Dr. Connie Duke

Being an educator creates many unusual paths. Having been in education for more than 50 years encourages me to be forward thinking. One such event that I started is the 10th Annual Ghost of JU Write-a-thon, which encourages students to have fun writing. Over 160 students yearly participate from all majors. This is also a literacy fundraiser for Northeast Florida Literacy Alliance (NEFLA) and Art Creation Foundation for Children (ACFFC), having raised $3K+ to date.

Another avenue of education is training JU students to be mentors for NEFLA graduates preparing to enter the workplace.

Being more of a technical writer has led to me to become certified in grant writing and offer grant writing classes for the first time ever at JU. In this uncertain economic environment, having an ability to write grants can make our students more marketable.

Going in a totally different direction, I’ve published three children’s books about doing good, using JU students as illustrators: McKenzie and the Magical Crown, Max and the Bionic Binoculars, and Talula and the Twirling Tornado. The fourth in this series will be released in 2027, Hudson and the Talking Hands (about sign language). All proceeds benefit ACFFC.

Since 2007, I’ve been involved as a teacher and board member and now USA Director for ACFFC, a non-profit art and education group in Jacmel, Haiti. We have over 40 high risk young people, making sure they have safe dwellings, feeding them daily, funding their schooling, and training them with life skills: baking, solar cooking, sewing, English, paper mache, mosaic, silk painting, and light construction. We also provide tuition for “college” and have two in nursing school and one in medical school.

I’ve been awarded the JU Faculty Award for Excellence in Community Service and have been nominated several years for Woman of the Year. Education is an ongoing journey to learn and expand myself and my “world” to make a difference for good with my fellow humans. What paths lie ahead will also present new challenges.