persistence and determination have paved the way for his success.

He says most of the youth he works with lack significant role models in their lives. They are desperate to talk about their lives, recap sporting events, and discuss their most recent art projects. Clark has tried to help them fill that need.

“[Teachers] need to be a guidance counselor, academic – not a friend, but a big brother/big sister at times,” says Clark. “You need to read your kids minute by minute, especially at my school. Anything can set them off. A lot lack any structure at home. They need some pushing toward what they’re going to do the rest of their lives.”

Although he currently is teaching algebra, geometry, and intervention math, Clark hopes soon to teach his favorite subjects, social studies and history. Regardless, he enjoys working with juvenile offenders and having a positive impact on them, just as he had hoped when he was a student at UConn.

Promoting classroom diversity

Clark also made a difference as a Neag School graduate student, using his leadership skills and dedication to create change. In his graduate year, Clark took a lack of classroom diversity into his own hands and became a graduate assistant helping to recruit minorities. This opportunity to create positive change within Neag is one of his fondest memories.

“I was the only male minority in all of Neag my senior year,” Clark recalls. “I’m glad to hear that the minority enrollment is a lot higher now.”

According to the director of the Academic Advisory Center Ann Traynor, Clark compiled information on prospective minority students interested in teaching and contacted them to answer their questions about the programs Neag offers, encouraging them to apply. He also reached out to Neag alumni to collect feedback on their experience in the IB/M and TCPCG (Teacher Certification Program for College Graduates) programs.

“This feedback helped us to improve our efforts to support, encourage, and retain minority students in our teacher preparation programs,” says Traynor.

The former dean of the Neag School, Richard Schwab, says he has high expectations of Clark. “Aaron is a great young man with a strong moral compass and an engaging personality,” he says. “When he was a student at the Neag School, he was always someone we could count on as an engaged and positive student leader. He is now a young alum we will be reading a lot about in the future, as I see him building on his talents from his experience in this challenging classroom environment and becoming a key leader in school reform in our state.”

For more information about the IB/M Teacher Preparation Program, visit the Neag School of Education website. To hear Clark speak about his experiences at the Neag School, watch this video.