Educators Hall of Fame inducts 4 new members
Published 5:20 pm Monday, April 10, 2017
Star Photo/Abby Morris-Frye Martha Laws poses for a photograph with family members after she was inducted in the Carter County Educator's Hall of Fame.
Star Photo/Abby Morris-Frye Family members of the late John Fine Jr. attended the ceremony inducting him into the Carter County Educator's Hall of Fame Saturday evening. Shown here are his daughters Ashley Fine (left), Brittany Fine (center), and his wife Connie Fine (right).
Star Photo/Abby Morris-Frye Cheri Miller, left, stands with Tyler Flemming after being inducted into the Carter County Educator's Hall of Fame.
Star Photo/Abby Morris-Frye Family members of the late Nell Curtis accepted her nomination into the Carter County Educator's Hall of Fame during the ceremony Saturday evening.
Star Photo/Abby Morris-Frye Tyler Flemming, left, presented Lilo Duncan, right, with a special Lifetime Achievement Award for her work on behalf of the Carter County Imagination Library.
Star Photo/Abby Morris-Frye During the Carter County Educator's Hall of Fame celebration on Saturday, the Imagination Library honored this year's Teachers of the Year from both the county and city school systems. Shown here, from left, are: William "Bill" Anderson, Sarah Naylor, Carter County Director of Schools Dr. Kevin Ward, Elizabethton City Schools Director Dr. Corey Gardenhour, Joe Diaz, and Beth Stevens.
On Saturday evening a crowd gathered to pay honor to some local educators who made a positive impact during their careers.
The Carter County Imagination Library hosted the annual Educator’s Hall of Fame celebration Saturday at the Tennessee College of Applied Technology. Each year, the Imagination Library inducts four local teachers into the Hall of Fame — one deceased and one retired teacher each from the Carter County and Elizabethton City school systems.
WJHL television news anchor, and Elizabethton native, Josh Smith, served as the master of ceremonies for the evening.
“Not every community has an Educators Hall of Fame, and I’m so proud that Elizabethton and Carter County does,” Smith said.
This year’s honorees from the Carter County School System were Cheri Miller and the late John Fine.
Miller taught for many years in Roan Mountain.
“It was my great joy and pleasure to teach at Cloudland Elementary and Cloudland High School,” Miller told the crowd. “It was a joy to teach, and it’s a joy to be retired,” she added with a laugh.
Accepting the award on behalf of Fine was his wife, Connie Fine. Their daughters — Ashley Fine and Brittany Fine — also attended the ceremony.
“He always thought the kids came first,” Connie Fine said of her husband. “No matter what, the kids came first. That was his legacy.”
This year’s inductees from the Elizabethton City Schools were Martha Laws and the late Nell Curtis.
Smith, a former student of Laws’, told the audience while introducing his former teacher that she had been selected for the children’s television show Romper Room but instead decided to remain in Elizabethton and become a teacher.
Laws shared with those in attendance that she found out she had been hired as a teacher with the city school system after a relative saw an announcement in the Elizabethton Star.
“I hadn’t even applied,” she said with a laugh. She said she had been teaching for a couple of weeks when the school suddenly realized they had no paperwork on her.
Family members of the late Nell Curtis were in attendance Saturday evening to accept the award on her behalf. Curtis began her teaching career in the 1930s in a one-room school house in the Horseshoe community. She later began working for the Elizabethton City Schools and is possibly best known as the Tennessee History teacher at T.A. Dugger Junior High.
The Imagination Library also paused for a moment on Saturday evening to honor one of their own. Carter County Imagination Library Board Member Tyler Fleming presented Board Member Lilo Duncan with a special Lifetime Achievement Award honoring her for her years of hard work with the organization.
“You are so deserving of this,” Fleming told Duncan. “This could not be possible without your hard work.”
During the celebration on Saturday, the Imagination Library also honored the 2017 teachers of the year from both the Carter County and Elizabethton City school systems.
Carter County:
• William “Bill” Anderson — High School Teacher of the Year — Hampton High School
• Amanda Greer — Middle School Teacher of the Year — Happy Valley Middle School
• Sarah Naylor — Elementary School Teacher of the Year — Hunter Elementary
Elizabethton City:
• Joe Diaz — High School Teacher of the Year — Elizabethton High School
• Kimberly “Kip” Anderson — Middle School Teacher of the Year — T.A. Dugger Junior High
• Beth Stevens — Elementary School Teacher of the Year — Harold McCormick
