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\u201c<\/em>What I had wanted to do or hoped to do, maybe, was to go into substitute teaching,\u201d Wheeler said. \u201cThat was my desire; to be a teacher.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n He could have fulfilled his dream years prior, but he thought he was too old. He wished he had taken the advice given by his university counselor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI probably was close to 50 years old, and he said, \u2018that’s just not too old to go into teaching,\u2019\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although he did not initially heed the advice, Wheeler finally fulfilled his dream of becoming a substitute teacher a few years after his retirement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI went into it without any kind of bias of thought,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI just thought I’d just be myself. And that was with the kids, with the teachers, and everyone concerned. I try to speak with the kids when I meet them in the hallway. The students… I’ll call them by their names if I can remember them. But you can only remember so many.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wheeler taught at several schools in the area, including multiple elementary schools in Fayetteville and around 14 years at Lincoln County High School (LCHS). Back then, Wheeler had to be ready to teach any materials at any level. It all depended on who needed a sub. He loved delving into different subjects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As in every area in life, everything wasn\u2019t perfect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut I was fortunate,\u201d the former<\/em> substitute teacher said. \u201cI didn’t have a<\/em> lot of misbehaving kids. I had some really<\/em> good kids. They called me Mister.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And some of those good kids still<\/em> remember Mr. Wheeler.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh my heart,\u201d said Shelby McClung, a former student of Wheeler. \u201cHe was my favorite sub. If we saw him walk through the door, we knew it was going to be a good day… an extra special one. He would say, \u2018Mr. Wheeler’s my name, subbings my game, and this ain\u2019t my first rodeo.\u2019 I\u2019m pretty certain he makes an impression everywhere he goes.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n Students remembered Wheeler as a fun teacher to be around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was always a good day when you walked into class, and Mr. Wheeler was the sub,\u201d Tanner Sanders Wiser, another former student, said. \u201cI remember a day in fourth grade when Mr. Wheeler was the sub. It was a Thursday, and we had a spelling pre-test. If you made a 100 on the pre-test, you didn\u2019t have to take the test on Friday. He decided he would help us out on just a few of them to get us started. And next thing ya know, we all made a 100. He was so funny and so fun in class. Love Mr. Wheeler.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n His colleagues also recognized that Wheeler was someone special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen I was teaching at LCHS, I always tried to get him when I needed a sub,\u201d former LCHS teacher Angie Thompson Mullins said. \u201cThe kids always loved to have him because he liked to talk and interact with them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wheeler knew he had made the right decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe students made me feel really, really confident that I was doing the right thing in substitute teaching,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wheeler will celebrate 63 years of marriage next April. He has one daughter, three grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren, with another one expected to arrive later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In life, Wheeler always strives to be fair with everyone and to put himself in God\u2019s hands. He relished substitute teaching for about 15 years before he retired again. He will never forget it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI miss it to this day,\u201d the former substitute teacher said. \u201cI’ve been out (for) four or five years. I still miss it; the interaction with the kids and the teachers. It was just a real, real, real good experience, especially for me.\u201d GN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" James B. Wheeler, now 86 years old, finally fulfilled his dream of becoming a substitute teacher a few years after his retirement. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":6707,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[32],"class_list":["post-6696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","tag-november"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/DSC09667-1024x683.jpg\")
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