Induction activities are underway for the 2020 and 2022 classes of the National Teachers Hall of Fame.
Both sets of inductees joined KVOE programming Wednesday to discuss their careers. The 2022 class was on KVOE’s ON-Air Chat. Sergio de Alba, a sixth-grade teacher from Springville, New York, was a business major and had a photography business, but his brother told him about being a substitute teacher. He says he felt an almost instant connection.
Robert Fenster, a high school social studies teacher from Hillsborough, New Jersey, says his experience as a Big Brother sparked his decision to go into education.
Leila Kubesch’s dad is from the United States, but her mother is from north Africa and the family moved to Olathe when she was in high school. She says her early experience was vastly different from the one she discovered after coming to America.
Special education teacher Kareem Neal of Phoenix, Arizona, shifted from chemical engineering while in college.
Spanish teacher Christopher Poulos of Redding, Connecticut, says it’s vitally important to form positive relationships with his students. Part of that is cutting down official class time with his seniors — but directing them to an immersive project with businesses or organizations speaking only Spanish.
Members of the 2020 class were on KVOE’s Talk of Emporia. Andrew Beiter of Springville, New York, says his plan was to go into hotel and restaurant management. While that didn’t work, he says a lot of those skills translated well to education — a sense of intuition and meeting needs foremost on that list. A conversation with a history professor charted his path.
Dr. Melissa Collins of Memphis, Tennessee says her dad was an educator and coach. She says she saw the impact he had on his teams and his students — and she was drawn to that aspect of teaching.
Retired environmental science teacher Donna Gradel of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, was interested in the sciences and basketball growing up. A science teacher changed her after-school schedule to let Gradel explore — and a middle school basketball coach took some unique measures in the days before Title IX so she could play.
Visual arts teacher Thomas Knab of East Amherst, New York, says work in the arts and coaching volleyball paved the way for him to get into education. He says being an inductee gives him a platform for serving as an ambassador for education.
Math teacher Jamil Siddiqui of East Bridgewater, Massachusetts, says he learned why he loved teaching as his career developed.
Thursday involves a crafts activity at White Auditorium’s Little Theater, a meeting with Emporia State University’s Board of Trustees and the annual Municipal Band concert at Fremont Park. Before the formal induction ceremonies Friday evening at Emporia State’s Memorial Union Ballroom, inductees will be part of the National Memorial to Fallen Educators’ annual rededication ceremonies at 10 am — to be broadcast on KVOE-TV at KVOE.com.
