Three new educators are now members of the Kentucky Teacher Hall of Fame.

The induction ceremony was held Friday at Western Kentucky University.

Our Laura Rogers brings us the story from Bowling Green that in our Education Matters report.

It is a big surprise.

After 33 years in education, it's likely not easy to surprise Julie Cowan.

I've always believed that they're kindergartners or is the most important ever.

It's the foundation she's helped.

Young learners in Adair County have a strong foundation with activities like her kindergarten bucket list, where they get to choose how they spend some of their classroom time.

They wanted to bring their fish to school day.

Just one example.

And I'm like boys and girls, you know, not everybody has a fish.

So we ended up being goldfish.

You could bring goldfish crackers.

You could bring your real fetch.

You could bring your stuff to fish.

It is that creativity and compassion that helped earn Cowan a spot.

And the governor.

Louis be none.

Kentucky teacher Hall of Fame.

It brought tears to my eyes because once my kid always my kid to get an award where I'm actually just being me and doing what I love it is very humbling.

Jennifer Miller Fritch is also a new inductee.

She teaches art at Glasgow Middle School.

Having them in art, they get to see themselves in a different way.

One of the first things I tell them is like, look, there are 30 of you all.

Every one of you came from a different background.

You have different experiences.

Yet, she says each of them has the potential for artistic talent and expression, which she aims to encourage.

Inviting visiting artists to come speak and inspire.

Love that.

They feel like my room is safe.

I love that they know that they can come in there and be themselves, and I'm not comparing them to anybody.

Teachers, in my opinion, are the backbone of our great state.

Cowan and Fritch, along with the late Lois Chandler of Ballard County, were honored Friday, November 7th, at Western Kentucky University.

We know that teachers don't choose their profession for recognition, but instead to be a part of something larger than themselves.

To mold young minds and to make the world a better place.

That is certainly the case for these three teachers.

Lois Chandler, who passed away in 2020 at the age of 92, spent 56 years in education.

I can't think of a more noble profession than being a teacher.

State Representative Kevin Jackson pointing out that teachers wear a lot of hats.

Over the past three decades.

Julie Cowan has seen a lot of changes.

Now you have kids that are addicted to technology, coming to school at the age of five, and and their communication skills are really, really low.

Their hands on skills are really, really low.

That is a challenge now.

A reading interventionist at a Dare County primary center.

Cowan loves working with young children.

They're just so eager to learn when they're little.

I just think that we can learn a lot from them.

They've taught me much more than I have taught me.

For Fritch, it was teaching art at a summer camp that inspired her future career and eventual spot in the Hall of Fame.

The joy that they had while they were creating, I'm like, oh, this is it.

This is, you know, this is what I'm supposed to do.

For Kentucky Edition, I'm Laura Rogers.

Thank you, Laura, and our thanks to those fantastic teachers.

This is the Hall of Fame 17th class.

It was established in the year 2000.

There were a gift from Louis B Nunn, who served as Kentucky governor from 1967 to 1971.