Richard Knoeppel: Recent inductee into the National Teachers Hall of Fame

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Richard Knoeppel: Stellar Las Vegas Career and Technical Education teacher and recent inductee into the National Teachers Hall of Fame.

There are many fine classroom educators who have been singled out for special recognition. One of these is computer technology teacher Richard Knoeppel of Las Vegas, Nevada, who was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame earlier this month.

Richard earned his Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Arts Education in 1967 from University of New York at Oswego. He earned his Master’s degree from the same institution the next year. In 2008, he earned an Advanced Studies Certificate from Southern Utah University.

Richard inaugurated his career in the classroom at Northport High School in New York, where he taught Drafting and vocational courses in auto shop and metal shop. From 1991 to 1994, he taught  Career and Technical Education at J. Taylor Finley Junior High School, also in New York. He spent the school year of 1994-1995 teaching Career and Technical Education to students grades six through eight at Robison Middle School. In 1995, Richard accepted a position as an instructor at Technologies Academy in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he has been teaching courses in architecture. In all, this stellar educator’s career has spanned 31 years.

Today, Richard is a teacher-leader at A-Tech. He serves as the Career and Technical Education Department Chair. He is also a member of the Nevada STEM Advisory Council.

For his work in the classroom, Richard has earned many accolades. In 2007, he was named to the Clark county School District Excellence in Education Hall of Fame. In 2014, he garnered Teacher of the Year honors at Magnet Schools of America, Region VIII. In 2017, he was honored as the Nevada State Teacher of the Year.

“As a Career and Technical Education Teacher, I firmly believe that I need to provide my students with the knowledge and skills they will need to thrive in the future,” declares Richard. “I want to provide them with the ability to be successful in jobs and careers that haven’t been thought of yet,” he says.