The National Memorial to Fallen Educators will be rededicated at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 20, in Emporia, Kansas, to honor four educators who lost their lives in service to their students and to remember all others engraved on the Memorial who made the same sacrifice. The ceremony, hosted by the National Teachers Hall of Fame, will take place in the Jack Skillett Atrium of Visser Hall on the Emporia State University campus and will conclude outdoors at the memorial, weather permitting.
As part of the ceremony, members of the 2026 National Teachers Hall of Fame induction class will lay flowers in remembrance of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
The four newly honored individuals are:
- Tom Dickey, 37, educator and curriculum specialist at Omaha South High School, lost his life Nov. 28, 2017, while doing exactly what great teachers do: protecting his students. When a fight broke out among students during school breakfast that morning, Dickey was one of approximately 10 staff members who immediately responded to help break it up. Within the hour, he reported feeling unwell. He was transported to Nebraska Medicine, where he later died. A doctor determined that the stress and exertion of intervening in the altercation contributed to a fatal heart attack.
- Douglas B. Greenhalgh, 48, band director at Chippewa Falls High School, was killed Oct. 16, 2005, in a tragic bus accident on Interstate 94 near Osseo, Wisconsin. Greenhalgh and the Chippewa Falls Marching Cardinals had just delivered what many described as their finest-ever performance at the Wisconsin School Music Association State Marching Band Championships in Whitewater, placing third in the large-school division. On the trip home, a jackknifed semi-truck blocked the highway in the early morning hours, and the bus carrying members of the band collided with it. Doug, his wife, Therese, their granddaughter Morgan, student teacher Branden Atherton, and bus driver Paul Rasmus were all killed.
- Jason Hughes, 40, math teacher and coach at North Hall High School in Gainesville, Georgia, died March 6, 2026, in what can only be described as a heartbreaking accident. He had stepped outside his home to catch students who had come to "roll" his yard as part of a longstanding, lighthearted senior tradition he had come to love. He slipped on wet pavement and was struck by a vehicle.
- Diane Peterson, 26, an English teacher at Branham High School in San Jose, California, was known for her dedication to her students. On June 16, 1978, the day after the school year ended, she was fatally stabbed in a hallway while cleaning her classroom for the summer break. The case remained a tragic mystery for nearly 47 years until June 2025, when authorities finally identified her killer through a deathbed confession from a relative of the suspect, a former student.
The rededication ceremony serves as a time of remembrance, reflection, and gratitude while recognizing the profound role educators play in shaping future generations. Family members, educators, community leaders, and guests from across the country will gather to honor the lives and legacies of this year’s memorial honorees.
About the Memorial
Established in 2013 and inspired in part by the Sandy Hook tragedy, the National Memorial to Fallen Educators is the only national site in the United States that permanently honors K–12 public and private educators and school employees who died in the line of duty. It is a place of remembrance, reflection, and respect for a profession that often goes unheralded.
“Each name is a legacy,” said Maddie Fennell, executive director of the National Teachers Hall of Fame. “And we’re calling on the public to help us ensure those legacies are seen, read and remembered.”
For More Information
Visit the National Teachers Hall of Fame at www.nthf.org to learn more.