EMPORIA, Kan. — Three decades ago a 14-year-old student walked into a Kansas junior high school armed with an assault rifle and started firing, killing the school’s principal and wounding two teachers and a student.
On Thursday, the widow of Goddard Junior High School principal James McGee joined educators from Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., to dedicate a memorial to educators — administrators, teachers, bus drivers, and custodians alike — who have been killed while performing their duties.
The Memorial to Fallen Educators, located next to the National Teachers Hall of Fame on the Emporia State University campus, will ensure McGee and at least 112 other educators whose lives ended on duty aren’t forgotten, said Crystal McGee, who attended the dedication ceremony with two of her husband’s siblings and two of his children.
Staffers researched educator deaths back to 1764, where they found the first documented slaying of a teacher, said Jennifer Baldwin, administrative assistant for the National Teachers Hall of Fame.
The 113 names on the memorial are what researchers were able to find, but there undoubtedly are more, Baldwin said — including two new ones that came in since Thursday’s dedication.