VOORHEESVILLE — Each year, Clarkson University asks its seniors to nominate high school teachers who affected their lives and were all-around outstanding educators.
This year, one of the four teachers receiving the Clarkson University Inspirational High School Educator Award is Ted Simons, a physics teacher and track and field coach at Clayton A. Bouton High School.

Karen Dawson, a former student of Simons, nominated him for this year’s award.

“He comes into class with a smile every day and teaches by engaging the students, not lecturing at them,” Dawson said in her nomination. “Mr. Simons got me thinking about a career in engineering. And he offered me great advice,” she continued.

Dawson is a senior in the chemical engineering, environmental engineering, and political science honors programs at Clarkson University in Potsdam.

“I am so fortunate to have had Mr. Simons as my teacher. His passion for science showed me how to develop my own. And he taught me that a career in engineering is so much more than equations and computer programs,” Dawson’s nomination read. “It’s a lifestyle of problem-solving and working to make the world a better place. After graduation, I’ll be pursuing my Ph.D. in nuclear engineering.”

— Lisa Nicole Viers