COUNTY TEACHER OF YEAR A PROPONENT OF LIFELONG LEARNING.

Byline: Lee Condon Staff Writer

Quartz Hill High School history teacher Ira Simonds was honored Wednesday as one of Los Angeles County's 12 Teachers of the Year.

Simonds - who went to work at Quartz Hill 31 years ago after graduating from San Fernando Valley State College, now California State University, Northridge, - said he was inspired to become an educator by teachers at Burroughs High School in Burbank.

``These 12 teachers are at the top of their profession. They have been judged as the best,'' Los Angeles County Superintendent of Schools Donald W. Ingwerson said at a ceremony held Wednesday morning at Joaquin Miller Elementary School in Burbank. ``They represent the excellence that our public needs to know about.''

The Teachers of the Year competition ``calls attention to the job and shows how good public schools are,'' Simonds said.

Simonds said he agrees with education reform efforts. He said students must be better prepared, whether they are going on to college or entering the work force right after high school graduation.

``We need to train them to learn. If they go to college they need to be trained to learn in college. If they go on to a job they need to be trained to learn in their job. They have to be lifelong learners,'' said Simonds, a Lancaster resident.

Simonds was nominated for the county award by his selection as Antelope Valley Union High School District's Teacher of the Year for 1999. The 12 Los Angeles County teachers move on to the statewide competition. California names five teachers of the year in early November.