A recent donation is giving the National Teachers Hall of Fame a push as it works to expand the National Memorial to Fallen Educators.
The memorial was officially dedicated in 2014 and the first names of pre-kindergarten through 12th grade school staff killed in the line of duty were inscribed a year later. Now work is closer to reality for a tablet honoring higher education staffers killed under the same circumstances.
Hall of Fame Director Carol Strickland says a recent trip to the Representative Assembly of the National Education Association led to a surprise donation.
Strickland says this particular fundraising effort could raise around $9,000 for the cause. This money will go towards a down payment for a new granite tablet.
The Hall of Fame has been researching the addition of higher education names the past three-plus years after the murder of Ethan Schmidt, a former Emporia State history professor who was killed by a colleague at Delta State University.
Strickland is hoping to see a new tablet for higher education staffers by the 2020 induction ceremonies. There are currently three tablets honoring pre-K-through-12th grade staffers with over 150 names inscribed.
For more information, call the National Teachers Hall of Fame at 341-5660 or go online to www.nthfmemorial.org.
