LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile
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Katy Duke
Position: Librarian
School: Bobby Summers Middle School
School District: Royse City Independent School District
City, State: Fate, TX
Katy Duke was nominated by a friend, Joe Santana.
Mrs. Duke is a leader, an innovator, and a dependable member of the school's team. She heads the Junior National Honor Society at the school. She volunteers by leading a UIL Reading team that competes against other schools in understanding literature and grammar. She's the school's webmaster, responsible for the website, its operation, and its content. Mrs. Duke was also awarded a $2,500 grant in 2021 from the Royse City ISD Education Foundation, which was utilized to replace outdated non-fiction books to promote inquiry and creativity in the classroom. She has also had the honor of being voted campus Teacher of the Year twice.
Mrs. Duke is a reliable resource who assists both her students and student aides in developing in the areas of research and library science. She has exceptional relationships with her students as a mentor, to the degree that her former students seek her out even after transitioning to high school, college, and beyond.
The following stories are two examples of Mrs. Duke's wonderful student relationships: First, one of Mrs. Duke's former elementary-grade students spent one year living with her and her family during a transition from one college to the next. The individual was 19 years old at that point, yet the mentorship began when the student was in 2nd grade.
"This speaks of the lifelong impact Mrs. Duke has on the lives of her students. She makes them feel welcomed, free to be themselves, that they belong in this world, and that they have something unique to contribute to society," said Santana.
Second, Tyrese Maxey from the Philadelphia Sixers had this to say about Mrs. Duke, who was his 2nd and 3rd grade teacher, in a 6ABC news article: "I always think about my 2nd and my 3rd grade teacher...Mrs. Duke...who was always coming to my games and being supportive of me, even when I played football. She pushed me to be the best version of Tyrese Maxey in the classroom, and that's when I really started stepping it up."