ACCORDING to his colleagues in the teaching profession, Calvin Simons is a "consummate professional" who has shown "unparalleled commitment" and is "enthusiastic, kind and passionate".

That was part of the citation the West End Primary School physical education and health teacher earned when he was named Teacher of the Year 2002 by the Bermuda Union of Teachers.

In 21 years with the Somerset school and as a coach with Bermuda Pacers athletics club, Mr. Simons has earned a reputation as a mentor to young athletes who go on to achieve great things.

And his contribution to the community has also earned him a Queen's Certificate and Badge of Honour and a citation at the Government Sports Awards.

His aim as a teacher is to have a positive hand in the development of children into well-rounded characters, who can succeed in their lives.

Reporter JONATHAN KENT and photographer TONY CORDEIRO spoke with Mr. Simons about his life in teaching this week.

Q: Was it a big surprise when you were named Teacher of the Year 2002?

A: I knew I had been nominated by my school colleagues and I had been through a couple of interviews with the Bermuda Union of Teachers. Unfortunately, I had gone to England to do a referees' instructors course for the Bermuda Football Association so I wasn't here for the presentation. There are some very fine teachers in Bermuda, so I was honoured to be selected as Teacher of the Year. I take it to heart. Teaching has been part of my life for nearly 22 years.

Q: How much do you enjoy teaching?

A: I just enjoy coming to work every day. I learn something new every day. I particularly like working with the Year One kids, five and six year olds. They're a lot of fun. When people ask me what teaching's like, I say, 'Hey, I'm just having a good time'. I've been fortuante that the staff at West End have always been very supportive. The principals I've had - Mrs. Margaret Manders, Mr. Llewellyn Smith and now Mr. Livingston Tuzo - have all been very supportive and very good administrators. But I just have a good time. That's the bottom line!

Q: What's the satisfaction for you in teaching?

A: Teaching gives a long-term reward. You're working with kids from very young and then you watch them develop - whether it be academically or athletically. I think the satisfaction is in seeing them develop and then to see them become very positive people in the community. It's a long-term thing.

I think if you're in teaching for the short term, you're never going to see the benefit of your work. You have short-term goals when you see kids do well at school, but the rewards come when you see them as adults and you feel you've had some sort of positive effect on them.

One thing I do with all my students is to encourage them to set goals - reachable goals. Sometimes we set goals that I would consider to be too high. I think you should set obtainable goals in stages. Once you achieve them, you can set further goals. That way you keep going forward and you can have that degree of success.

Q: Does your job require you to put in a lot of overtime?

A: One of the things about teaching is that you have to put in overtime for the betterment of your students - sometimes overtime that you're not going to get paid for. A regular day does not stop at 3.30 p.m. for me. It could stop at six, seven or eight. In that respect I have to give credit to my wife Joan and my three daughters who are also very supportive.

Q: Have children and their attitudes changed much in your time as a teacher?

A: Kids are kids, but I think their appreciation of some values has changed. We're fortunate at West End, where we have a very close-knit community. Most of the kids I deal with have a lot of parental support. But I think how they behave has got a lot to do with their values and what they have been taught at home.

Q: So what sort of differences would you say there are between a typical eight year old in 1983 and one in 2002?

A: Their values are different and their knowledge is different. Back in 1983, they just wanted to get on with their schoolwork and play with their friends. Some children now are so influenced by what happens around them and at home. Some of them are very angry. They're not getting what they need at home.

As a teacher, you sometimes really have to identify when something is really bothering a kid. Our kids now tend to have a little bit more stress placed on them. You see them act it out and get angry sometimes.

Our television has played a major role in what they are exposed to and then there is what happens to them at home. You can tell children who act differently from the others and you think this child might have been left to fend for itself at home at lot - maybe because its parents have been forced to take two jobs. That's the kind of changes I've seen.

But for angry, stressed children, school is important, as a constant setting, where things are always the same. They're going to see their friends and their teachers every day - it's a stabilising force in their lives. Some kids don't want to go home, maybe because they would be alone there. They ask if they can stay.

Q: Do you think that teachers are under-appreciated by the community?

A: I think our community realises the value of teachers and their importance. But I think sometimes the powers that be are a little short-sighted. If they want us to achieve something, they have to help us, as teachers.

