East Elementary School Principal David Wiggins was in his usual weekend haunt, Camelot Books and Comics, on a recent Saturday when he recognized a familiar face. One of Wiggins’ third graders was searching through the thousands of available comics for her character, the one the student could identify with and whose story she could immerse herself in. She was looking for a comic book hero who could change her life like Spider-Man did for little David Wiggins when he was a struggling reader in Mrs. Virginia Crumpler’s classroom in Eufaula, Alabama, many years ago.
“I didn’t like to read at all. I had a third-grade teacher, Mrs. Crumpler, at Bluff City Elementary School in Eufaula, Alabama, and she did something that all teachers should do. She took an interest in her student,” said Wiggins. “There was a day when I did not do well on a reading test on ‘Peter Pan,’ who is actually my favorite Disney character. Mrs. Crumpler walked out to school dismissal with me and met my dad who had just gotten off a 12-hour shift at the mill. He respected teachers and their input.”
When Wiggins’ teacher requested a talk with his U.S. Marine dad that day, Wiggins was certain he was in trouble. However, that was not the case.
“She told my dad that she couldn’t get me to read anything in class. She said I was smart. I was distracted and very active, but I just did not like to read. Mrs. Crumpler kept looking for my interests,” said Wiggins. “She tried everything the library had to offer, but I didn’t like any of the books that were available. She and my dad talked about my interests. Dad reported that, in the afternoons after I completed my homework, I went outside to play until the porch lights were on.”
Wiggins’ father pointed out that his son enjoyed watching the PBS show “The Electric Company,” which came on after “Sesame Street” and was produced for older children.
“I watched it because of Spider-Man. He never talked. He would have a speech bubble and it would have the vocabulary word of the day, the noun of the day, the blend of the day, and he was always catching people who were stealing words or sounds,” said Wiggins. “I thought it was great and I always watched.”
With that bit of information, Wiggins’ astute teacher recommended comic books, and Wiggins and his dad stopped that very day at a convenience store on their way home. His father arbitrarily picked up a comic book for his son. It was a Spider-Man.
“We went home with it, and I was elated that I had a comic book. It was the most exciting but the most challenging reading I had ever done,” Wiggins remembered. “The vocabulary was immensely difficult, but it was authentic, and I got interested immediately. Dad had to help me with words and then Mom came home and helped me as well. I read that comic book over and over. I wanted another one real fast.”
Now 52, Wiggins has amassed a collection of “boxes upon boxes of comic books, primarily Spider-Man, bagged and boarded. I have CGC-graded slab comics of high value and comics that are sentimental that are of no monetary value, but I love because of the artwork and storyline.”
Wiggins’ office at East Elementary is a testament to his love of Peter Parker, with shelves brimming full of students’ artwork inspired by their favorite administrator’s love of Marvel Comics’ 1962 creation by legendary writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko.
The office also provides many reading options, from, of course, Spider-Man comics to “How Do Dinosaurs Go to School” and even non-Marvel Universe comics, many of which were donated by Camelot Books and Comics’ Greg Patterson after Free Comic Book Day.
Wiggins masterfully uses his love of comics to form connections with his students and as icebreakers with new or prospective students. He said they allow him to “form relationships, show an emphasis and encouragement in reading and literacy and, more importantly, it’s fun! I don’t care what kids read as long as they find a love of literacy.”
With three higher education degrees, Wiggins is now a voracious reader of both fiction and non-fiction, but one thing has remained the same over the past several decades: his love of comics.
“I read a comic a day even if it’s a re-read. I have so many comics that I buy each week because my love of Spider-Man grew into a love of Spider-Verse which turned into a love of Ghost Rider and then Daredevil,” Wiggins said. “As a result, I’m at the comic book store every Saturday. It delights me when one of the staff members says, ‘One of your kids was in here looking for comics.’”
The influence that Mrs. Virginia Crumpler, still an educator with Auburn City Schools, had on 8-year-old David Wiggins is undeniable. Her dedication and commitment to the art of teaching are evident in her former student’s life today. Crumpler’s guidance of little David Wiggins to an often-overlooked valuable literary resource in comic books changed his life. In turn, Principal Wiggins is doing the same for his students.
That’s the stuff superheroes are made of.
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