The National Teachers Hall of Fame received a $500,000 estate donation following the passing of inaugural inductee Anna Alfiero, a Connecticut science teacher. Alfiero passed on Aug. 19, 2023, and was one of the first inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1992. 

Her biography on the NTHF website reads, “Many times throughout Anna’s teaching career students have asked her ‘Why do you teach?’ She simply replies, ‘I have never thought of doing anything else.'” Alfiero taught from 1962 to 1999 and received many other awards, including a “Use of a Computer as a Tool” grant from the Pfizer Corporation and “Tomorrow’s Scientists and Engineers” recognition from the National Science Teaching Association and the Humble Refining Corporation.

According to Executive Director Maddie Fennell, the NTHF received the $500,000 donation in January.

“It’s really a tremendous boost to us, especially at a time when our board spent last spring really diving deep into a sustainability and feasibility study,” she said. “And from that, (we) have come up with five key initiatives for the museum. And so this endowment will help us see those to fruition in a much more timely manner than probably would have happened without it.”

The five key initiatives are as follows: 

1. Redesigning our website and enhancing our online presence.

2. Reimagining our museum and illuminating the future of teaching.

3. Strengthening our financial management and stability.

4. Expanding our outreach and welcoming new friends.

5. Harnessing the remarkable talents of our inductees.

Fennell said that the NTHF museum has already been “refreshed” as they have been more intentional with their artifacts to better tell the story of education. They plan to host an open house on June 18 at 3 p.m. for the public to see the changes. Additionally, they want to redesign their website to better integrate the physical museum and highlight their history and inductees. 

According to Fennell, the NTHF has already started several outreach initiatives; Fennell said they have reached out to Donors Choose for a project and have partnered with CBS Mornings to announce the 2025 Hall of Fame inductees.

Every year, the NTHF recognizes five Pre-K through 12th-grade teachers as inductees into the Hall of Fame. The Class of 2025 inductees will be announced through CBS Mornings’ live New York City broadcast and then participate in Emporia’s induction week.

“We hope to become an even bigger and more important part of what’s happening in Emporia,” Fennell said, “and you know, we want to interact more with students in the college. We want to do more things to help uplift the teaching profession.” 

Fennell hopes that this $500,000 donation will help them reach their goals and continue the work they are already doing with the Hall of Fame and the National Memorial to Fallen Educators.

The National Memorial to Fallen Educators is the only national memorial in Kansas and recognizes all education workers who have died in the line of duty. The honoring ceremonies honor those who have passed in the last year, but historical honorings are also done if past education workers are discovered to have died doing their jobs. The honors are not limited to just educators, but anyone who works to support education, like custodians, bus drivers and school resource officers.

“So we want to lift up those people, but at the same time, we need to lift up the profession as a whole,” said Fennel. “It’s a very difficult time right now to be a teacher, and so we want to do whatever we can to lift up the profession… and to talk about the great things that are going on in education.”