Scott Simmons - Pineland, TX

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Hello, and welcome to the I Am A Rural Teacher Podcast, a project of Rural Schools Collaborative and the National Rural Education Association.

On this episode, we’re excited to collaborate with the T.L.L. Temple Foundation to spotlight an incredible rural teacher from their community in East Texas.

Scott: My name is Scott Simmons, and I am a teacher / operations employee at West Sabine ISD.

Scott Simmons is an educator at West Sabine High School in Pineland, Texas - home of the Tigers.

Pineland is located in Sabine County, just 20 miles from the Texas/Louisiana border. While the town only has a population of 900 people, Pineland schools serve the neighboring communities of Bronson, Rosevine, Plainview, and Centerview. These combined pull in about 560 students in K-12 to make up the West Sabine Independent School District (ISD).

As the town name “Pineland” might suggest, the area is surrounded by beautiful longleaf pine trees, waterways, and natural beauty, with a strong legacy in the lumber industry.

Scott: Well, to people that are from here, there really is no other place than Pineland or West Sabine. I'm a product of this school system. Pineland attracts people because of the lakes, because of the logging industry, and specifically because of what was Temple-Inland, but is now Georgia Pacific, GP.

Scott is a secondary social science teacher, but like many rural educators, he wears many hats - He spends some time in the chemistry classroom, moves to supporting district operations, and also driving school buses.

And today, a tour guide for Rural Schools Collaborative. As we walked up to the elementary school, the sense of rurality was readily apparent:

Scott: Is there a better example than you guys coming in from out of state and seeing a guy riding a horse with his cell phone? I mean, I just don't know that there is a better example than that.

The horse rider paused his cell phone conversation to greet the superintendent, Dr. Gilder, by name, and carried on - an average Thursday morning in rural East Texas.

When asked what folk should know about the West Sabine area, Scott notes that the school IS the community - and people are proud of it.

Scott: But, you know, it's all everybody can say it's tied to community, and it is tied to community, and it's tied to love, but it's all those things together. It's nothing one specific, it's just all those things together, you know. And I'm an ambassador for West Sabine. Obviously, I'm going to speak good about West Sabine, but I'm older, and I've been different places, and I am here by choice.

As an alum of West Sabine, and a graduate of Stephen F. Austin University in nearby Nacogdoches, there is no better local guide than Scott. Pineland is not the only place he has lived, but it is the place he grew up, and the place he was always working to get back to - once a Tiger, always a Tiger.

Scott: I don't know - it's very hard to portray your feelings about a place, but if you ask my kids, if you ask my wife, if you ask my family, there's there is a not a better place to be. Again, I go back to everybody you talk to is going to say, ‘my school does this. My school does this’. But this is intrinsic. This is something that is community based. This is something that gets in your blood. And anytime that I've been away from this district, it was just a countdown on how long it was until I could get back. You know, this is my favorite thing to say at a pep rally. If you're not a West Sabine Tiger, you better get here fast.

Our interview with Scott took place in the old Temple Dry Goods store, which is recently renovated for new meeting spaces and offices for the West Sabine school district. His love of this town is intertwined with his own upbringing, and steeped in the history of the Pineland area.

Scott: You know, around Father's Day or Mother's Day. We always make posts on Facebook and we say, you know, I have the best father. I have the best mother. Well, I actually do. I mean, I actually have those parents. Those are my parents. The Depot that we looked at at the park just recently, my dad worked in that depot. It's set right here, behind this store and my mother actually went inside this store in the 70s, and they were selling Levi jeans that were bell bottoms. And I told her, I said, ‘I'm not wearing bell bottom jeans to school’. And she says, ‘They're $1 - you're gonna wear them’. And she went home - These are the type of parents I had - She went home and she cut the bell bottom out and sew them up so I could have jeans to wear to school.
I had a father that whenever they shut this depot down, that was here, he drove to Silsby, he drove to Lumberton, he drove to Houston so we could stay in this school district. I'm just telling you, I'm standing on the shoulders of giants, and it is my duty and obligation to pay that back.

