After 32 years, former Clarke Central High School physical education teacher Billy Wade stands outside the CCHS breezeway on May 22. Wade celebrated his retirement at the CCHS end-of-the-year faculty luncheon on May 21, and reflects on his time as a basketball coach and as an educator. “When I came here, what we did was implement some of the same things we did at the college, which was holding athletes accountable academically, what they did in school, what they did away from school,” Wade said. “We explained it to them that, what you do will follow you throughout a lifetime. So, not to say that every kid I had was an angel, we had some kids that got in some trouble, but they knew that being a part of that program, they had a place to hang (their) hat.” Photo by Luis Garcia
Longtime Clarke Central High School physical education teacher Billy J. Wade celebrated his retirement at the end of the 2017-18 school year.
On May 21, former Clarke Central High School physical education teacher Billy J. Wade was recognized at the CCHS end-of-the-year faculty luncheon commemorating his retirement following the 2017-18 school year, after 32 years serving as a CCHS teacher and 25 years serving as a CCHS varsity boys basketball coach.
“Coaching is a supplement. Teaching is my career,” Wade said. “Thirty-two years is a long time — 32 years of teaching here, plus five at the college, that means that more than half of my life has been in education working with young people. Now, I need to put some time in my family.”
Wade, a 1972 CCHS graduate, began teaching at CCHS in the 1986-87 school year. According to CAPS department teacher and assistant varsity girls’ basketball coach Stefan Smith, who graduated from CCHS in 1991, Wade had a significant influence on him and his teammates.
“Some people on that team could identify with him and he gave them hope,” Smith said. “Some guys that I graduated with, that I played ball with in high school, I don’t know what they would have done if it weren’t for basketball, I’m gonna be honest with you. Now, they’re successful people.”
According to Smith, Wade’s connection to CCHS helped foster bonds with his athletes and made him a memorable figure.
“Him being from Rocksprings and growing up here and playing in the Clarke Central system — he actually played for Coach (James R.) Crawford (…) We just trusted him because we all kind of looked up to him. He took us on field trips to go to his college, where he went to college. I remember those things,” Smith said.
For students like 2005 CCHS graduate Hilary Bellinger, who is now a band director at Parkland High School in West Salem, N.C., Wade’s guidance in high school has carried over into his current teaching career.
“Wade would always tell us, ‘Do what you gotta do.’ That’s one of the things I tell my students now, is, ‘Do what you gotta do.’ — What you gotta do to pass this class, what you gotta do to make this happen, you gotta do what you gotta do,” Bellinger said. “He set up a culture. It was a culture. He coached three of my family members, my cousins, you know, it’s a culture of hard work. He had that silly side sometimes, but for the most part, it’s nothing personal, it was always about business. Do what you gotta do.”
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