[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 10003]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      HONORING STEWARTS CREEK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER TREY DUKE

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                            HON. BART GORDON

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 2, 2009

  Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate 
Trey Duke, a teacher at Stewarts Creek Elementary School, who was a 
2008 recipient of the Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award. 
Trey was the only Tennessee educator to receive the award in 2008, and 
he joins 56 other teachers from the state who have been honored with 
the award in the past.
  The Milken National Educators Award program began in 1985 and is now 
the largest teacher recognition program in the United States. The award 
honors K-12 teachers, principals and specialists with $25,000 
individual awards and gives them the opportunity to participate in a 
national teachers conference. At the conference, award recipients 
engage in professional development and examine possible solutions to 
significant issues in education with leaders from academia, government, 
business and the community.
  Prior to receiving the national award, Trey had only been teaching 
for five years. His creative teaching strategies, which include book 
clubs, music and PowerPoint presentations, have resulted in his fifth 
grade students not only meeting but exceeding proficiency goals. At the 
end of the year, he writes a poem detailing each student's progress and 
places the poem in his or her report card.
  ``I feel like part of my job is not just to instruct the students, 
but to make them excited and to make them want to come to school every 
day and to get them involved in what we learn,'' Trey says. His 
commitment to his students extends beyond the classroom, as evidenced 
by his leadership roles at the school and system level. Trey is acting 
principal when Stewarts Creek Elementary School Principal Richard Zago 
is absent.
  Congratulations, again, Trey. To impart a love of learning to 
children at this formative stage in their life is a gift they will 
carry with them and always prosper from.

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