Simmie Fairley

Simmie Eugene Fairley is a native of Mandeville and a long-time educator, now retired. Several years ago he was interviewed by Marian Arrowsmith on her community interest television interview show "Reflections" on the St. Tammany Public School System's Channel 13.

 

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Ms. Arrowsmith asked him what words of wisdom he had for beginning teachers today, in relation to what was most important thing to remember in their profession. Click on the "play triangle" below to hear his answer.

 

The full 40 minute interview includes Fairley's recollections of his early life in Mandeville as it was decades ago, his career in education and his work with Mandeville area community organizations.

 Click here to listen to the interview in its entirety.

 Fairley graduated from Covington Rosenwald High School in 1957, received a Bachelor of Science degree from Southern University in Baton Rouge in 1962, and continued his education at Texas Southern University in Houston with a math institute in the summer of 1965, as well as a math institute at College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA, the summer of 1957.

He received his Masters degree in Education from the Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, AL, in 1971, also earning certification in Supervision and Administration (principalship) in 1972 at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond.

His first teaching assignment was at St. Tammany High School in Slidell from 1962 to 1969, teaching Trigonometry, Algebra 1 and 2, and Geometry in the Mathematics Department. From 1969 to 1972 he taught math and was chairman of the Math Department at Salmen High School. He then served as assistant principal at Salmen High from 1972 through 1985.

Fairley was then moved into the Central Office in Covington, where he served as a Supervisor of Administration from 1985 to December of 2002, when he retired. His responsibilities in that position included handling the school textbook selection process, ordering, distribution and school furnishing, as well as coordinating the Integrated Pest Management program for the School System and the design and implementation of the School Uniform Policy for the school system.

His community activities include being a member of Morning Star Baptist Church, a member of the Regina Coeli Head Start Board of Directors, and a member of the Mandeville Sesquicentennial Committee. 

  
Fairley was the 2000 recipient of Paul H. Fouquier Educational Leadership Award for exceptional contributions, leadership and service to education in Louisiana presented by the Louisiana Association of School Executives.

 

 

Simmie Fairley