Newport Harbor teacher wins award

Jennifer Kho

NEWPORT BEACH -- When Scott Dukes received the Excellence in Teaching

Mathematics and Science Award on Friday, the first thing he did was

attribute it to his students.

“I really don’t know what to say, but I think it is easier to excel

when you have kids like this,” he said after the surprise award

presentation by the California Foundation for Commerce and Education.

“They make you want to be with them, work with them and help them any way

you can.”

The next thing the Newport Harbor High School physics teacher did,

after he left the stage at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, was credit

the school for the rest of his success.

“I’m overwhelmed,” said Dukes, who founded the Da Vinci Academy for

students interested in science and math. “It’s a wonderful honor and I

feel humbled by it . . . It’s a wonderful school, a wonderful program and

I can’t feel more blessed. I’m happy with the school and everything that

goes on. Everybody’s so supportive.”

But Douglas Gordon, executive director of the California Foundation

for Commerce and Education, said that Dukes, picked from a field of

nominees statewide, deserved the award because of his outstanding work.

“He just seemed so outstanding in what he’s doing that the advisory

board unanimously agreed he should get the award,” Gordon said. “We focus

on teachers whose students are becoming successful. The success of a

teacher is measured by the success of his students and he is helping them

to achieve things they might not have been able to achieve without his

mentoring and his teaching.”

Thousands of dollars in scholarships, high scores in advanced

placement physics and first-place performances at the annual Physics

Olympics at Six Flags Magic Mountain attest to the success of Dukes’

students, according to Newport Harbor High School Principal Michael

Vossen.

Ryan Long, a junior at Newport Harbor who took one of Dukes’ classes

last year, said he enjoyed Dukes’ teaching style.

“He’s so energetic about what he’s doing that you also get excited

about what he’s doing,” Long said. “He makes it fun with jokes and,

instead of using the textbook examples, he uses examples that we would be

interested in. He prepares you very well. When he teaches you, it

sticks.”