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PLAINVILLE - Bill Fasulo has had a distinguished career as a teacher in Plainville schools for the past 33 years. But he capped it off with what may be his most prestigious accomplishment.

Fasulo has been named the Norfolk County Teacher of the Year, and was awarded the Laura M. Warcup Distinguished Educator Award by the Norfolk County Teachers Association.

The award - which included a plaque and a $1,500 stipend - was especially timely, as this was Fasulo's final year in Plainville schools after teaching fifth-and sixth-grade math and science for more than three decades.

"I feel honored that I'm the first Plainville teacher to get this," Fasulo said. "It's something that shows that Plainville has some quality education going on. You look at the buildings and you look at the direction the schools are going, and the quality of the teachers and all the new leadership.

"It's good to be recognized for my community, too. It's not just my award; it's the schools' award also." Fasulo was nominated for the award by Jackson School teacher Anne Sullivan, who apparently had more confidence in his chances of winning than Fasulo, himself.

"She was sure I was going to win it, but I said 'Oh, come on, it's not going to happen,' even up to the last minute," he said. "When they announced my name, I was just flabbergasted. It was just, 'Wow, this is unbelievable.' "

Still, Fasulo is no stranger to recognition. He has been included in "Who's Who Among America's Teachers" in 2002, 2004-2005, 2005-2006, and now in 2007-2008, and previously was honored by the town as one of the "One Hundred Stars of Plainville" for the Plainville Centennial Celebration.

Beyond the classroom, Fasulo has served as recreation director for Plainville and was the only non-resident of Plainville to be part of the centennial committee.

He also was involved in curriculum writing, served as president of the teachers' association and was a traveling coach in basketball, football and track, as well as being a summer camp director for Mansfield and Plainville.

In Plainville schools, as part of his effort to promote hands-on, inquiry-based science and math, Fasulo was instrumental in bringing students to Framingham State College to run a simulation trip in the Christa McAuliffe Challenger Center. This year, students went "to the moon," and next year they'll head to "Mars."

He also taught workshop classes at Bridgewater State College and as a North Attleboro resident, served on the school committee and conservation commission.

Suszanne Keyes, a past president of the Norfolk County Teacher's Association and former first-grade teacher in Plainville schools, described Fasulo as a "helpful, dedicated person," recalling his trips to her classroom to teach children about health concepts, including brushing their teeth.

"He's just a very nice person and he inspires the children," Keyes said. "He's a mentor and he's a role model. When he was in my classroom, the children were very attentive."

Before teaching in Plainville schools, Fasulo spent two years in the Peace Corps, where he taught elementary school, junior high and high school in Liberia. Fasulo said he was inspired to enter the teaching profession by some of the teachers he had.

"There were probably two or there teachers in my life that were mentors and really meaningful people to me," he said. "I wanted to give back to children what I had learned. It was just something I really have always wanted to do."

Apparently Fasulo has had a similar effect on his own students, some of whom were the sons and daughters of students he had when he first began teaching.

"I've had a few come back and say to me that I was instrumental in their lives," he said. "And you really feel good when they come back as adults and say you made an impact. I had one student from one of my first years teaching come back and say 'because of the way you taught science and loved science, it made me love science. It made me interested to become a doctor.' "

Now that his teaching career is done, Fasulo is moving on to the next phase of his life. What that will be, he isn't entirely sure.

"I think probably when it comes around to September, I'll be more conscientious and serious about looking for employment," he said. "It's difficult to leave something you've done for your whole career and something you've loved to do, to know that you're not going to be part of that. It was hard work and difficult work, but we still had a lot of fun doing it. I don't think I'd do anything different."

Over the summer Fasulo will work with People to People, overseeing a group of high school students from Rhode Island acting as student ambassadors on a 20-day trip to Australia.

In the not-too-distant future, Fasulo has an even more remote destination in mind - outer space.

"If I had the opportunity to go on the space shuttle, I'd jump at the chance," he said. "I applied for it twice and I've been an advocate of getting the space program to children. If they call me up and say, 'Can you be in Florida tomorrow?' I'm there."

LAUREN CARTER can be reached at lauren-carter@hotmail.com.