Carol Strickland, director of the National Teachers Hall of Fame, addresses the crowd during induction ceremonies in June 2017.
Work with the National Teachers Hall of Fame and a lengthy teaching career led Carol Strickland to be named a 2019 Icon of Education by Ingram’s Magazine.
“The leaders of tomorrow are not products of wishful thinking; they will come from the ranks of students being taught by dedicated and caring educators. And the very best among those who have committed their lives to that cause are Ingram’s Icons of Education,” wrote Dennis Boone, Ingram’s managing editor in the February 2019 edition.
Strickland began teaching high school speech and English in 1967 and had 35 years of experience — including work as an adjunct faculty member at Emporia State — when she was inducted into the NTHF in 2003. Since her induction, Strickland has poured her energy into benefitting the Hall of Fame, now 30 years old.
After years of volunteering with the Hall of Fame, Strickland was hired as director in 2012. She counts her top accomplishment as creating, developing, and raising funds for the Memorial to Fallen Educators and then working tirelessly with representatives, senators, and others around the nation to initiate and steward the legislation in both the U.S. House and the Senate through a grassroots campaign to have the memorial designated a national memorial, which it was in April 2018. It is the first and only national memorial in Kansas.
Strickland’s other accomplishments in the past six years with the National Teachers Hall of Fame include:
- Expanding the Washington presence of the new inductees through festivities that include meeting with the President and U.S. Secretary of Education, interviews of inductees by national media (e.g, NPR), and reception by the National Education Association;
- Making the membership of the Board of Trustees more national in scope;
- Creating the Inductee Advisory Committee for the inductees to connect with the Board of Trustees more intentionally;
- Strengthening the financial stability of the NTHF through expanded fundraising and grants.
“I am both honored and humbled to be identified as an ‘icon of education’ because I don’t think of myself as doing anything more than what other educators do on a daily basis,” said Strickland when she learned of the recognition. “I love my chosen profession of education and am blessed with a lifetime of memories with colleagues and students. My role at the Hall of Fame allows me to continue to be actively involved with education and to elevate the profession on a daily basis.”
Launched in 2009, this is the 10th year Ingram’s has named a group of Icons of Education. Strickland is the third Emporia State educator named in the last six years. Dr. John Rich of the School of Business was honored in 2014. Last year, Dr. Ken Weaver, Dean of The Teachers College, was named a 2018 Icon of Education.
The online article can be found in the February issue of Ingram’s magazine (page 47-56) at:
https://www.omagdigital.com/publication/?i=570270#{%22issue_id%22:570270,%22page%22:18}