Longtime Capital High School teacher Scott Le Duc was recognized Thursday as the Olympia School District’s 2026 Teacher of the Year.
“I can think of no one who is more highly deserving,” said Capital High School Principal Condee Wood said of Le Duc, reading from a nomination form, during a special Olympia School Board meeting.
“Oftentimes this is a surprise to the person who received it,” said Superintendent Patrick Murphy, noting that Le Duc was informed of the award via a surprise announcement during a staff meeting on Feb. 11.
Le Duc had walked into the meeting and saw one of his colleagues holding a bouquet.
Jokingly, he asked, “Are those for me?”
When it turned out that they were, Le Duc said he was “speechless” — something he said was rare for him.
He said he looked around the room at his colleagues and saw many people who were just as deserving as the award.
“I work with professional people who challenge themselves to be better than they are,” Le Duc said.
Now in his 30th year at Capital High School, Le Duc teaches a wide variety of career and technical education classes, including game design, film cinematography and music production.
Most of Le Duc’s classes are stacked, meaning multiple levels of the course within the same class period, and Le Duc has to support students with a wide range of interests, abilities and experience levels.
“Scott brings creativity, energy and purpose to everything he does,” said Paula Perryman, Olympia School District’s CTE director, in a news release published ahead of Thursday’s board meeting. “Whether he’s guiding students through filmmaking, music or game design, he makes learning meaningful and engaging. His colleagues admire his collaborative mindset, and his students know they have a teacher who genuinely believes in their potential.”
Le Duc’s students regularly work in teams to produce industry-standard projects, and Le Duc partners with industry professionals and postsecondary institutions to help students find clear pathways to careers.
The DigiPen Institute of Technology has even committed to covering 75% of tuition for students who earn an A in Le Duc’s game design class.
“Students describe him as demanding, supportive and deeply invested in their success,” Wood said.
Le Duc is also the district’s leading expert in AI classroom integration, and his work as both a CTE instructor and technological integrator is “truly unmatched,” Wood said.
His nomination form described him as an “extraordinary educator,” saying his work “reflects the very best in public education.”
Le Duc thanked his wife, who he joked “wears the pants in the family,” while he famously wears shorts to every occasion — including his recognition ceremony.
“I tried to dress up to come to the event and it just looked wrong,” Le Duc said.
