LELAND — Willie Shelton and his fellow classmates in Mississippi Valley State University’s class of 1973 celebrated their 50 year class reunion on May 6. A half century removed from this milestone, Shelton explained how his degree in health, physical education and recreation has enabled him to make a pretty decent life for himself and the object of several requests for him to come out of retirement. “When I graduated from high school in 1968 in Leland, the school was then Lincoln High (School),” Shelton recalled. “I was the first one in my family to graduate college and I had a younger brother and sister who also received their college degrees.”
Shelton’s career of teaching and coaching various sports (track, baseball and football) took him all over the Delta. He started his career in his hometown and spent the bulk of his career in the Sunflower County School District. He has since spent time in Greenville and in Lake Providence, Louisiana where he retired for a second time in 2016. “I wanted to go to college because I saw how hard my daddy (Harry Shelton) had to work,” he said. “He worked at the old Chicago Mill and Greenville and it was pretty backbreaking stuff and long hours. My mother also pushed the importance of getting an education.”
Shelton’s time at Valley came when the university was still relatively new having only been established for two decades at this point. Although the school was developing its identity and the campus didn’t have all of the amenities that it has today, there was a spirit among the students and staff that carried it forward. “The president of the university created a family-like atmosphere among everyone on campus,” he said. “I just recall it (the campus environment) being close-knit. If there was something that I had and another classmate needed and vice versa, we shared it with one another. There was a real sense of togetherness and that’s what I’ll alway remember about being a student at Valley.”
Retired since 2016, Shelton is still fielding offers to come share his experience and intellect both close by and far away. “I had a job offer in Louisville, Kentucky but my mom said that this job was too far away,” Shelton laughed. “I will say that being a graduate of Valley has taken me everywhere I wanted to be in my professional life and that any student thinking about their career plans should do something that they have passion for over a lifetime.”
