‘Teachers Must Never Give Up’
Joe Clark? A good principal? One must be joking.
I am a recent graduate from the Downtown Business Magnet High School and if I had a principal like Clark I would have left school in a second and perhaps not have returned.
In fact I almost did leave. I had a principal at another school who used similar tactics to Clark’s and so I decided to leave. I went out and got myself a job and all but forgot about school.
Then I remembered an old principal. David Peha was (and still is) the greatest principal around. He would talk to you about anything, scholastic as well as personal, but really talk to you, not yell from the other end of a bullhorn. And that was the key to his success not only with me but with countless other kids.
Because of him I got back into school, graduated with honors, and was named senior of the year.
If I had Clark as a principal I would be pushing hamburgers around now.
VICTOR ROY GONZALEZ
Los Angeles
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
