Gregory A. Simons, Jr.

Experienced and licensed science educator and administrator with 27 years of teaching in international and boarding school settings. Skilled in creating engaging, student-centered learning environments that foster critical thinking and global awareness. Passionate about climate change mitigation and environmental justice, with a strong commitment to preparing students to be informed and responsible global citizens.

Our door activities – hiking, scuba diving, exploring, and flower identification, writing, climate change science and environmental justice advocacy, athletics, and spending time with my family.

• Presenter, SSM lunch time professional development series: Impacts of positionality in our lessons, Teaching tolerance and understanding implicit bias, Earth journaling and the environmental justice movement
• Contributor, National Center for Science Education: Wrote an article for the #ClimateEdNow initiative titled “Helping students see global climate change issues through a social justice lens”
• Mentor, Hamline University: Presented my doctoral dissertation journey to new community members, helped to inform research questions, methodologies, and research tools to the next doctoral learning community
• Trained, Climate Reality Leadership Corps Training: Gained a deeper understanding of the climate crisis and solutions. Topics included climate change science, data, and environmental justice issues
• Trained, Mental Health First Aid USA: Trained to provide initial help to a young person experiencing a mental health or substance use challenge
• Trained, Becoming Trauma-Informed: A Primer for Educators, University of St. Thomas
• Additional training on toxic stress among adolescent learners