Profile - Ron Clark's story

While backpacking in Romania in 1994, Ron Clark "ate a rat from a pack of gypsies" and got food poisoning. That made all the difference. Soon afterward, he was lying in a hospital bed in his native North Carolina when his mother told him he needed to get a job. Clark regained his health and landed a position as a fifth-grade teacher. He found his calling working with troubled kids. Twelve years and one National Teacher of the Year Award later, TNT aired "The Ron Clark Story," starring Matthew Perry in the title role.

Next fall, Clark plans to open the Ron Clark Academy in southeast Atlanta. The school will target disadvantaged students from the fifth through eighth grades who "have potential but haven't reached it."

The academy will have six teachers and 60 students — all on scholarship — in its first year and will grow each year by 30 students, Clark says.

Clark takes around 70 trips a year to speak to foreign governments and educators about his teaching methods, which are built around principles that he calls "the Essential 55."

"Do not bring Doritos into the school building" — Rule 47 of "the Essential 55."

He'll teach global social studies at the academy and has designed a very "hands-on curriculum." Thanks to a Delta Air Lines sponsorship, all students are expected to visit six of the world's seven continents by the time they graduate.