Award-Winning 'Teacher of the Year'

Glen Simmons said: “I’m determined to stay humble.”

That could be a bit daunting for the fifth-grade teacher at Hampden Meadows School.

Simmons is Barrington’s “teacher of the year” this year, and he will be honored at the State House on Wednesday, June 6, as the recipient of the Susan B. Wilson Civic Education Award, a statewide honor given out by the League of Women Voters.

“I was caught totally by surprise,” Simmons said. “I am overwhelmed and very grateful. Normally I fly under the radar.”

He is hardly a wallflower to Hampden Meadows Principal Arlene Miguel, who nominated him for the teacher of the year award.

“Every parent and child adores him,” Miguel said. “I’ve never had a complaint.”

Simmons mixes humor with his instructional skill, she said, an outstanding combination.

“I couldn’t ask for more in a teacher,” said Miguel, who has been watching him teach for the 13 years she has been leading the school.

Simmons actually has been teaching at Hampden Meadows for 19 years – 17 as a fifth-grade teacher. He taught elsewhere for three years before coming to the Barrington school.

“I always knew I wanted to be a teacher,” he said. “I love kids. And teaching is an art, a skill that needs constant attention to master and refine.”

Simmons holds elementary education degrees from Rhode Island College. The Smithfield resident describes his personality as working hard, playing hard, staying positive, avoiding negativity.

His civic award came because of four projects he and his students completed this year: one with Save the Bay, one with the Barrington Fire Department, one with TAP-IN in Barrington and one with the military. Among the outcomes of the projects were developing evacuation routes from each child’s home, collecting toiletries for distribution to TAP-IN clients, and collecting pencils, paper, books and clothing for children in Afghanistan.

Read another story on Simmons in the Barrington Times.