Inductees into this year’s class of the National Teachers Hall of Fame reflected on the paths that led them to being among the best in education — and the children they serve — as part of KVOE’s annual Talk of Emporia program Thursday.
Unlike many members of the Hall, this year’s class almost universally didn’t set out to be teachers growing up. Consider the case of Teresa Maughn now a high school social studies teacher in East Orange, New Jersey Maughn wanted to be an immigration lawyer after her family’s lengthy process. Maughn’s family is from Belize in Central America and migrated to the United States — but the family became undocumented once her father’s visa expired and the family faced deportation until a parochial school teacher reached out to her community.
Or the story of Margaret “Peg” Cagle, a high school math teacher in Reseda, California. Cagle was developing a successful architecture career on the East Coast before meeting her husband and moving out west. Initially, Cagle says there was “no way, no how” she was going into education. After moving and seeing the difficulties in getting established in architecture, she started in education by teaching a community college class on “how to deal with the construction industry without losing your mind or your money.” That didn’t lead to architecture contacts, but it led to a deeper involvement in teaching.
Another common thread this year? The students they serve, whom the teachers all say are typically in marginalized settings. Carla Neely, a middle school science and social studies teacher from Cleveland, Ohio, was on a track to be a neonatal doctor before a mentor in college asked how she would handle the death of a baby she either delivered or was trying to deliver. When Neely said she would need time off, the mentor directed her — as had others before — to go into teaching.
Dr Melyssa Ferro, a middle school science teacher from Caldwell, Idaho, near Boise, says her area has more migrant students than people may think Idaho has due to agriculture.
For the first time, the Hall of Fame has honored an American teacher serving overseas — in this case, the US Department of Defense’s operations in Japan. Dr Michael Anthony Pope teaches science. He says military students, especially those overseas, see themselves removed from the American culture — on top of the fact they are constantly “the new kid in school” every 2-3 years and the fact that Department of Defense schools face the same challenges as other schools in the United States.
Following their appearance on a special Talk of Emporia on Thursday morning, inductees will be/were part of a special media availability session at ESU before attending the Emporia Municipal Band’s concert at Fremont Park. There are no induction activities Friday because of Juneteenth, but the rededication of the National Memorial to Fallen Educators will take place inside the ESU Visser Hall atrium at 10 am Saturday. KVOE will live-stream the ceremony at KVOE.com/TV and YouTube@kvoenews. The annual banquet and induction ceremony will be at 5:30 pm at the ESU Memorial Union Webb Hall.
As the official inductions approach Saturday, the Hall of Fame is already looking ahead to the Class of 2027 by opening up the application window online through nthf.org. The Hall has also developed a YouTube channel.