And for Scott, what better way to pay that back than serving in the school in his hometown? His principals and teachers shaped his own journey into education, coming full circle as he followed suit.

Scott: I have worked for an animal science products company after graduation, so I've not always been a teacher. I got into it just a little late, but there was never any doubt that I was going to be a teacher. It was going to happen some way. From a great principal, I only had one principal man all the way through from elementary school to high school. He followed us, save one year. He was a great example, the teachers that pushed you and loved you all at the same time. It was just a great experience. I can't imagine another place being as good as West Sabine. The thought never even enters my head.

For Scott, education is his life’s work - he knows where this is supposed to be.

Scott: There is just nothing like it. I think whenever somebody is good at their job, it's hard for them to explain why they're good at it. I really do. There is a, there's just a click that happens whenever those light bulbs go off, whenever you see those students achieve something, you know, you don't want to get mushy about it, because I am, I am a strict guy. I may not come across that right now, but I mean, I am pretty strict. And I always tell my kids, if you can get past this first six weeks. You know, we're off on we're off to the races. And one of my favorite things to do in the classroom, because we get kids in science class, they don't know how to use lab equipment, they don't know what it is. And you probably know what I'm talking about. So one of my favorite things to do is the first six weeks of school, we're going to have an actual lab practical. We walk around the classroom and we identify that equipment, and we use that equipment. Everybody wants to pull the eyewash station water they want to do that. You let those kids do that. Again, I'm going to use the word intrinsically. I think that certain people are meant to do certain things, and I loved it so much that I went back and got a master's in educational leadership.

We asked Scott if he could walk us through a day-in-the life of his classroom and his role as an educator - What’s it like to be a rural teacher in West Sabine?

Scott: It's about growth. It really is. There's been years in my classroom, in this district and other districts where it's not been about Avogadro's consonant or Boyle's law or ecology. It's been about reading. And I think all the good master teachers do that, but whenever you step into that classroom, you put on that robe - you were that person that those children look up to. You were that example. And it's not like you're only doing that from eight to three. You're that example at the ball game, at Walmart, or wherever you might be on the bus too, right? …And when you say, what is it like? It's life, it's MY life - there's nothing better than to do this. I can't imagine doing anything else. My children are raised in a gym and raised on a school bus.

Growth and learning are at the heart of Scott’s teaching philosophy - in part to make sure that his rural students are well-prepared for any opportunity that comes their way.

Scott: You know, I go to, I come from Pineland, and one of the reasons why I think I'm really a teacher, aside from those good relationships that I had with the administration and the teachers, is because I went off to a larger school. I went to University of Texas, and I was not prepared. And so whenever I get into a classroom and I become a teacher, it is my job, not only for that student growth, but it's my job to make them prepared, more so than what I was.

West Sabine’s school mission is “Intentional Excellence: By any measure!” and it is taken seriously and literally. It is on the website, on the posters, and was repeated multiple times on our tour. It is each and every person’s duty to build that excellence - by any measure.

Even though Scott is a high school teacher, he received a record-breaking number of high-fives and side chats and smiles from the elementary students on our tour. Some students were his bus-riders, but he insists that that familiarity is not unique to just him.

Scott: yes and but there's not too many people who couldn't - there's not too many people in the community who couldn't walk that building that didn't have the same effect.

The community shows up. From repainting the handrails at the stadium to prepare for the homecoming game, to donating time materials or expertise, to passionate turnout at the school board meetings.

And as West Sabine ISD doggedly pursues excellence, they’ve successfully expanded partnerships both inside and outside of their community.

