LONGTIME COACH TELLS EXPERIENCES

Charlie Spoonhour was late his first day teaching school at Rocky Comfort, a small town in southwest Missouri.

At 5:30 a.m., the superintendent knocked on Spoonhour's door to tell him he was late for work. "He said I was driving the bus," Spoonhour said. "I told him I can't drive anything that shifts."

Although he had taken a position as baseball coach at the school, Spoonhour's duties also included sponsoring the junior class play, coaching girls softball and boys basketball, driving the bus, and serving as vice principal in charge of discipline.

Now the head basketball coach at St. Louis University, Spoonhour amused area teachers Monday with stories about his coaching mishaps and teaching adventures. Teachers from seven area schools, primarily in Scott County, attended the back-to-school workshop at Drury Lodge.

Scott City School Superintendent Doug Berry, who helped organize the workshop, said, "You won't leave with a list of ways to improve your teaching but you'll have a positive feeling about yourself."

Spoonhour admitted that he learned a lot from his mistakes at Rocky Comfort.

"I learned you can do just about anything you want to if you get everybody involved," he said, adding that he was fortunate to have the support of school administrators.

He said teachers should be enthusiastic and encourage students to compete against themselves.

"Life is like education: You never know what rewards you're going to get," he said. "Rewards come every day as a teacher."

A native of Arkansas, Spoonhour graduated from the College of the Ozarks in 1961. He has been coaching for 30 years, and has had only one losing season. Spoonhour has coached almost every level and sport during his 30-year career.

In 1994, he was named a national Coach of the Year by the United States Basketball Writers Association and later was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. He coached at Southwest Missouri State University before go to St. Louis University four years ago.