Staff writer
While Stan Wiles was attending Emporia State University as a young college student, he earned money by working at a grocery store, a job he enjoyed. He worked in almost all facets of the business.
Now that the 56-year-old man has retired from teaching after 31 years, including 28 at Centre USD 397, he is considering returning to the grocery business.
Fellow staff members and former teachers honored Wiles Thursday at a noon luncheon. He entertained the group by playing a few tunes on his harmonica, accompanied by Lynley Remy.
Wiles joined the Centre staff in the fall of 1981. He taught physical education in grades K-8 for 28 years and a lifetime fitness high school class the past three years.
“I was blessed with the opportunity of helping kids grow and develop into strong, healthy individuals,” he said. “Plus, I also loved teaching them how to dream and set goals by painting a picture for them of what it could be like. Then I got to step back and watch their passion grow.”
Wiles grew up at Altoona, in southeast Kansas.
“I always was really active in sports,” he said.
As a young boy, he had a brother seven years older who was in sports and taught him the things he learned.
“You could say I had my own personal coach,” he said.
Wiles graduated from ESU in 1975 with a bachelor of science in physical education and psychology.
After teaching and coaching for three years at Hamilton, he decided to take a break. He roomed with friends and took a job at a grocery store.
However, that was short-lived. Wiles had taught under administrator Max Logsdon at Hamilton, and was recruited by Logsdon to come to Centre a year after Logsdon became superintendent there in 1980.
Wiles has coached every sport offered at Centre except cross country.
The first three years, he assisted Yvonne Burhoop in coaching high school volleyball.
He was assistant coach to Deb Knipp in junior high intramurals. They fell in love and were married a few years later. They have been married for 25 years and live at Ramona.
In the fall of 1987, the Tri-County Junior High League was formed, and Centre High School went to eight-man football as part of Cottonwood Valley League. Wiles served as junior high boys’ coach and assistant high school football coach.
He coached golf 13 years and was head girls’ basketball coach for two years. When not coaching golf, he was either assistant or head high school track coach.
Wiles said the 1987-88 school year is the year he always will remember. School spirit was high, he said, and several sports teams had record achievements. The volleyball team won a state championship.
Wiles experienced one of his greatest disappointments that year, when Centre played Midway-Denton in substate football.
“Midway-Denton had six state championships and they were the team to beat,” he said.
The Cougars lost by a heart-breaking two points.
The highlight of his coaching career came in 1997, when he assisted Coach Bud Peterson in leading the high school football team to a state championship.
As junior high boys’ basketball coach for 22 years, Wiles led five teams to league titles. Nine played in the league championship, and five won. Overall, he coached 447 winning games, 250 losing games, and one tie.
As junior high football coach for 25 years, his teams experienced two undefeated seasons and won three league titles. In 27 years of junior high boys’ track, his teams earned 19 league titles.
As a fitting cap to his coaching career, Wiles recently earned “Coach of the Year” awards from three coaching/athletic associations.
Wiles said he enjoyed the 10 years that he and Remy worked together to present musical/physical education spring programs.
“The community was surprised to learn what was going on in PE,” he said.
After a long-awaited vacation with Deb, Wiles plans to take it easy for a while before looking for another job. He is scheduled to speak in August at a coaching school in Topeka. He said his topic would be something like “A Coach’s Survival Kit: 31 Years of This and That.”
Although Wiles is leaving Centre, Deb, a part-time instructor, will return this fall as girls’ junior high coach, so she will continue the couple’s coaching tradition. Although they have no children, they have dedicated their lives to coaching other people’s children.
“I began coaching because I felt I could make a difference in athletes’ lives,” Wiles said. “My goal in coaching, especially at the junior high level, is to keep it simple, make it fun, and help the athletes develop passionate goals they can sink their heart and soul into.
“If an athlete knows where he is going and why he is going there, it is easier for him to accomplish the task. And the lessons learned through athletics can help a person become more successful in life.”