When I met him, I had a lot of anger inside of me．I never had a father, though in my neighborhood that's not 1 ．I know some kids just like me．You have to 2 yourself．
There are fights and killings all the time．I have friends who ended up in jail or pregnant．1 could have ended up that way, too, but Mr．Clark and my mom 3 let that happen．
Mr．Clark worked long hours, making sure I did my work．My grades rose．In fact, I did so well that in sixth grade, I entered the 4 class, and Mr．Clark was the teacher．I felt so 5 to have him for a second year!
He took our class to see The Phantom of the Opera．Before the show, he 6 us to dinner at a restaurant and taught us not to talk with our mouths full．We didn't want to let him 7 , so we listened to him attentively．
8 of us were surprised when Mr．Clark was selected as Disney's 2000 Teacher of the Year．When he learned he'd won, he said he would 9 three names out of a hat; he would go to Los Angeles to get the 10 with those students．But 11 it came time to draw names, Mr．Clark said, "You're all going．"
He got 12 to fly all 37 of us out to Disneyland in California and put us up at the Hilton．People were 13 , but Mr．Clark really cared about us．There's no way I can 14 most teachers doing that．No way．But he saw something in us that nobody else saw．
On graduation day, there were a lot of tears．We didn't want his class to 15 ．In my new school year, we were all happy when Mr．Clark 16 in our class once again．He's been a 17 in our lives．
In 2003, Mr．Clark took some of us on a trip to South Africa to 18 school supplies and visit orphanages．It was the most amazing 19 of my life．It's now my 20 to one day start a group of women's clubs, helping people from all backgrounds．
In my third year as a high school athletics coach, I gave a speech telling students and parents about the benefits of football．I gave the same 1 each year, aimin g at recruiting(招收)new team members．I talked about 2 football wasn't just for 3 athletes and how everyone could 4 from it．This year, a 5 looking couple approached me after my speech．They said their son really wanted to play football．They had tried to 6 him out of it, but he had his heart 7 on joining the team．
When they told me his name, my heart sank．Michael was five feet and ten inches tall and weighed about 108 pounds．He was a 8 boy, the constant target of other kids' jokes, and as far as I knew he had never 9 sports．I knew he would never 10 it through football practice, let 11 as a player．But we told them we could give it a try．
On the opening day of practice, Michael was the first player on the field, we did 30 minutes of warming-up 12 starting a one-mile jog around the track．I 13 my eye on Michael．At 50 yards he fell, and I helped him to his feet．“Michael,”I said,“Why don't you just 14 the mile?”He said in tears that he wanted to run with the others, so I let him go on． 15 he fell, but each time 16 himself up．
The same thing happened every day for weeks, and Michael gained strength both 17 and physically．By the last week of practice, Michael could run the mile without falling, we had 18 only one game that season, 19 the team cheered louder for Michael's run than the victory they had, Afterward, Michael approached me, and I told him how 20 I was of him．
