Kay Duff

Colleagues select Kay Duff as LGUSD teacher of year

By Jason Baker

A sunny Wednesday morning finds Daves Avenue third-grade teacher Kay Duff doing what teachers do best--leading. Just as a mother goose guides her goslings down the path to the pond, so Duff guides her students--single file of course--from an invigorating outdoor recess back to the halls of learning. Never too stern but far from a pushover, Duff directs students to their places. But no sooner do the youngsters begin to settle in their seats than the fire alarm begins to howl, signaling a return trip outside.

What can Duff do but smile? Such is the life of Teacher of the Year.

A teacher for 20 years--13 with the Los Gatos Union School District--Duff recently was awarded the distinction of LGUSD Teacher of the Year by a panel of her peers.

A Los Gatos native, Duff returned to the community after college and has taught various grade levels at both Daves Avenue and Lexington schools. She has spent many hours working with student councils and is highly respected by both her pupils and her peers, according to district officials. In 1997 she was honored as a distinguished employee, and the district employees again honored her at the district retirement party for her service to the students of the district.

District Superintendent Mary Ann Park also honored Duff at a recent meeting of the LGUSD board of trustees, quoting from statements by Duff's peers touting her high degree of professionalism, her many hours of extra work, her bringing staff together and her place as a positive role model.

In addition to her work with students, Duff served as chief negotiator for the LGETA during salary schedule negotiations with the district this year. She has served as lead negotiator for the past two years, and has been on the negotiating team for about nine years.

Duff said she felt pleased that her peers recognized the time and energy she invested not only in her students but in her co-workers as.

"The negotiation turned out to be a win/win situation. [The administrators] did right by us and we did right by them."

And what do her students think of Kay Duff? The smiles on their faces as they file back into the classroom speak for them.

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