Teacher Town, USA

By David Hill

"National Teachers Hall of Fame—10 Miles." The sign on the interstate told me I was close to my destination: Emporia, Kansas, a prairie town, population 28,000, about an hour south of Topeka. Another billboard announced that I was in the Bible Belt: "Accept Jesus Christ and You Shall Be Saved—Or Regret It Forever!"

For years, Emporia was known—if it was known at all—as the home of William Allen White, editor and publisher of the Emporia Gazette . White, who died in 1944, was dubbed the "Sage of America" for his books and editorials, many of which extolled the virtues of small-town America. At the Gazette 's office in downtown Emporia, you can gaze at White's legendary roll-top desk.

I had come to Emporia for a different reason: to attend the ninth annual Hall of Fame Weekend, during which five teachers would be recognized for their outstanding work. Formed in 1989 by administrators at Emporia State University, the nonprofit Hall of Fame is still relatively unknown—and underfunded. Unlike the glitzy Disney American Teacher Awards or the slick Milken Educator Awards, the National Teachers Hall of Fame is a low-budget, home-grown affair. Case in point: Inductees and their families stay at the Ramada Inn, apparently Emporia's best hotel—and a perfectly adequate establishment—but not exactly the Ritz. By contrast, Milken honorees are put up at the plush Century Plaza...