Hosted by Hope Schools Superintendent Jonathan Crossley, the event began with a reception at which snacks were provided, then proceeded with his introduction of the first inductee, Terri Ann Turner, a teacher of math and sometimes language arts at Yerger Middle and Beryl Henry Elementary. 

Crossley said of Turner, “She believed that every child could succeed, no matter their background, and built her classroom on fairness, structure and care.”

Retiring in 2014 at the same time as her husband Johnny Turner, a coach and teacher himself, Turner continued to contribute to her community, Crossley explained. “She volunteers with Lions Club, helping distribute food to families in need, and remains a steadfast advocate for children.”

In her acceptance speech, Turner first thanked God but also thanked the Hall of Fame committee as well as several colleagues.  “We taught together, and times weren't that good all the time, but we came together and said, ‘We're in this together through all the hard time.’ I just taught math starting out, but I had other teachers teaching the other subjects, so it all came together.”  

She recalled a time when she adopted a workshop technique for teaching math taught to her by a math-teaching colleague.  “Miss Judee Gunter--I remember one day she came in, she said ‘She's using this!’  She ran down to my room. She was so happy doing things that they brought in for us to try, just to see if it could work. And most of the time it did,” Turner said.

Turner said she did not originally plan a career in education when she was younger, despite being in a family of educators.  “I thought I was going to be a business person, but I’m thankful that I was there in the classroom that I knew the students needed someone that believed in them, that inspired them, to give them confidence.”  

Judee Gunter went to the podium and described attending one of Turner’s classes and seeing students doing math problems at an overhead projector while explaining their thinking.  “What that says is she was willing to step outside the box on behalf of her kids and give them a chance to learn a new way. And so I was so impressed with that. I think that she is brave for doing that, and I hope that she got some good results.”

Robert Jones, a professor at Texarkana College, attested Turner was determined not to be a teacher, but joked, “She got out of college and couldn’t find a job.”  Turner took some math courses from Jones, though he had asked her first if she was sure she wanted to take them with her brother.  Jones said, “I think one reason why she does so well with these students was because she was struggling.”  At this there was laughter in the audience.  “I had them to do a binder to keep up with all of their work. And I think for the next 10 years, she referred back to that … and I think she used some of those approaches.”

Johnny Turner also spoke to honor his wife’s induction.  “My wife, she was dedicated to her work. I’ve never seen anyone work as hard as she did at home and in the classroom. When I went to Beryl Henry in my later years, the kids would go to lunch. I'd be walking down the hall, and my wife would still be in her class teaching.”

Next to be inducted was Robin Townsend, whose career as an educator spanned 33 years, starting at Clinton Primary School.  Crossley said of her, “She believed learning should be fun, but often [while] telling her students, we'll have as much fun as you allow us to have.  As an instructional facilitator and later assistant principal at Clinton primary, Robin became known for her fairness, approachability, and steadfast belief that relationships are the foundation for all learning.”

At the podium to accept the induction, Townsend said, “I am so thankful for all the people I've met, all the students. It's been a joy the last few years being back at Clinton Primary and actually hiring some of our former students back to work for us. It makes you feel old, but it is nice.”  

One of Townsend’s mentors, a 2023 Hall of Fame inductee herself, Kathryn Dickinson, in whose classroom Townsend did her practice teaching, said she was impressed with Townsend quite early because she was willing to change the schedule it it meant meeting a teaching objective.  

Bill Hoglund, former teacher, Hope High principal, current Hope School Board member and parent of two students of Townsend’s said, “She just did a great job with Heidi and Zach, and I saw her do it for years with everybody's kids, and that's such a special trait, where you know that teacher cares as much about your kid as you care about your kids. And that's the sweet spot of teaching.” 

Two more friends of Townsend spoke in her honor, one who was a work colleague and another from the medical field.  Crossley said that in the meetings in which Townsend took part, “you became a conscience in that conversation, and it's because of long-time service, it's because of your heart, it’s because of your reputation for keeping kids first.”

