For the third time in the last year, the National Teacher’s Hall of Fame will be putting induction activities for the 2020 class on hold.
The decision was made official following the NTHF Board of Directors meeting Tuesday morning. Induction activities were scheduled to take place in person next month after being postponed in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hall of Fame Director Carol Strickland says it is disappointing, however, there is too much uncertainty at this time regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent rise in coronavirus cases both locally and nationally.
Strickland says the decision to postpone was a mutual one between the NTHF board and 2020 inductees.
The tentative plan is to hold induction next June for both the 2020 and 2022 hall of fame classes. Strickland says the 2022 class is scheduled to be announced in February.
Additional details will be announced at a later time. You can find the full list of 2020 Hall of Fame class members online with this story at KVOE.com.
The postponement of induction activities was not the only noteworthy announcement out of the Hall of Fame this week as during an interview with KVOE News recently Strickland confirmed she will be retiring as director by the middle of next year. Strickland’s involvement with the hall of fame began back in 1995 as a volunteer before she was inducted as a member in 2003 and later took over as director in January of 2013.
During Strickland’s tenure, the hall of fame has seen tremendous growth both locally and nationally gaining tremendous notoriety across the U.S. and forming multiple national partnerships. Strickland also played an instrumental role in the construction of the National Memorial to Fallen Educators which was officially dedicated in June of 2014 and gained its status as Kansas’ only national monument back in April of 2018.
Strickland is set to retire in late June of 2022 following induction activities, however, an exact date has yet to be announced. A search for Strickland’s replacement is tentatively scheduled to begin in either late December or early January.
