ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, November 10, 1996 TAG: 9611110046
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH
SOURCE: SONJA BARISIC ASSOCIATED PRESS
GRACE CLARK had something to say in response to Jack Kemp's assertion that gay people should not be teachers: Wrong.
Grace Clark recently won a national award for outstanding first-year teachers. Then, she let the world know she is gay.
The reason she made the revelation: Jack Kemp.
The New York Times reported Aug. 11 that Kemp had said during newspaper and television interviews in 1987 that he believed in civil liberties for homosexuals but would ``draw the line at letting them teach in the schools.''
``It was terrible,'' said Clark, a social studies teacher at Bayside High School. ``It just pushed a button.''
She called Our Own Community Press, a Norfolk-based gay newspaper, and did an interview in which she disclosed her sexual orientation. Neither she nor her partner had tried to hide the fact that they were gay, but they had not made an issue of it.
Both women were interviewed recently by The Associated Press. Clark's partner spoke only under the condition that her name not be used.
``It irritates me that straight people can abuse their children, violate drug and alcohol laws and still be in the classroom teaching and nobody says anything about it,'' said Clark's significant other.
``But as soon as you're not straight, then everything is questioned,'' said the woman, who also teaches at Bayside.
Winning the teaching award should prove to students, parents and others that homosexuals can be good teachers, Clark said.
``They've been told it's wrong,'' Clark said. ``I think they think `Those people are monsters.' Now, their world has shifted. They think, `Oh my God, she's a good person. How can she be a good teacher and be a lesbian?'''
Clark also wanted gay students to see her as a positive role model, to overcome society's message that they're abnormal and worthless.
``What drives me on this whole thing, is for the sake of the students,'' she said. ``I know, looking back, you grow up and you think you're the only one, and it's hard.''
Clark, 35, graduated from the College of William and Mary with a degree in government but went on to work in accounting and computers. When she hit her early 30s, she decided to become a teacher.
She enrolled in a program at Virginia Wesleyan University in Virginia Beach for adults who already have a degree but want to change careers and become teachers.
Clark did her student teaching at Bayside, the same school where she was valedictorian. Later, she held out for a full-time teaching job at Bayside.
``It was one of those really corny things about going back and doing something good for society,'' Clark said. She devotes long hours to developing creative lesson plans for her ninth-grade classes. She also coaches girls' volleyball and is an adviser for the student literary magazine.
Her efforts were recognized with the Sallie Mae National First-Class Teacher Award, given to one first-year teacher in each state and the District of Columbia. The award is sponsored by the Student Loan Association, or Sallie Mae, but the winners are chosen by the American Association of School Administrators.
The winners were flown to Washington for a four-day weekend in September and meetings with congressional leaders. When she came back, Clark decided to come out about her lesbianism.
Most of the reaction to her disclosure has been favorable, including about a dozen letters, Clark said. So far, the school has not suffered any backlash from Clark's decision, said Catherine Rogers, an assistant principal.
The school's five administrators unanimously recommended Clark for the award, and her personal life was never a consideration, Rogers said. ``Her personal life is personal. That is her business,'' she said.
``She's an outstanding teacher,'' Rogers said. ``She more than deserved the award. She teaches with an assurance and confidence that belies her being a first-year teacher.''
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Grace Clark, named one of the best first-yearby CNBteachers of the year, decided to disclose her sexual orientation.
Clark teaches social studies at a Virginia Beach school. color.