The Paw Print

By Kieran Blake, Sports Editor

Every year, new teachers arrive at Payton’s various different departments. This year, one of those new teachers arrived later in the year: Mr. Clarke. Mr. Clarke will be serving as a long-term substitute for Ms. Rivera, a member of the social studies department, who recently began maternity leave after the birth of her daughter. I sat down for an interview with Mr. Clarke so the Payton community could better know their new teacher.

Paw Print: First off, why did you choose to become a teacher?

Mr. Clarke: I chose to become a teacher because of my family. My mom’s mom, my grandmother, was a teacher, both in Japan and then also in the U.S. She taught all over the United States in different universities and then all over the world in different universities. And my mom was very big into education. She worked in education policy in the city.

Paw Print: Which subjects interested you the most when you were in high school?

Mr. Clarke: I didn’t really care for many subjects. I was pretty ambivalent about stuff, but I really liked my art classes. I had a like really fun electronic music class that I thought was really cool, but generally, I worked a little bit harder for my humanities classes.

Paw Print: So where did you grow up, and where did you attend college?

Mr. Clarke: I grew up in Evanston. I spent some time in Kentucky for a few years. I was born in Chicago, but I really grew up in Evanston, and I went to college in Evanston too. I went to Northwestern.

Paw Print: All right, and how has your experience been at Payton in the short time you’ve been here?

Mr. Clarke: It’s been fun, it’s been fun. Students are really, really kind and hilarious, and my colleagues are all so very patient and talented and supportive.

Paw Print: What has been your favorite part of Payton so far?

Mr. Clarke: That’s a good question. I think I have liked getting a chance to see the way that students are invested in creating learning opportunities for themselves. So like the way that you all sponsor clubs, the way that you all are actively looking to take leadership roles and like explore your interests and stuff like that. That’s been really exciting to see. And then also teaching the African American studies class.

Paw Print: How long have you been teaching?

Mr. Clarke: This is year seven. But I’ve been teaching for like– that’s seven years in the classroom, but like since I was like in high school, even in middle school, I was like always tutoring many more and doing stuff like that.

Paw Print: Which subjects have been your favorite ones to teach in your career?

Mr. Clarke: I don’t really care about subjects, I more care about students, and so I’ve taught math and science and history and English, like I’ve taught all the core subjects. History is my discipline of training, so I’m probably best at that, but my favorite to teach is probably like creative writing, that sort of thing.

Paw Print: And so you’ve mentioned in the past that you are a big fan of music. What genres do you listen to the most, and who are some of your favorite artists?

Mr. Clarke: That’s a good question. There’s in school, and then there’s outside of school, right. So there’s what I play when I’m in the classroom, and then there’s what I play when I’m outside. In the classroom, I listen to a lot of soul music, a lot of funk music, a lot of jazz. A lot of reggae. And I really like Stevie Wonder, he’s probably my favorite artist to play. Outside of school, I love hip hop, and reggaeton, and like dembow and stuff like that. My favorite artist is– I really like Lauryn Hill, who’s somebody that I also play in school as well.

Paw Print: And uh, what are some of your favorite movies?

Mr. Clarke: Great questions, yeah. I like “The Wiz.” “The Wiz” is my favorite movie of all time. And I think Barry Jenkins, who directed “Moonlight” and “If Beale Street Could Talk” is probably my favorite director, and those to me are like, they’re not like childhood classics, but they’re the most beautiful movies that I’ve ever seen.

Paw Print: Yeah. And then what are some of your favorite TV shows?

Mr. Clarke: TV shows? I like a couple, but favorite TV shows is hard because I didn’t grow up watching a ton of TV, so I don’t have a ton of nostalgia [for shows] other than “Spongebob.” But [my] favorite TV shows currently that I’ve seen as an adult and stuff, I really like this show “Random Acts of Flyness”. It’s a smaller series on HBO, and then I like “The Bear” a lot. I think that “The Bear” is a really good show. Season two specifically.

Paw Print: Do you follow sports, and if so, who are your favorite teams?

Mr. Clarke: White Sox fan. Do not like the Cubs. I don’t know how you feel about what I just said, but are you a Cubs fan?

Paw Print: I am a Cubs fan.

Mr. Clarke: Oh my gosh! This is just– this interview went from awesome to just… Ah! So disappointing. What a let down. I know you’re let down too, I’m so sorry, but yeah. (Laughs) Do not like the Cubs. And I like the Bears. I’m excited for the Bears. I think we’re trending in the right direction. It’s hard to be a Bulls fan, but I like the Bulls. Yeah.

Paw Print: What are some hobbies of yours?

Mr. Clarke: I like to read and I like to write. I like to swim, I like to cook, especially for people, and I love having friends over for dinner. I like cooking with friends, throwing parties, being able to, you know, bring people together. That sort of stuff.

Paw Print: And what are your favorite books?

Mr. Clarke: That’s really good. “Song of Solomon” by Toni Morrison is an all-time favorite book, and then other than… Toni Morrison is my favorite novelist, by far. I’ve been reading a lot of “The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton” recently, and that collection of poems is like 700 pages of just incredible, incredible writing, and so that’s like a current favorite too.

Paw Print: What do you like to do for fun around the city?

Mr. Clarke: Fun around the city? I like to go to shows. I really like the Metro, I like Thalia Hall, I like some of the like mid-sized venues and I like to get to see big acts, but not really huge acts. And my partner, Louisa, she works in the music industry, so she gets a ton of access to shows and different things like that, so I really like going to do that. [I] like eating good food, I like eat out more than I should, but I like to eat out and I like to eat good food. I’ve exclusively eaten Jersey Mike’s since I like started coming here for lunch. But I like to eat not just fast food and chain restaurants, so yeah, those are a couple things.

Paw Print: Yeah. Then to close it off, two questions kind of just about education in general. What are your views on equity in education?

Mr. Clarke: The hard-hitting questions. You saved the best for last. You draw me in and then, and then you ask the big ones. I think equity can sometimes be– equity is really important and it’s sometimes a buzz word. And it shouldn’t be, right. Sometimes, like– like equity, I believe, in terms of making sure that we address structural inequalities and make sure that every student gets what they need based off of all of their experiences, all of their capacities, incapacities, needs, et cetera, has to be the center of what we do. And equity really means we take everything else off the table. Like, if we were really serious about equity, for me, what it’s meant for me is I start with that, and I say, “What does it mean to serve the students that are usually the most wounded, the most outside, the most marginalized, disenfranchised, whatever?” And I think about what they need, and I put everything in. Do they need a safe space to rest? Do they need time to just be? Do they need a chance to eat? Do they have the food that they need? Like all of that, [and then] is the curriculum actually exciting for them? Whatever it is. And once I get that stuff, then I say, “Is there room for anything else?” And then we bring in all of the other things that we traditionally think about in schools. And that’s how I think about equity. I think it has to be the center of things.

Paw Print: And last but not least, what is the lesson that you want students to take away from your classes?

Mr. Clarke: I guess the big thing that I want students to take away is like, to be able to love themselves more deeply, more rigorously, right? I think that learning skills, learning academic content, learning how to take a test– all of those things are most relevant if they can be coupled with or brought in line with like students’ abilities to understand themselves, know themselves, love themselves and achieve their goals and stuff like that. And so everything that I try and do I hope connects back to that. I don’t know if it always happens, but you know, that’s what we try to do.

Paw Print: All right, thank you for doing this interview.

Mr. Clarke: Yeah. Dope.