The next inductee was Virginia Moore, of whom Crossley said, “inspired by her own first grade teacher, Miss Barber, ‘so loving and patient that I wanted to be just like her,’ Moore carried the same warmth and gentleness into a 45-year career devoted to the growth of young learners.”  Moore started in education with nine years in the Prescott school system, then joined Hope for 36 years. 

“Her career spanned the classroom, teaching, literacy, coaching through the Reading First initiative and later mentoring colleagues as a reading coach,” Crossley continued.  After serving for years in roles as a coach, she returned to the classroom at Clinton Primary, serving there one last year before retirement this past May. 

Moore, who won 2025 Hempstead County Teacher of the Year at the Hope-Hempstead Chamber of Commerce banquet, said in acceptance of her induction, “I'd like to thank my family, those that are here and those that could not be here. I'd like to thank all of those students whose lives I've touched, colleagues that I've worked with, like Robin.  Hope Public Schools will always be a part of me.”

Moore’s daughter said that while she was not an educator herself, thus breaking the streak of teachers in Moore’s family, as a physician she certainly has to educate her patients on their health.  

Robin Townsend said she has a friendship with Moore that has carried on in school buildings and out.  “We traveled together. I don't think there was anything we didn't know about each other in professional development. We’ve laughed together, we’ve cried together, we’ve cussed together. We probably did it all.”

Crossley said Moore was excellent as a facilitator.  “You have the research. It's the practice. It’s the coaching. It’s the heart.”  In attending one of Moore’s classes in her last year, Crossley said, “it set me on fire, watching you teach. And for that gift, I say, thank you. I appreciate your dedication.”

The next inductee was Susan Henley Powers, whose contributions to Hope Public Schools Crossley described: “In 1981 legendary coach Melba Hall called Powers home to Hope, offering her a chance to coach seventh through ninth grade basketball. She accepted, launching a four- decade career that would impact every corner of this district. Powers spent 20 years at Yerger Middle School before transitioning to Hope High School, where she continued teaching physical education, supporting students with disabilities and serving as activities director for her final eight years.”

Powers, in her acceptance speech said, “I was raised in Hope and graduated in 1975 and went to college. But Hope has always been home to me.” She recounted growing up with three older brothers and doing all she could to “keep up with them.”  College was at University of Central Arkansas, where Powers was a standout basketball player. She joked that she would see future Hope colleague, current Dean of Students/Basketball Coach Sam Bradford, who was a student at nearby Hendrix College, waiting outside the women’s dorms, which caused laughter in the room.  Bradford, who was present, playfully denied this.  

Powers continued, saying the job searches after graduation from UCA were difficult but that Melba Hall, who had come to coach at Hope High when Powers was a senior, asked if she would like to return to Hope to coach and teach.  “I came back to Hope, and I'm so glad I did. My family's here. I was activities director for the last few years.  With all the people you meet, the things you do, the things you can't do, you wonder if you're making the right decisions. I've been blessed in working with a bunch of good people. Coach Hoglund was there before me. He kind of guided me through that. Coach Turner kind of guided me through that. Coach Phillip Turner's there now. Many have worked together for the last few years. Great times, and I'm just so thankful today.”

In tribute to her induction, her husband, T. Powers, said when he first got to the podium, “I just found out the best days for my wife was playing college basketball.” This prompted laughter. He said Powers was a person who liked to organize things her way.   He told of being three days into his marriage to Powers and starting to load the dishwasher only to be told, “You go sit down in the living room.  I’ll let you know if I need you.”  He praised Powers as a competitor, even at Ping-Pong and a hard worker dedicated to her students’ learning but also to maintaining a good life for her family.

Representative Dolly Henley, Powers’ sister-in-law, also spoke in tribute, pointing out Powers was the anchor of the family. She pointed out that while teaching high-achieving students and those with families invested in their education.  “I think it's very, very difficult to teach the student who has no home life, who doesn't know where they're going to sleep at night, who doesn't know where they're going to eat for breakfast or at supper. Those are the type students that my sister-in-law Susan recognizes when she was in the classroom and she was on the court, and even today,” Henley said, referring to a recent case of a student Powers helped to get to school so he could participate in his learning. 

