Bell began his teaching and coaching career in 1953 at Jonesboro Annie Camp Junior High School, the same school he attended as a student. Bell worked as an assistant prin­cipal at Annie Camp before serving as assistant principal at Jonesboro High School.

In 1964 Bell was appointed principal at Annie Camp, a position he held for eight years. His love for sports was always a major ingredient in his work with students. Believing that a sense of belonging is critical to student success, Bell viewed sports as the perfect con­duit for student achievement and success.

Until 1975 the Jonesboro Public School System did not have an athletic director. Bell of­ten spoke about the need to bring the system's athletics under the umbrella of an athletic director; a dream job in his opinion. When the devastating tornado of 1973 struck the city significantly damaging and destroying several school buildings, a rebuilding and revamp­ing of the school system was not far behind. The two junior high schools attended split school sessions and high school students attended classes in churches, the local YMCA and in temporary buildings located at the town's fairgrounds. The rebuilding years were long and hard, but with the winds of such change, Bell's dream turned into reality.

For 12 years, Bell served as the district's first athletic director, a position that required establishing uniform policies and procedures for district athletics. The Title IX act was in its infancy and girls' programs were added throughout the district. Successful season ticket promotions were sold for both girls and boys.

Bell attended Athletic Director's meetings on the local, state and national levels. As a charter member of the Arkansas Athletic Direc­tors' Association, he learned from and shared experiences with fellow athletic directors. Through this networking, the complexities, expectations and best practice were discussed and enhanced.

Bell was instrumental in the construction of a new field house with dressing rooms, equipment rooms and coaches' offices. Additional sports, particularly for girls were added. The complexities of scheduling and recruitment of top notch coaches and teachers were top priorities.

The athletic programs in the Jonesboro Public School System continued to thrive and advance under his leadership. Bell was instru­mental in promoting school spirit, writing an article for the school's newspaper defining just what school spirit means. He promoted healthy competitive competition and continued to emphasize that all students need to and will belong to something. Personal interest in students was a key ingredient to Bell's success as a teacher, principal and athletic director.

Bell established and cultivated community interest in the many sports teams and worked with community groups and booster clubs to promote and generate funds for athletics in the Jonesboro School System. Parent involvement was important to Bell for the success of the program.

In 1987 after 35 years in the Jonesboro Public School System, Bell retired as Director of Athletics. His contribution to the district serves as a gateway for continued success in developing athletes and athletic programs for what is best in public school sports programs.