So Long, Mr. Sims!

After one year of dedication and commitment to Gilman, Mr. Samuel Sims has decided to seek out new opportunities. Mr. Sims, as many of you know, teaches calculus and pre-calculus, along with coaching the robotics team. As Mr. Sims embarks on the next chapter of his life, he wants to wish the entire community one last goodbye.

Before Gilman, Mr. Sims taught philosophy and formal logic at Florida State University before spending a year at the Friends School of Baltimore as a substitute teacher. With most of his experience at the collegiate level, he knew that there was going to be a learning curve to adjust to high school math, and he was not sure if he could teach his students properly. Mr. Sims quickly learned that Gilman students are not college students; we are more engaged than many of them. Mr. Sims said, “I’ve been surprised and impressed by how everybody likes to get up in front of the class and do work on the board. I never experienced that before in any teaching situation.” Gilman fosters a culture of eagerness, a culture that can change a new teacher’s nightmare into a dream. 

Mr. Sims’ favorite moment in the classroom was during one of his calculus classes. He loves to bring in props to explain lessons. On that occasion, he brought in a ball of ice to talk about Newton’s law of cooling. Mr. Sims loved “this particular day students understood the material; they were excited and getting it.” 

Mr. Sims has also had memorable moments with his robotics team. He stated, “My favorite time of the week has always been my time in the robotics lab or at the robotics tournaments with my team of freshmen and sophomores. I’ve never gotten to coach something before, so that was awesome.” 

Very rarely do teachers leave Gilman after only one year. Luckily, Mr. Sims has an acceptable reason for his decision to leave. Simply put, Mr. Sims is a very good husband. He says his reason for leaving is that his wife has her dream job in New York City, and he wants to spend time with her. Because of this, Mr. Sims has decided to move to New York and is currently looking at schools in New York City. Mr. Sims even states, “If I could just take Gilman with me, and like somehow teleport myself back and forth, I would have preferred that.” 

Mr. Sims, it has been a lovely ride. Gilman wishes you well as you venture into the Big Apple. You will certainly be missed.