The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
As many of his peers pondered careers from A to Z, a young John Clark knew exactly what he wanted to do. Growing up in Ontario, he was influenced by his father and an uncle who shared the occupation that Clark would eventually join. 'I really didn't have to think very long about choosing teaching as my profession,' he says. Now after 30 years in education, virtually all of it in Flin Flon, Clark, principal of Ruth Betts Community School, calls it a career today. And he does so with a heavy heart. 'What makes both teaching and administration enjoyable and satisfying is the sense of accomplishment you experience while helping someone achieve something that they might not have achieved otherwise,' says Clark, 55. 'Whether it is a student experiencing success after struggling with a difficult concept, a group of teachers achieving a goal they have set for themselves or an athletic team striving to perform at its peak level, the enjoyment and satisfaction comes from experiencing success, and sometimes failure, together.' It's that emphasis on teamwork that has characterized Clark's career from the time he arrived in Flin Flon in the fall of 1982. After graduating from Queen's University in his hometown of Kingston, Ont., Clark had spent two months teaching at a high school in Brampton, Ont. Now he was ready for new challenges in Flin Flon, where, given his background in special education, he started out primarily as a resource teacher at Hapnot Collegiate. 'Not unlike many other teachers, I came to Flin Flon with the expectation of staying for one or two years,' Clark recalls. After his first year, Clark was transferred to Ruth Betts to teach phys-ed. Two years later he returned to Hapnot, this time teaching a variety of subjects, including resource, science, math and phys-ed. Administrative path A decade went by before he started down the administrative path by accepting the school division's phys-ed coordinator position in 1995. In 1996 Clark began a three-year stint as vice-principal at Hapnot, moving up to principal in 1999. He kept the job for the next eight years before becoming principal at Ruth Betts in 2007. At Ruth Betts, Clark has faced some familiar hurdles. 'The challenges that Ruth Betts Community School faces are not unlike the challenges that all schools face,' he says. 'It is crucial that schools not accept the status quo when it comes to these challenges. Meeting students' academic and social needs is challenging and plans need to be in place to address both.' Adds Clark: 'Not everyone comes from the same mould and our schools must continually strive to accept, embrace and celebrate student individuality.' Clark has certainly done that in his career, which is all the more reason Superintendent of Schools Blaine Veitch has mixed feelings about the principal's departure. 'I'm happy that he's able to move on to the next stage, and he'll be missed,' says Veitch. 'He is a very dedicated and very experienced administrator in the division. He always went the extra mile to ensure his schools were well run.' While Clark initially had no long-term plans to stay in Flin Flon, the community grew on him. It's where he met his wife, Karen, and where the couple raised their two children. Daughter Kirsten is now in her first year of medical school at the University of Manitoba, while son Ian has followed in his father's footsteps as a teacher at Creighton Community School. As much as he still relishes coming to work each day, Clark is ready for a fresh chapter in his life. 'I'm very much looking forward to retiring, not because I want to stop working, but rather I think it is time to try something different,' he says. 'Whether it is teaching overseas for a few years, taking on another job in the community or even setting up a bed and breakfast, opportunities abound.'
