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Meet The 5 New Inductees Of The National Teachers Hall Of Fame

Jonathan Gillentine is an early learning resource teacher in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Emily Bogle NPR
Jonathan Gillentine is an early learning resource teacher in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Meet The 5 New Inductees Of The National Teachers Hall Of Fame

Meet The 5 New Inductees Of The National Teachers Hall Of Fame

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Meet The 5 New Inductees Of The National Teachers Hall Of Fame

Meet The 5 New Inductees Of The National Teachers Hall Of Fame

Meet The 5 New Inductees Of The National Teachers Hall Of Fame

Emporia, Kansas is home to rolling prairies, wheat fields, and the world's biggest frisbee golf tournament.

But the reason we went there: the National Teacher Hall of Fame, which gives the place it's most revered title, Teacher Town USA.

In 1989 the members of the Emporia local school board and Emporia State University asked, 'Why doesn't anyone honor teachers?'

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To fill the void, they created the museum and hall of fame, where the top five teachers in the nation are honored every year. To be eligible, you must have taught for 20 years or more.

To date, 130 teachers have been inducted. We sat down with this year's inductees to hear the trials, tribulations, and valuable lessons they learned in their years in the classroom.

Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.