Andrew Beiter is an 8th grade social studies teacher at Springville Middle School. He, along with Thomas J. Knab, have been inducted into the National Teacher Hall of Fame.

“I love my job, teaching is a sacred profession to me, if I do my job well somebody is going to remember my name for the rest of their life,” Beiter said.

The College Football Playoff Foundation named the two local teachers along with three others from across the nation to be honored.

“I was surprised, elated, when you look at the other nominees it’s like wow! They chose me as one of them!” Knab said.

Knab is a visual arts teacher at Dodge Elementary in East Amherst, he is being honored for his role as a leader in arts education.

Teaching during a pandemic has prompted him to push the limits of creativity.

“I’m on a cart. I’m going into the classrooms, instead of them going into the art room, and then of course each room is set up differently, so it’s a little bit of a challenge, but we’re making it work,” Knab said.

Beiter, who has been a teacher for 25 years, is being honored for his role in founding human rights programs and his role in training teachers and students about the Holocaust.

“So many of the problems that exist in the world today can be rooted back to something that should of been taught, or should of been taught better,” said Beiter. “Working with our staff here in Buffalo and around the country, we’ve been able to provide teacher in-services, and online offerings and in-person conferences, that will hopefully allow them to take a deeper-dive into these problems with their students.”

The Foundation is giving each inductees $1,000 they can use on class resources.