TEACHER'S CORNER: WILIAM WILTHONG TEACHES, COACHES AT SCOTT CITY HIGH

SCOTT CITY - William Wilthong liked athletics so much as a young boy that he became a teacher and coach so he could continue to be involved in it.

Wilthong is the head football and baseball coach at Scott City High School. In addition to his coaching duties, he also teaches physical education and driver education.

He attended high school in Paragould, Ark. and received a degree in physical education from Arkansas State University. He has taught for 25 years.

Wilthong feels that the greatest challenge in education is more than just teaching students what they need to know from a textbook.

"It's teaching them how to cope with everyday life problems," he said. "We try to teach them that it takes a lot of hard work and determination to reach their goals."

In driver education, Wilthong finds it gratifying to see young people learn how to drive.

"I like seeing them progress in their knowledge of operating an automobile, and also understanding the responsibilities that go with driving a car," he said.

"In coaching, it is gratifying to see the boys work together as a team in order to be able to compete and play in a given sport."

Wilthong said he learned years ago that "you never take anything for granted, no matter how simple it seems.

"After several weeks of classroom work, of talking about rules of driving and the laws of driving, of what one should and should not do, one young lady got into the car with me for the first time.

"She asked me, `Which of these peddles is the brake?'

"That is when I learned that you never take anything for granted."

In his spare time, Wilthong likes to fish and hunt deer, rabbits and ducks. He and his wife, Linda, have a son, Kevin, and a daughter, Ann.