Tom Simmons

Tom Simmons, who is West Bladen's principal, offered the school's help.He has been based at the Bladenboro campus this fall, while the rest of the student body is at the Tar Heel campus.

"I want these kids to graduate from West Bladen," he said."We're willing to do whatever we can do to make it happen."

Tom Simmons was the Assistant Principal of the middle school and one of Harvey's bosses.
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Harvey hung up the phone before Simmons could continue.
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No doubt Mr. Simmons had been calling to tell Harvey to shag ass and get to the school.

We're just trying to get kids thinking in terms of Knights , said West Bladen's Principal Tom Simmons.Simmons will divide his time this fall between the Bladenboro and Tar Heel campuses.

I want both communities to feel West Bladen is their high school , he said.I want it to be when we move , it feels just like we're moving into a new house..

Students who wandered through the halls said they expect this year to be a little bizarre.Some things will be different , such as homecoming in the spring instead of fall.

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Simmons said students are becoming more enthusiastic about the new building , especially when they drive by and see it.West Bladen , like the new East Bladen , will have about 800 students and be better equipped for technology and sports.

They're excited -- they just want to get into that new building , he said.

Tom Simmons*

Tom Simmons, principal at West Bladen High School, is the recipient of the 2004 NCAE Principal of the Year Award.

The award, which is given each year by the organization's Principals/Administrators Division, was presented Thursday night at the annual NCAE Awards Banquet at the Holiday Inn Bordeaux in Fayetteville.

Simmons, who has been principal at West Bladen since its inception three years ago, has been an educator for 34 years.His first teaching assignment was in 1967 in Pennsylvania, where he taught science at a training center for juvenile offenders.He began his teaching career in North Carolina in 1969, where he taught health and physical education and coached in Brunswick County.

He later taught health and physical education and coached in Columbus County for awhile, then returned to Brunswick to teach and coach in 1974.

In 1978, Simmons took on the challenge of being the first male faculty member at Union Primary where he taught grades K-3, and in 1986, he became the school's assistant principal.In 1992, he became assistant principal at South Brunswick Middle School.In 1998, he became principal of a new middle school in Hyde County and remained there until he took the job at the newly consolidated West Bladen in 2001.

Simmons is a longtime supporter of NCAE and the National Education Association.He has served as District 13 president, on the NCAE Board of Directors, and as president for three terms of the NCAE Principals/Administrators Division.He has also been selected as an NCAE Convention delegate for 30 years, an NEA Convention delegate for 25 years, and was vice president of the NEA Principals' Caucus.

He received the 1996 NCAE Assistant Principal of the Year Award, an Educator of the Year Award in Brunswick County, and is a former Coach of the Year in Columbus County.

Simmons is a member of the Board of Directors for Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina.

A graduate of Hallsboro High School, Simmons has a Bachelor of Arts degree from UNC Wilmington and a Master's in Education from the University of South Carolina.He received his Education Specialist in Administration degree from East Carolina University.He is currently working on his doctorate degree in Education Leadership from East Carolina.

West Bladen High School Principal Tom Simmons did not return phone calls regarding the incidents Thursday.

Tom Simmons, principal of West Bladen High School, delivered the commencement address.

Tom Simmons
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Tom Simmons
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Tom Simmons, Chairman
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Tom Simmons
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Tom Simmons

Tom Simmons knows exactly what Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina means to the kids it helps:

"I was in that first group of kids at Lake Waccamaw back in 1954," he says."My parents were divorced.My mother was a single mom working three jobs trying to make ends meet, and it just wasn't working.I basically was living on the streets."

Simmons says one of the main things he learned there was that if you got an education and went to work, you could make it.Born in Wilmington, he considers the lakeside cottage where he lived the only home he ever knew, adding that, "I tell people I'm from Lake Waccamaw."

He credits the Christian-based education with providing the foundation for growing into a responsible adult."Part of that nurturing process was to let someone figure out for themselves how to make good choices, and consequences of your choices."

After high school, Simmons not only completed college, he went on to attain his master's degree and a long career in education himself.He held assistant principal posts at Union Elementary and South Brunswick Middle schools in Brunswick County and retired as principal of Bladen High School.

He describes his experience as "actually a rebirth for me. Because of that guidance, it changed my life, and the lives of all those who came after me."

Today he enjoys speaking in behalf of the Boys and Girls Homes and its impact on his life.If your group would like to contact him for a speaking engagement, he can be reached at 540-2481 or 845-2382.

Tom Simmons of Boiling Spring Lakes may have retired as a principal in May, but is he not leaving education behind.He will face David Call, also of Boiling Spring Lakes, in Tuesday's race.

"With 34 years of experience, I want to help continue the improvement process in Brunswick County Schools," Simmons said.

Simmons began his career as a teacher and ended it as principal at West Bladen High School.During that time, he also was an elementary and middle school principal.

He said it is important to put emphasis on pre-kindergarten through third grade.

"We need to get these kids at grade level before they get out of the third grade," Simmons said.
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Like other candidates, Simmons said the explosion in the county's school-age population is a key issue.

"We need to do an ongoing demographics study," he said.
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To be a good leader, one also has to be a good listener, Simmons said.

"That's what I am," he said.