Holly Duke became a teacher to establish the love and benefits of learning in others. In December of 2001, she graduated from Bradley University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Studies for Secondary Education and History. In 2004, she received a Master of Arts in Teaching from Rockford College. After graduating from Bradley University, Holly spent a semester as a substitute teacher in multiple districts in the Tri-county area, then accepted a position with Peoria Public Schools District 150 in August of 2002. Over the past 21 years, Holly has experienced three school closures, leading her to teach in five separate buildings within Peoria Public Schools. She eventually landed at Peoria High School and immediately knew that was where she wanted to stay. In 2011, Holly seized the opportunity to choose Peoria High School as her “home school” and she continues to be a proud member of the “Pride of the City” 12 years later. At Peoria High School, Holly has taught or co-taught American Government, Behind the Wheel, Chemistry, Credit Recovery, Economics, English 1, 2, 3, & 4, English as a Second Language, Freshman Seminar, Geography, Survey to Social Studies, United States History, and World History. Each year, Junior Achievement works with Holly to find JA courses that can be easily integrated into her existing classroom curriculum. Her students have been utilized to pilot new JA courses, as well as, participating in the JA Titan of Business Challenge and taking field trips to experience Job Shadowing at AT&T – both in person and virtually. Holly shared, “The invaluable knowledge and growth my students have gained from JA comes not only from the curriculum, but the experiences and amazing volunteers who come into the classroom to mentor. For example, one of my former students who participated in the JA Titan of Business Challenge program discovered that she loved marketing. She decided to major in marketing, and just last year came back to thank me for having JA open a new world to her. JA makes my desire to establish the love and benefits of learning to students a possibility.”