Hope football coach and co-activities director Phillip Turner said he remembered Powers from his attendance of Yerger Middle as a student when she taught him P.E. and when he joined the district eight years ago, she became a major help to him learning the ropes of being co-activities director.  “You took me under your wing to show me how to direct activities, direct business, but my highlight is every Friday, every Saturday, every Thursday, watching that concession stand.” Powers, who volunteers in the stand, impressed him, Turner said with her mastery of running it. 

Johnny Turner praised Powers’ acumen at organization, saying she even would help straighten the papers on his desk, but above all he could see her true caring for her students. “if they were starving, she made a way for them to eat. If they needed a ride home out of practice, she took them home. She was a dedicated worker.  A loveable person, she never met a stranger.”  He also said he was pleased by being kept fully apprised about how Powers’ medical checkups are going as she continues cancer treatment. 

Coach Bradford spoke, too.  He said when he first met her, he was new to Hope and she had been very helpful to him.  About Powers’ saying he was seen at the UCA women’s dorm, Bradford said he was often at UCA, because it had a bigger library than Hendrix did. “And the library just happened to be next door to her dorm,” he explained.

He said that with Powers help, the district had been able to accomplish a lot.  Bill Hoglund jokingly said he appreciated Susan Henley Powers being on his side in disputes with Bradford. He said he really got the measure of her teaching ability in adaptive physical education when her students went from not being able to throw a ball to being able to take part in free throw contests and credited her influence with his being able to do the job of athletic director.

Powers’ younger brother spoke about being taught to obey Powers when she asked for anything.  

The next inductee, a posthumous one, was of Valjean Echols, a chemistry and physics teacher at Hope High who grew up in the Delight community as a farmer.  “She delighted in watching her students discover, question and grow.  Every experiment and every lab session represented an opportunity for a young mind to see the world differently. Her impact stretched beyond textbooks. Former Students of Miss Valjean went on to become doctors, community leaders, business owners and professionals across Arkansas and beyond. One even became a funeral home director. Another a military officer who oversaw Patriot missile batteries.”

In tributes to her induction, she was praised for her leadership in recruiting fellow teachers to the Arkansas Education Association and for speaking up for teachers’ working conditions and for shared governance.  Gunter recounted a story of seeing Echols introduced by Superintendent Joe Barrentine as the “little woman who could walk into a buzzsaw.”  She also remembered her dealing pretty candidly with an obscene phone caller to their hotel room while Echols, she and other faculty were on a work trip so that they never heard from him again.

Jerry Pruden, a former student of Echols’, said that he understood the value of discipline in education because of Echols’ policy of assigning maximum grades based on number of classes missed, which caused him and his late brother some anxiety since they were both on the golf team.  

Margaret Moss, a member of the Hall of Fame Committee commended Turner for being a great math teacher at Beryl Henry, continuing to contribute to her community today in the Retired Teachers’ Association; Moore for her “gift for making her students feel valued;” Robin Townsend for the “love she shared for all her students;” Powers for continuing to visit Hope schools to share her expertise; for Echols who “when she spoke for the Arkansas Education Association, everyone listened” and “was a true giant.”  She thanked each of the inductees for their dedicated service.

Former Hope Superintendent Kenneth Muldrew, another member of the committee, said he would regularly ask teachers thinking of retiring to give him three more years.  He said to Crossley, “As the superintendent of schools, you need to give them three more years. They’re the best teachers in America,” which prompted Crossley to joke that contracts for signing were in the back of the room.  He said such days as the Hall of Fame event made him want to be a Bobcat for Life.  

Hope Public Schools Educators Hall of Fame inductees were given instructions for participating in Friday night’s introductions at the Hope Bobcats game.  New faculty member at Hope High and public information officer Antonio McClain spoke at the end to praise the inductees, say he was inspired by their examples and hoped to continue in their path.

Above photo: Susan Henley Powers makes her acceptance speech as she is inducted into the Hope Public Schools' Educators Hall of Fame class of 2025.