State educators to enter Hall of Fame

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Three Oklahoma educators will be inducted Saturday into the Oklahoma Educators Hall of Fame. <br/><br/>This year's honorees are Judith Ann Barber, retired teacher and administrator

Sunday, September 11th 2005, 11:59 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Three Oklahoma educators will be inducted Saturday into the Oklahoma Educators Hall of Fame.

This year's honorees are Judith Ann Barber, retired teacher and administrator of the Norman School District; Bill S. Cole, president of East Central University; and Tommy G. Fulton, a retired art teacher from the Midwest City-Del City School District and former president of the Oklahoma Education Association.

The ceremony will be at Oklahoma Christian University, state schools Superintendent Sandy Garrett and the Oklahoma Educators Hall of Fame board of directors announced.

``When it comes to recognizing the accomplishments of career educators, the Educators Hall of Fame is the pinnacle in our state,'' Garrett said.

Barber began her career as a teacher's aide and physical education teacher at Norman's Adams Elementary in 1965 and worked in the district through 1997.

She served as an arts-in-education coordinator, a principal and a director of curriculum and instruction, as well as teaching at the University of Oklahoma.

Cole, who has 46 years of education experience, began his career in 1959 as a high school biology teacher and department chairman in the Putnam City School District. He also taught in the Purcell School District before moving into higher education.

Cole taught at El Reno Junior College now Redlands Community College beginning in 1967 and served as president from 1976 to 1989, when he became president at ECU.

Fulton began teaching in 1958 at Jarman Junior High in Mid-Del, where for a short time he also served as the wrestling coach. In 1974, he was elected OEA president and served a one-year term. In 1981, he returned to the association as deputy executive director. He retired in 1987.