TEG
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2016
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PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING
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Disc golf: a great
way to play!
WWW.EMPORIAGAZETTE.COM
NTHF 25TH INDUCTEES ANNOUNCED
COURTESY PHOTO
Kimberly Bearden teaches
seventh grade language arts
at the Ron Clark Academy in
Atlanta.
By Jessie Wagoner
[email protected]
The National Teachers Hall of
Fame has announced the five career
teachers that will make up the 25th
class to be inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame. Over
the past two weeks, the five teachers from five different states were
COURTESY PHOTO
COURTESY PHOTO
Debra Hurst of Austin, Texas is a June Teisan retired after 27
retired Pre-K and Kindergarten
years of teaching seventh
teacher.
grade science at Harper Woods
Secondary School in Michigan.
surprised in special assemblies
where they learned of the honor.
Inductees include Debra Hurst,
Jennifer Williams, Wade Whitehead, Kimberly Bearden and June
Teisan. Two of the teachers are
still in the classroom; three have
recently retired after decades of
professional dedication. The five
have a combined total of 148 years
of teaching experience.
Each school used a different
strategy to pull off the surprise announcement — from mysterious
guest speakers to assemblies for
encouraging student achievement
on spring tests.
“Whatever it takes to keep the
inductee in the dark until the announcement,” NTHF Executive Di-
COURTESY PHOTO
COURTESY PHOTO
Wade Whitehead of Roanoke
Virginia teaches fifth grade.
Jennifer Williams teaches high
school art in Nampa, Idaho.
rector, Carol Strickland said. “It’s a
very special honor to be inducted,
but to share that announcement
with your entire school, especially
when you’re the center of attention, puts a new spotlight on what
it means to be a teacher.
“Mrs. Teisan’s announcement
was more difficult because she
works with NOAA (National Oce-
anic and Atmospheric Administration) in Washington, D.C. It was
decided to make the announcement at the Science Conference
because many of her colleagues
and friends from across the country were attending. Additionally,
four NTHF inductees from past
Please see NTHF, Page 5
MULTIPLE
FIRES KEPT FIRE
DEPARTMENTS
BUSY
By Jessie Wagoner
[email protected]
Area fire departments were
kept busy battling a handful of
blazes throughout the county on
Tuesday. A red flag warning was
in place Tuesday because conditions were ripe for fires to go out
of control.
Fires were reported in the
300 block of north Highway 99
and in the 200 block of Road H
before 3 p.m. on Tuesday. By 4
p.m. an additional two fires were
reported at Road B and Highway
56 and the 100 block of Road U.
Shortly after 4 p.m. the
Emporia Fire Department re-
CHILDREN LEARN
DISC GOLF FUNDAMENTALS
Please see Fires, Page 5
BOBBY BROWN/COURTESY PHOTO
By Jessie Wagoner
[email protected]
WILDFIRES
LARGELY
CONTAINED IN
NORTHEAST
KANSAS
By Ben Bauman
Special to The Gazette
The fire outbreak in Northeast Kansas has been largely contained, according to local officials.
Wabaunsee County authorities report approximately 600
acres were burned near the town
of Alma. The fire is 75 percent
contained as of 10 p.m. Local fire
officials have released the mutual
aid responders from nearby counties and continue to monitor flareups. One house and one outbuilding are reported destroyed.
Riley County officials report
400-500 acres burned in the vicinity of Marlatt and U.S. 24, where
approximately 100-150 residents
were evacuated from a mobile
River Peters, 9, plays disc golf
any chance he gets and Tuesday
evening was no exception. River
and a little over 30 other children
took part in the first Glass Blown
Open Juniors Disc Golf Clinic
hosted by Dynamic Discs and The
Emporia Gazette.
“He loves to play and can’t wait
for the Glass Blown Open,” Peters
said. “He is super-excited about
that. It’s a great family-friendly
sport; he plays with friends, with
family. It is a super sport.”
The free clinic was held at
the Emporia Middle School and
helped children learn the basics
of the sport. The clinic served
as preparation for playing in the
Glass Blown Open Juniors Challenge scheduled for April 30 at the
Emporia High Middle School Disc
Golf Course. The Emporia Gazette
was named as the presenting sponsor for the Dynamic Discs Glass
Blown Open Juniors Challenge.
Children as young as five participated in the clinic, learning the
basics of how to hold and throw
their discs to mastering driving
and approach shots. With encouragement from experienced disc
golfers the children were soon
cheering each other on as the
chains clinked, signaling their
discs had found their way to the
basket.
Dixon Jowers with Dynamic
Discs says that disc golf is a wonderful sport for children to begin
playing early because they can
improve quickly and the
rapid success is
motivat-
ing for them.
“It’s not difficult to learn,” Jowers said. “You can improve greatly
very quickly. Even a six-year-old
can find success very quick. If you
have a six-year-old and tell them to
hit a golf ball they may swing ten
times and never hit it. But if you
give them a disc they are going
to throw it somewhere, it’s just a
matter of aiming. If you don’t find
success really quick it’s easy to go
away from it but this is motivating.”
Steve Stone brought three of his
children to the clinic because they
have recently begun to express an
interest in the
sport.
“A friend of mine competes and
he took our family out a couple of
weekends ago,” Stone said. “My
older kids really enjoyed it and it is
an inexpensive activity, outdoors.
So I wanted them to get into it
more and this is a great way for
them to learn the fundamentals.”
Dynamic Discs owner Jeremy
Rusco was pl