Repaying the Gift

Repaying the Gift

If admirers are the measure of a man, Chuck Hess is a giant.

His 6-foot frame is imposing enough in Wake Forest, N.C., (pop. 12,588) but it’s his actions that put him head and shoulders above others.

For the last 23 years, Hess has been both athletic coach and special education teacher at Wake Forest-Rolesville High School—imparting to hundreds of students his game plan for living. “Go for the gold,” he says, and never give up when the going gets tough.

“I need to get these kids to understand that the harder they have to work for something, the more proud they will be about their accomplishments,” he adds. “They can do anything they set their minds to.”

Hess’ energy and determination belie an invisible, lifelong battle of his own. Like some of his special education students, he was born with dyslexia, a learning disorder that makes reading and writing difficult—even for gifted people.

“It was humiliating not being able to read in front of the class and then being called dumb,” as a child, Hess recalls. “But I was good at sports and that helped me maintain some self-esteem.

“My parents did everything they could to help me,” he continues. “And my third-grade teacher, Mrs. Kephart, never gave up on me.”

That was back in the early ’60s when little was understood of the disorder. But this learning disability has since been the subject of more intensive research aimed at diagnostic and instructional methods, and it is now estimated that 5 percent to 10 percent of our population suffers from dyslexia in varying degrees.

Despite his struggles, or maybe because of them, Hess was determined to earn what he was told he could not—a college education. In 1978 he graduated from Central Michigan University with a degree in special education.

And now he is giving back.

For years, Hess worked with all levels of disabled students, from those with low IQs who needed to learn life skills to accident victims who had to learn to walk and talk again. Now the school’s athletic director, he works with the students on a more limited schedule. But whether in the classroom or on the basketball court, his teaching basis is the same—practice, practice, practice. He also runs a Youth Summer Basketball Camp and holds basketball clinics for kids.

And his reputation is for showing his faith in individuals—not just at school, but throughout the town. At the Wake Forest Chamber of Commerce, he is praised regularly for his dedication as a fund-raiser—and United Cerebral Palsy this year named him their national “Volunteer of the Year” for money he’s helped raise for the cause since 1985. The distinction is not bestowed every year but only occasionally when an exceptional person rises to the top.

“Coach Hess not only made us strive for success in basketball but also in life,” says Graham Bunn, a former student who is now an athlete at Appalachian State University. “He helped me go from a so-so player to being good enough to play in college on a basketball scholarship.”

Hess did so by regularly shooting baskets with Bunn on Sunday afternoons and showing he truly cared. And whenever he sees a child’s future in real trouble, he steps in.

“He’s tireless and relentless,” says Greg Nance, a physical education instructor at an area middle school. “He can change kids’ lives.”

Nance related a story of a student who, after many thefts and fights, was sent to a delinquent training school. After his release, Hess included him in his athletic program where he could daily encourage the student. Now a senior, the young man is preparing himself for college next year.

Ann Goebel is a freelance writer from Knightdale, N.C.

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