New Texas Bluebonnet Award Program Coordinator Announced
Terri Harkey, an elementary librarian and instructional technology specialist in McKinney, will be the new Texas Bluebonnet Award Program Coordinator; her term is 2023-2026.
“Being named the Texas Bluebonnet Award Coordinator is truly a dream come true for me,” Harkey said. “I didn’t know where this journey would take me when I started volunteering with the TBA program eight years ago. I look forward to building upon the many traditions established over the years by the giants of our profession.”
Harkey is a librarian and instructional technology educator who has worked in education for more than 25 years. She worked as a middle and high school band director and saxophone instructor prior to becoming a librarian. She has a bachelor’s degree in music education from Texas Tech University, a master’s degree in library science from Texas Woman’s University and her principal certification from Lamar University.
She has served on the Texas Bluebonnet Award Committee in various capacities for the last eight years; including as the webmaster, on the program committee, as the social media chair and on the selection committee.
She has presented at the local, state and national level on many subjects including: iDevices in the Library, Makerspace Meets the Curriculum, Library Clubs, Author Visits, Student Created Content, and Coding. She is co-author of the TCEA – Book Creator Badge Certificate.
Harkey is a member of TLA, TCEA, and ISTE and was a finalist for TCEA Library Media Specialist of the year in 2015. She has been named Teacher of the Year on her campus several times and was awarded a PTA Lifetime Membership Award for her work in the community.
She is an ISTE certified educator and an ambassador for many tech tools including: Book Creator, OSMO, and Swivl.
Harkey lives in McKinney with her husband Alan, who is the director of bands at Austin College; two amazing sons, a really cool dog and a bearded dragon named Zook. She enjoys reading, gardening, playing her saxophone with Texas Mosaix and spending time on her ranch, the Z Bar Family Ranch near Big Bend National Park.
Her favorite books: Wonder by R.J. Palacio and The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
Currently reading: Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson, The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill and Thirst by Varsha Bajaj