There could be more developmental workshops for teachers and more help financially. There's a feeling that teachers are underpaid. We talk about it all the time. But when you become a teacher, you don't go into it for the pay - I certainly didn't.

When you compare us professionally with others who have similar qualifications, then we're definitely below everyone else. I wouldn't say that teachers are not appreciated, but I do think that sometimes we may be taken for granted. I know teachers who come to school when they are feeling far from 100 per cent because they know how important their job is.

Q: How important is sport in the development of a child?

A: I think sport, on the whole, is very important. We have a lot of talented young athletes in Bermuda and if they can focus on something positive like sport, then, nine times out of ten, they can go on and be successful. It's a major spoke in the wheel.

For kids who don't have the financial backing, it's very important, because if they stay in sport long enough, they can reap the rewards of getting some sort of athletic scholarship. I encourage children and their parents to go for that sort of thing. Education is about getting a nice balance. Some kids do music and dance and I believe that all of that sort of thing helps to develop the child as well.

Sports help to develop children's characters from young. They learn to handle situations. And that helps their characters to develop as they get older, whether it's in an individual sport or in a team sport. When kids get involved in any sports programme, it helps them to learn a degree of self-discipline and that's a major thing.

Q: How long have you been involved in the Bermuda Pacers athletics club?

A: Since about 1981 or '82. It was a group of parents who used to be in track and field, who got together and they felt the need to develop the sport more. At that time you really didn't have much for the young athletes. There was the national programme for the older ones who wanted to try out for the Carifta Games.

The aim of the Pacers was to expose younger athletes internationally, to take them to track meets and cross-country events, exposure they would not normally have received until they got to at least 14 years old.

We saw a serious decline in the numbers of athletes going into the national programme. We thought if we had something for the younger kids, then we could encourage them to get involved in the national programme. The aim of myself and my assistant coach, Mr. Jay Tucker, is to give the kids appreciation of the sport.

Q: Have some of the Pacers or West End kids gone on to compete at a high level?

A: I've been fortunate enough to have had some pretty good athletes, people like (former Olympic triple jumper) Brian Wellman, Kavin Smith, Devon Bean, Jay Donawa, Terrance Armstrong - most of the athletes that have gone on to represent Bermuda internationally have come through the Pacers ranks and that is very satisfying. Now we have about 100 members aged between eight and 16.

Q: What's you favourite sport?

A: I enjoyed track and field, but I was not a runner, I was a thrower - shot, discus, hammer, that stuff. I played football for Warwick United and coached PHC's junior programme for 12 or 13 years. One sport I played a lot was rugby. I started playing for Teachers when I was about 15. There were guys like Harry Patchett, Geoff Bentley and Denton Hurdle who played.

I played up until I was about 22. Then I tore the anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments in my knee playing football while I was in college, so that was that for rugby. I like watching rugby, I like that contact stuff.

Q: What would you say to any youngster looking to become a teacher?

A: In my case, I decided early. I had a physical education teacher at Elliot Primary School, who was a mentor to me and then I had another great teacher at Warwick Secondary, called Mike Billington. And I thought, 'This is where I could go'.

I went into the construction business with my brother for about a year, but then I decided to get into teaching. I would advise kids to decide early what you want to do and then focus on it. Try to talk to people into that particular field to find out what it's like. Just set your goals and try to fulfil them.

I spent two years at Bermuda Technical Institute and then I went to the University of Toledo, Ohio, for five years. I had a position lined up in the US.

But I was persuaded by Mr. Clevelyn Crichlow (now Postmaster General) in the Education Department to come back. It wasn't until August, 1981, that the Department informed me I'd be coming up to West End. That's where I've been ever since, having a good time.

Q: West End Primary has been very successful in the sporting field in your time there, hasn't it?

A: We've been fortunate enough to win practically every sporting trophy there is. Just about the only sport we haven't been successful in is swimming. We've won track and field, football, cricket, cross- country, the Front Street Mile.

All I've tried to do here is set up a very supportive sports programme. We've been fortunate. We've had some very good natural athletes. This is not all my doing. I always tell kids that winning is not the 'be all and end all' though. I ask them to set out to have a good time. If you win, fine. If you lose, fine. We encourage them to take part. That is the important thing.