In a voting process driven by peer recognition, Gwendolyn Clark was named North Atlanta High School Education Support Professional of the Year for the 2013-2014 academic year. Clark, an administrative assistant, received the award in the fall and was formally honored during a reception held at school on May 5.

During her working career, the Atlanta native has always been involved in education. Prior to working in an APS high school, she worked in an administrative assistant role at the Morehouse School of Medicine. She started at North Atlanta in 2008.

“I’ve always had a passion for education and this has always been a major emphasis that I’ve made toward my own children and to the students I come in contact with,” she said.

Affectionate by nature, Clark makes it a point to refer to North Atlanta students as her “babies.” “I say that because the students here are young adults and they’re still very much in the process of learning and developing skills,” she said. “This is the time when they can make mistakes in this safe environment. We want to help them through that before they get out into the ‘real world’ and these mistakes can really cost them.”

During the May 5 reception, Vice Principal Curtis Douglass spoke about Clark’s indispensability within the school’s administrative center. “If a school is like a puzzle, Ms. Clark always manages to find the missing piece,” Douglass said.