Scott: Well, Angelina College that we saw on campus today, Lamar Institute technology, obviously, the Keillor foundation and T.L.L. [Temple Foundation], they all help and I'm not saying that West Sabine is isolated, but for so long, we have gotten by with what we've done, the hats that we wear. You know, whenever you talk to me, you're talking to a bus driver, you're talking to a guy who's going to fill out work orders, you're talking to the guy who's going to evaluate science teachers. And we wear all of those hats. And so those partnerships, even though they may be new to us, are much appreciated, and probably we could not do, well, no, we could not do the things that we're doing if it were not for them.

These partnerships did not just happen by accident, but were intentionally cultivated.

Over the last few years under the leadership of superintendent Dr. Carnelius Gilder - a West Sabine alum himself - the district has worked with passionate folks like Scott to rebuild their school. Metaphorically, but also literally upgrading much of the buildings, grounds, and infrastructure.

Scott: And from Dr. Gilder to the guy that you saw spray painting at the football field, he's going to know as many children as I do, and he's going to wear as many hats as I do.

From a buzzing social media presence on the status of the new turf, to national cradle-to-career partnerships with Partners for Rural Impact, West Sabine has worked hard to put their rural school on the map.

And, to revitalize the school is to revitalize the community. The pursuit of excellence is contagious, and the whole community is rallying.

Scott: Man, it makes you feel like you're not alone… West Sabine is about family.

The positive momentum is showing up with the students, too. Scott reports their Student Council is the largest it’s been in the last few years, which is an indication that the district’s focus on student leadership, engagement, and agency is taking flight.

And the student awards they give out at homecoming have more than doubled this year.

By the way, Scott is also a talented carpenter and woodworker. Guess who makes the student award plaques for homecoming? Many hats…

While challenges are inevitable, including a high percentage of economically disadvantaged students and families, there are also very real community assets and strong relationships that weave throughout the fabric of rural East Texas.

Scott: Whenever I think about the assets of a rural school, immediately, what you're going to be drawn to is going to be drawn to they don't have the technology, or they don't have access to the funds. I want to second navigate and come back because I feel safe with my family here in a rural school setting. That doesn't say that we don't have bad things that happen. It doesn't say that, you know, maybe they are lacking in some areas. But whenever you're raising and I'm an old dad, I mean, I'm 52 years old, and I have a daughter that's in the fifth grade, I got started a little late, but I feel safe with my child going to school here. So is that the only thing that matters? But as a parent. It's what's foremost in my mind.

Every parent deserves a school where their children belong and are loved. And, every community needs a leader like Scott, working to make it happen.

As Scott has been in a variety of roles, various sized districts, and both sides of school leadership and teaching, we asked what advice he would have for new or aspiring rural teachers:

Scott: To reach out. To ask - Make your teaching partner your friend, make your next door teaching partner your friend. There's not a better place to be than rural school. One of the favorite things about this is whenever I have an AC guy come on campus, or I have a new person come on campus, I catch myself saying, ‘well, go to Miss Hall's classroom. Go to Miss Neighbor's classroom’, or whoever the name might be. And if you go somewhere else, it's going to be ‘well, room 32.’ and so I know I'm home whenever I can tell someone to ‘go to Miss so and so's class’, and they know where that is. Yes, it's those new teachers that are new to a district, that are new to teaching - specifically reach out to those people who have those experiences. Just because someone is older, don't take that for granted.

A major takeaway from our conversation with Scott was that there is nowhere he’d rather be, than doing what he loves in his hometown, giving back to West Sabine.

Scott: We had a really good year last year. It was really good, and I was just excited to be home. I was.

Thank you to Scott, Dr. Gilder, and West Sabine ISD for sharing their community with us. If you aren’t a West Sabine Tiger, you better get there fast!

Scott: My name is Scott Simmons and I'm a rural teacher.

Thank you for listening to this episode of the I Am A Rural Teacher Podcast. Special thanks to Scott for sharing his story and Drs. Sylvia Leal and Betsy Mijares from the T.L.L. Temple Foundation for their support of RSC’s storytelling efforts in East Texas. The I Am A Rural Teacher Podcast is a shared project of Rural Schools Collaborative and the National Rural Education Association.