Mr. Danny Wilson, who retired this year, said he began his teaching career “when they hired people to corral the dinosaurs that were running around in the neighborhood.”
It was not quite that long ago, but he was at Socastee when it had yearlong, 55-minute classes; a designated smoking area for students; and students didn’t have cell phones or laptop computers.
“The life for our students was perhaps a little less encumbered by the pursuit of ‘things’,” the IB reflected the IB French teacher, who spent his entire 46 year teaching career at Socastee.
Much of his life is tied to the school. Not only did he teach here, but he met his wife of 25 years here in 1995 and his son went through the school.
Mr. Wilson grew up in Charlotte & Indian Trail, NC, as well as Conway. He went to college at USC-Coastal, Université de Dijon in France, and USC-Columbia.
He was offered a job at Socastee at the end of his Senior Year before he even had his diploma. He said he originally planned to be a doctor.
“Later, I decided that a degree in education would guarantee a job,” he said. “My plan was to teach for five years before trying to obtain a job as an interpreter; however, after one year of teaching, I was hooked.”
He chose to study French because his grandfather had served in the U.S. Army in France.
“He would tell stories about how beautiful the country is,” he said.
In 1989-1990, he participated in the Fulbright Program sponsored by the U.S, Government.
“That allowed me to exchange places with a French teacher for a year,” he said. While there, he taught middle school English.
At Socastee over the years, he has taught French I through IV, Speed Reading, and IB French B. At one time, he also taught at the Alternative School part time at night. He also has coached basketball and advised the Student Council, the French Club and Chess Club over the years.
His biggest mark on the school was starting the International Baccalaureate program in —.
He said he believed the school needed to add a program “that would challenge students in ways that traditional curriculum does not.”
“I was also fascinated by the second-language requirement of the IB,” he said.
To get the program started, he visited total immersion and IB schools and talked to educators there.
IB Science Teacher Mr. Shannon Stone remembers going to the IB Global Conference with Mr. Wilson in 1999 in Montreux, Switzerland, on Lake Geneva. There were people there from countries all over the world, and the conference sessions were broadcast in over a dozen different languages.
“You would just put these little headphones on, and listen to your language of choice, kind of like being at the UN,” Mr. Stone said.
He said he talked with teachers from Poland, Spain, and Africa, among others.
“It was really a great experience,” he said. “All these people come together from around the world with the same vision; It was a life changing experience.”
Mr. Stone has also traveled on three school trips with Mr. Wilson to Europe, visiting France, Spain, Italy and Monaco.
“He was so well organized and takes great care of the students and everybody in it,” he said.
Mr. Wilson has also traveled with students to Québec, Canada 18 times, along with the Bahamas, Belgium, England, Florida, Germany, Holland, Luxembourg and Switzerland.
Mr. Wilson is a great educator because he has vision and cares about the school as a whole, Mr. Stone said.
“He cares about all students, not just the one he teaches.”
He also understands that there should be crossover between subjects.
“He understands that all the disciplines matter and that we really have to put it all together into a big piece,” he said, “and he really understands the vision for IB, so he’s a perfect match.”
Mr. Brett Mahaffey was in Mr. Wilson’s first graduating IB class. He said he spent more time in Mr. Wilson’s classroom and the IB office than anywhere else in the school.
“He’s passionate about French, and about IB, but more importantly he cares deeply about his students,” he said.
Mr. Wilson gave him opportunities he never would have had, such as trying escargot for the first time, and he is partly why Mr. Mahaffey decided on a career in public education. Mr. Wilson was even at his wedding and goes out of his way to ask about my wife and daughter, he said.
“If the measure of a person’s success in life is the number of souls they touch,” he said, “I’d count Danny Wilson as one of the most successful people I’ve ever met.”
Mr. Wilson said he will miss the students the most in retirement. As he looks back, he is most proud in his career of “having always availed myself of opportunities to learn and grow.”
After retirement, Mr. Wilson plans to get a part-time job and travel more with his wife Amy, who retired from Socastee last year after teaching English for 28 years.
“My dream destination is Bora Bora,” he said.
