ECU event recognizes Hall of Fame educators
By Cassondra Lampkin
The Daily Reflector
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Today is Katie Corbett Johnson's 94th birthday, and Saturday friends, family and peers applauded her career accomplishments.
She glowed with appreciation while mingling with fellow educators during the East Carolina UniversityEducators Hall of Fame.
Cassondra Lampkin/The Daily Reflector
(ENLARGE)
KATIE CORBETT JOHNSON, who was inducted into the East Carolina University Educators Hall of Fame on Saturday, walks to a reception with her daughter, Ann Holland, following the ceremony.
"I'm getting my reward before I get to heaven," said Johnson, inducted into the eighth Hall of Fame along with 27 others Saturday in the ECU Fletcher Recital Hall. Nominees are chosen by the ECUCollege of Education Advancement Council. The Hall of Fame recognizes influential educators and education advocates.
Before Saturday's ceremony, Johnson recalled her favorite memory during her 50 years as an educator.
"The moment when, you can tell by their (students) facial expression, they've learned something that they didn't realize about themselves," she said.
During the ceremony, each honoree's name was called and a snapshot of their accomplishments highlighted. Hall of Fame honorees are permanently recognized on inscribed plaques displayed on the Educators Wall of Fame in ECU's SpeightBuilding and in an online directory.
The Hall of Fame was inaugurated in fall 1999 and currently has 300 honorees. Professors, teachers, counselors, community members or others whose service to the education profession decisively impacted someone's life are considered for entry.
Nominations for each Hall of Fame candidate must be accompanied by a minimum gift of $1,000 to the Educators Hall of Fame Scholarship Fund. Through the gifts, ECU hopes to raise a $1 million endowment to fund merit-based scholarships for College of Education students, beginning with the 2007-08 academic year. This is the first year (in 2007) that two four-year scholarships will be offered to students pursuing education degrees at ECU.
With the gifts provided for Saturday's inductees, the endowment currently has $350,000, said John Swope, interim dean of the ECUCollege of Education.
"It's gaining enough interest that we can start giving scholarships" he said.
Johnson's daughter, Ann Holland — wife of ECU Athletic's Director Terry Holland — offered the keynote speech during the Hall of Fame ceremony. Educators are heros, she said.
"Without heros, we don't know how far we can go," she said. "The accomplishments of their students multiplies their contributions many times over."
Holland expressed concern about the payscale of teachers in the United States and the perceived value of their contributions, calling for vigorous support on their behalf.
"It's time to empower the future members of the Education Hall of Fame with the support they need to be recognized by all citizens as the guardians of values and culture," Holland said. "Let us begin by committing ourselves to supporting our future educators."
Cassondra Lampkin can be reached at and (252) 329-9571.