A Career To Love
At Monday night’s Wetzel County Board of Education meeting the body honored retirees. One of those 20 retirees seemed to get a round of applause that was just a bit more exuberant-and with good cause.
Virgil Wilkins retired in August after 51 years of service as a teacher. That is certainly remarkable.
Sustaining 51 years at anything-be it a job, a marriage, or residing in the same home-is unusual. It takes commitment and, most importantly, love.
Mr. Wilkins certainly loves teaching. It showed through in all of his endeavors. He loved the students and introducing them to knowledge and skills. He still volunteers his time with the students, even after retiring.
He also loves his community. In the Hundred area you can often find Virgil taking part in various community activities. Testament to that is the fact that one of the staples of Hundred’s Fourth of July Celebration is “Virgil’s Games”. He gets people to willingly take part in games that others might consider “hokey”, simply because he is who he is. They like Virgil and want to be involved in anything he leads.
Mr. Wilkins may have retired, but his lessons will live on for generations.