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NRTA Honors
Janet Duncan and Shirley Morrison of Kansas
for Outstanding Work with Youth
Washington, DC – In 2009 NRTA: AARP’s Educator
Community honors Janet Duncan and Shirley
Morrison of Kansas
with NRTA With Our Youth! Dedication Awards.
Morrison and Duncan were two of only five people
honored nationally with Dedication Awards in the
Individual Category. The award highlights top
contenders that merited distinction for their
exceptional work.
Since 1998, Janet Duncan has volunteered 400 hours
annually to tutoring students in a local program.
The Hand to Hand Program, founded in 1996, offers
free tutoring and homework assistance to at-risk
students during the school year, and a reading and
math program during July. Duncan is considered the
“go-to person” for diagnosis and advice concerning
learning problems and oftentimes provides expert
help with any math, reading or writing problems.
Duncan served as an educator in the U.S. before
living in many parts of the world. One official
states, “Her special understanding and sensitivity
to cultural differences is very helpful with a
diverse population…Janet has made a difference in
many young lives.”
Shirley Morrison taught school for 32 years before
retiring in 1995. That same year, she became a big
sister in the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBS)
program and has been actively involved in the
program ever since. One teacher wrote about the
influence Morrison had on a “little sister” noting,
“Shirley has been a GREAT positive influence…Since
working with her, (the young woman) has made 100%
improvement …and has raised her grades from D’s and
F’s to A’s and B’s.” A BBBS staff member states
that Morrison oversaw one of her first little
sisters “from an eight year-old third grader to a
delightful married woman who has a little sister of
her own in the BBBS Club.”
“The winners of NRTA With Our Youth! awards
fill me with gratitude for their dedication and
service to the youth in their community. With the
commitment these retired educators demonstrate, it
is an honor to recognize such extraordinarily
deserving volunteers like Shirley and Janet,” states
Megan Hookey, Vice President of NRTA: AARP’s
Educator Community.
For more
information on the With Our Youth! program
contact Lynda Wheeler, KARSP Community Service
Chair.
Kansas Association of Retired School Personnel
515 Kansas Ave., Ste 201.
Topeka, KS 66603-3415
Phone: 785-232-8788
K.A.R.S.P@hotmail.com
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