Whether you’re walking to math class in the math buildings or heading up to the agriculture (AG) buildings, the impact of teachers Theresa and Evan Clark can be felt everywhere.
In 2003, T. Clark, entered her 4th year of school while studying to be a physical therapist at Cal Poly and was looking for a place to live while the house she was moving into was being prepared. At the same time, E. Clark and his five roommates were looking for another housemate. Through interviewing many people, the roommates eventually chose T. Clark.
“It was a lot of fun. We were all like minded, would go for hikes, go for mountain bike rides, play wiffle ball on the beach and be super active, and so that made it all work really well,” T. Clark said. As the group hung out more, the Clarks grew feelings for each other, ultimately leading to the two starting a relationship.
A year later, T. Clark having finished her Master’s degree in Agriculture Education, completed her Bachelor’s in Agricultural Communication with a minor in Agriculture Business, while E. Clark had already earned his Bachelor’s degree from Cal Poly in psychology.
At the same time, E. Clark was working in the wine industry as a tasting room manager at Summerwood Winery and was seeking something new. The career path lacked potential for career growth, frustrating E. Clark. After talking to T. Clark’s parents, Denise and Patrick Casey, E. Clark decided to combine his love for coaching soccer with his career, giving substitute teaching a try.
“[T. Clark’s] parents were both teachers. They were actually still working in the Templeton schools at the time, and they knew I was frustrated with my work. And they knew I liked coaching soccer and teaching kids, so they told me to go and try substitute teaching,” E. Clark said.
Clark enjoyed his substitute experience and thought it could be a career, so he went back to school at Chapman University and got his Master’s degree and teaching credential in 2005. He learned under current Algebra 1 and AP PreCalculus teacher Theodore Wagner before being offered the opportunity to teach Algebra 1A and 1B.
Meanwhile, T. Clark was working towards being a physical therapist. However, in her 4th year of college at Cal Poly, she decided she wanted to still have connections to AG and Future Farmers of America (FFA), organizations she was heavily involved in during her childhood. Having taken many science classes as part of her physical therapy major, she was easily able to switch her classes to be more AG oriented. In 2005, she completed her Bachelor’s degree and in 2006, she completed her Masters. She started as an AP biology teacher at PRHS before reviving her passion for flowers and becoming the floral teacher. The Clarks later got married in 2006 in Paso Robles.
Prior to E. Clark teaching at PRHS, he had coached youth soccer. Once he began his student teaching, he was introduced to Jack Medier, the art teacher and varsity soccer coach at the time. Medier, looking for a JV coach at the time, offered the job to E. Clark before E. Clark was even offered an official teaching job.
E. Clark would later become the varsity coach in 2008 until he decided to step down in 2012, giving the position to the current varsity coach, Omar McPherson. Overwhelmed with the combination of teaching, coaching, and raising a family alongside T. Clark’s FFA obligations, the Clarks decided it was for the better.
As an FFA teacher, T. Clark is not only a floral advisor, but also a Lamb Market advisor. In addition, she helps prepare students for public speaking competitions, events, and advises the Floral Club, a club separate from FFA. When T. Clark first became a teacher, there were a limited number of floral classes available, but T. Clark has helped grow the program to a bigger pathway with hopes to continue expanding.
Before T. Clark became a teacher at PRHS, she and E. Clark were proud owners of Bella Fiore Events and Floral Design, an event design and floral business primarily focused on weddings. But after the Clarks progressed in their teaching careers and began raising a family, they no longer had time to operate the business and closed down. Though T. Clark misses owning the business, she has no plans to reopen the shop.
Freshman LaRhetta Clark, the Clark’s daughter, shares her thoughts on the impacts her parents have made.
“They’re really supportive. They try their best to come to all my stuff, they help me with whatever homework I have, and they’re people I can go to when I need help,” La. Clark said.
Like his sister, junior Liam Clark believes his parents have greatly helped him become who he is today.
“They’ve held high standards in the family, so I’ve always made sure to hold myself to a higher standard, which I think has helped me a lot in school and sports,” Li. Clark said.
Most recently, the Clark’s welcomed their third child, Cameron Clark, in 2020. He will turn five in November and attends Georgia Brown Elementary in Paso Robles.
Though teaching can be stressful and take up a lot of time, the Clarks believe it has strengthened both their relationships with each other and their relationship with their children. E. Clark believes T. Clark’s parent’s career as both teachers helped them decide that teaching would be good for their family.
“I think in big part to [T. Clark’s] parents experience both being teachers. We knew that it was a good way to raise our kids because we’re always available to go to games after school, have weekends and summers off together, and have quality time to be a family outside of work,” said E. Clark.
The couple aren’t the only people helping out. T. Clark’s AG coworkers such as Amanda Gardner, Alison Weiss, and Matthew Vierra helped run her floral classes while she was out as well as students in her advanced floral class.
“The staff in the AG department was really my glue to be honest. They held a lot of things together for me and kept things moving in my floral classes. As did my advanced design team. They all worked really hard,” T. Clark said.
With the pair having taught numerous classes over the past 20 years, many students feel as though they’ve been truly impacted by the pair. Junior Sophia Leppelman had E. Clark her freshman year for Geometry Honors and again this year for PreCalculus as well as having T. Clark all three years as she's progressed through the floral courses.
“They’re both great teachers. Mr. Clark has helped me understand math a lot better and Mrs. Clark is a really creative person and has really helped my floral skills.”
“Hopefully students leave high school finding something that they're passionate about and turn it into a career. No matter what steps you take after graduating, hold on to your interests and passions. Don’t lose sight of them because of your career. That’s the most important thing in a person’s life,” E. Clark said.