The 2023 National Teachers Hall of Fame class is now complete.
Tuesday, the Hall of Fame announced the final three inductees who will be honored for their work in the classroom as part of induction activities this June. Monica Washington is a career educator with 20 years of experience, the last 10 of which have been spent teaching 11th-grade English at Texas High School in Texarkana, Texas and is just the seventh inductee from the state of Texas.
Washington’s resume includes a number of impressive accolades and accomplishments including being named the 2014 Texas Teacher of the Year. Also in 2014, Washington received the Texarkana NAACP Special Achievement Award, the California Casualty Award from Horace Mann and the Ermalee Boice Instructional Advocacy Award from the Texas State Teachers of the Year.
Washington currently serves as a board member of the NEA Foundation, chair of the NEA Teacher Advisory Committee and co-chair of the Leading the Profession Committee for the Texas State Teachers Association. Washington was informed of her induction as part of a community gathering Monday.
On Tuesday, the Hall of Fame informed the final two honorees of their impending induction, both of whom hail from the state of Florida. Dr. Rebecca Hamilton of Suncoast High School in Riviera Beach, Florida has been an educator for the past 39 years and currently serves as the Advanced Placement Capstone Seminar and Capstone Research teacher for juniors and seniors at Suncoast.
During her nearly four decades in the classroom, Dr. Hamilton has received several honors including being named the 2014 Macy’s Teacher of the Year, a 2020 participant in MIT’s Teacher STEM program and a 2022 participant in the inaugural Teaching Hard History program. Dr. Hamilton also served as a presenter for the 2016 Association of Ubiquitous and Collaborative Educational International at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, the 2017 Hispanic/Latino Studies Summer Institute, and the 2018 African & African American Studies Summer Institute.
The final inductee for the 2023 class is Dr. Erick Heuck, a 34-year educator who currently teaches high school chemistry and advanced placement chemistry at Miami Senior High School in Miami, Florida. Heuck’s list of achievements includes the 2011 Florida Governor’s Excellence in Education award, the Outstanding Science Teacher award from the Florida Association of Science Teachers in 2013, the Pebe and Zephaniah Swift Moore Teaching Award from Amherst College in 2014.
Washington, Hamilton and Hueck join Kristen Record of Frank Scott Bunnell High School in Stratford, Connecticut and Dr. Caryn Long of Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida as the 31st class of the National Teachers Hall of Fame.
Record is a career teacher at Frank Scott with 22 years of experience as a high school physics teacher. Record’s career has included several accolades including being named the 2011 Connecticut Teacher of the Year. She also received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching from the National Science Foundation in 2009 and was a national STEM Policy Institute Fellow with MIT and George Washington University in 2014.
Long is a 34-year veteran educator and currently serves as the Director of Educational Technology and Innovation at Montverde Academy a position she has held since 2019. Her list of accomplishments includes being named as an Eleanor Roosevelt Teaching Fellow in 1999. She was also the recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching from the National Science Foundation in 2000 and was selected as the Distinguished Teacher of the Year for the National Science Teacher Association in 2001.
All five will travel to Emporia Jun. 12-16 for the 2023 Hall of Fame induction activities. National Teachers Hall of Fame Interim Director Ken Weaver will join KVOE’s Talk of Emporia Wednesday at 11:05 am to discuss the 2023 class and other hall of fame activities.
11:15 am Tuesday: Monica Washington named as third inductee into National Teachers Hall of Fame class of 2023
A Texas educator is the latest inductee into the 2023 National Teachers Hall of Fame class.
Monica Washington learned of her induction during a community gathering Monday. Washington is a career educator with 20 years of experience, the last 10 of which have been spent teaching 11th-grade English at Texas High School in Texarkana, Texas.
Washington is just the seventh inductee from the state of Texas and brings with her a long list of accolades and accomplishments.
In 2014, Washington was named the Texas Teacher of the Year and received the Texarkana NAACP Special Achievement Award, the California Casualty Award from Horace Mann and the Ermalee Boice Instructional Advocacy Award from the Texas State Teachers of the Year. Washington currently serves as a board member of the NEA Foundation, chair of the NEA Teacher Advisory Committee and co-chair of the Leading the Profession Committee for the Texas State Teachers Association.
In a news release from NTHF, Washington described her teaching style saying “I designed opportunities for students to be learners and teachers, Inquiry, discourse, and choice were three tools I used to create an intellectual environment in which my students could grow. The most productive relationship between teachers and students occurs when learning exists in a class community. When teachers listen and give space and grace to students, students are willing to challenge themselves and will take academic risks.”
Washington now joins Kristen Record of Frank Scott Bunnell High School in Stratford, Connecticut and Dr. Caryn Long of Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida as the first three inductees into the 2023 class. The final two inductees will be announced later this week.
Induction activities in Emporia will be held Jun. 12-16.
