Board members of Clint Bowyer’s 79 Fund and the Emporia Community Foundation present a donation to the National Teachers Hall of Fame on Monday, Aug. 13, 2018. The donation allows the hall of fame to order a third granite book for the National Memorial to Fallen Educators on the Emporia State University campus.
On Monday, August 13, 2018, board members of Clint Bowyer’s 79 Fund presented a check for $8,500 to The National Teachers Hall of Fame (NTHF) to be used for the purchase of the third granite memorial book for the National Memorial to Fallen Educators. Thanks to this donation and several others since the rededication of the memorial, NTHF has the down payment to purchase the book, which became necessary after 17 U.S. teachers, faculty and staff were killed in the line of duty in the last year.
In early July, the National Education Association (NEA) Representative Assembly Delegates from across the country came together in Minneapolis, raising $4,500. Their donations jump started the fundraising for the $17,000 down payment on the new $40,0000 granite book. Donations were also made by several NEA state affiliates and other donors.Following Emporian Clint Bowyer’s donation, the second major donation in two weeks, the down payment on the book has been reached. American Fidelity Assurance Company, headquartered in Oklahoma, also recently presented a $5,000 check.
“This gift puts us at the point of making the down payment on our $40,000 new addition to the memorial site,” said Carol Strickland, executive director of NTHF, “and we are very grateful to Clint and board members who chose to help us this year.”
The recent deaths of teachers and staffers filled the two current books with more teachers yet to add to account for those killed in the last school year. Efforts are underway to complete the fundraising so the new granite piece can be in place by early spring. $20,000 is still needed to finish the new granite book.
The National Memorial to Fallen Educators honors teachers, administrators and staff members who lost their lives while working for our nation’s schools and was created in 2012, following the tragedy at the elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, where six educators lost their lives. At the beginning of the year, President Donald Trump signed a bill to nationally recognize the site on Emporia State University’s campus.
The National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers are helping the fundraising effort and are encouraging the community to help as well. For more information on donating to the cause, call the National Teachers Hall of Fame at 620-341-5660 or go online to www.nthf.org. All donations are tax-deductible.
“Donating to the memorial is an excellent way for people to honor educators who have made a difference in their lives,” said Strickland. “No donation is too small, and larger donations are always welcome.”