Exclusive Interview With Mr. Simms

Lily: "Who was Mr.French?"

Mr. Simms: “So Mr. French and I worked together for 27 years and I knew him before he came here. We worked on Cancer Society fundraiser items and over those years we got to know each other pretty well and were really close and we spent a lot of time together. In the last year, because Evan had graduated, he finally agreed to come coach with me. We got to spend even more time together and he was like family. An outstanding individual, cared about people, kind-hearted, always rooting for the underdog.”

Lily: “So did you coach with him before he came to teach here?”

Mr. Simms: “When Evan was young, Evan came here and then during pee-wee we crossed paths but we never, you know because Craige was here and Evan was at Warren. So we never got the coach together until that last year.”

Lily: “What did Mr. French mean to you?”

Mr. Simms: “We talked every day. We talked at night, we talked every day in the summer. We did stuff together. If there was a dinner, we went to the dinner together. If there was a funeral, we went to the funeral together. If there was a wedding, we went to the wedding together. I mean, we just did all kinds of things together and went to ball games together. You know he was a really, really good friend and good confidant. He always said that I was a role model for him, but he was a role model for me. He was a really, really important part of my life and my family's lives.”

Lily: “So if you were to use 3 words to describe him to people who have never met him before, like the underclassmen who never got to have him as a teacher. What would they be?”

Mr. Simms: “Kind, encouraging, friendly”

Lily: “So you have the upcoming golf outing in honor of him, what are you hoping to achieve there?”

Mr. Simms: “When he passed away, there was a go fund me account created. We had other people want to do something and donate money. So we created a scholarship in his name. It was for the underdog. When the scholarship was created, I met with his mom, dad, and his sister and we talked about the scholarship. They said, “It has to be for the underdog, the one that works hard and wants to succeed.” So we did. We gave two scholarships out last spring. We just talked about it and his mom and dad they want the scholarship to not go away. They want it to be a long-term item. We had to find some way, besides people donating money, to maintain it. We kicked around a few ideas and last spring Coach Tucker and I got together. We talked about a golf outing and Coach Tucker said “We're on.” We talked with the golf course and the golf course said “We're in, we thought a lot of Rodger, we want to help.” The goal of the golf outing is to make it sustainable. Put money in there that we can give as scholarships. Hopefully after a couple years, maybe three years, that we have it built up that it will last for a while. We just do the golf outing annually,and all the revenue goes in there and 2, 3, 4, however many the family decides to give: Seniors graduating will get scholarships in his name. They're going to be people that did things for the underdog, they're the underdog, you know. They were kind. They were friendly. It's not the ones who are the top of the class. You know, he comes from Morgan County. His Dad served in the military, taught at Morgan, his Mom cooked at Morgan. Very kind, generous people and so you want people to remember him that way. That's what the scholarship’s going to do and that's what the Golf Outing is about”

Lily: “So you pick people for the scholarship or do you have some sort of committee?”

Mr: Simms “There’s a committee. Mr. French’s family are on the committee.

Lily: “So they get to read all of those?”

Mr. Simms: “Yes, they get to read all of those papers. They have a vote just like everybody else. There’s a big committee and as soon as his mom and dad feel they're able to walk in this building they'll attend the meetings to but right now Mrs. French and Evan have been here and been a part of the process.”

Lily: “Not just the scholarship, I'd say that's one way that his legacy lives on. How would you say his legacy lives on?”

Mr. Simms: “The example about his legacy is like the golf outing. We have had nobody tell us "no". Everybody has been willing to jump in. Everybody's donated. The example was like the golf course, “Yes, we're going to be part of this.” They’ve made donations because of who it was. It’s Mr. French. Just like you guys walk up on the third floor and right outside the door, there's the mural. There’s Mr. French. We just want everybody to know what a kind person we had here. Cared about the kids, enjoyed being here, enjoyed coming to work every day. Just because nobody's willing to say no, everybody wants to help and everybody wants to see his legacy live on.”

Golf Outing Information

The Roger French Memorial Scholarship outing will take place on Saturday, October 2nd at Lakeside Golf Course in Beverly, Ohio.