For nearly two decades, Montana Duty has been supporting Unity Point School students, responding to emergencies, and caring deeply for the people around her.

Duty’s connection to Unity Point runs deeper than her job title. Her family’s story is woven into the life of the school. Her oldest son, Austin Duty, first walked through the doors as a preschool student in 2005. Five years later, her younger son, Landyn Duty, began preschool there as well. As her children grew through the school, Duty herself became part of the staff.

When Austin started school, Duty began working as an Extraordinary Care paraprofessional, often called an EOC para. The role involves working closely with students who need additional support throughout the school day. For many years, she served one-on-one with students across several grade levels, helping them navigate both learning and daily routines.

About three years ago, her role shifted. Today, she works in a self-contained special education classroom serving seventh and eighth graders. The work allows her to do something she truly enjoys: teaching and mentoring students who sometimes need an extra advocate in their corner.“I love to teach,” Duty says simply.

Her ability to connect with students comes from experience as much as training. Over the years, she has worked with children of all ages, and she understands that many students carry challenges that are not always visible in the classroom. Because of her own life experiences, she says she often recognizes when a student may be reacting to trauma or difficult circumstances. That perspective helps her respond with patience and understanding.

But Duty’s service to the community extends far beyond the walls of Unity Point.

Sixteen years ago, she joined the Makanda Fire Department as a volunteer firefighter. The decision grew out of a moment much earlier in her life. When she was 15 years old, her grandfather suffered a cardiac event. The experience left a deep impression on her.

Looking back, Duty says she realized that if something like that ever happened again, she wanted to know how to help. Learning CPR became a first step toward a lifelong commitment to emergency response.

Years later, she encountered a serious accident on the interstate. Without hesitation, Duty pulled a man from a vehicle and began CPR until emergency responders arrived. Her calm response and ability to act under pressure caught the attention of firefighters who later encouraged her to consider joining the department. She did—and quickly proved she had the temperament for the work.

Over time, her involvement expanded. A paramedic instructor connected with the Makanda department helped her find a path into paramedic training, making it possible for her to pursue the certification while raising two sons and working full-time. At the time, she had also recently become a single parent, making the opportunity even more significant. Today, Duty has spent more than a decade responding to emergencies with the department.

During the COVID pandemic, an early exposure allowed her to assist on additional emergency flights transporting patients in critical condition. Those experiences placed her in high-pressure medical situations, including trauma cases and neonatal transports, while feeding her love of flying.

Duty’s life has also included challenges of her own. When she was sixteen years old, a truck crashed into the house where she was staying, barreling into her bedroom and leaving her with devastating injuries. Her spine was fractured, and doctors were uncertain she would survive the night. She remembers being determined that she would recover. “I knew I was going to make it,” she says.

Today, Duty balances many roles in her life. She continues her work at Unity Point, serves the community through the fire department and ambulance service, and remains devoted to her two sons—one now a newly married 23-year-old working in the automotive field, and the other a teenager still finding his path.

Through it all, she credits the school community as one of the places that helps sustain her.

Even then, Duty finds herself drawn back to the classroom. “The drive to come here and help my kids is more important than my sleep,” she says.

For the students who know her and the community she serves, that commitment says everything about who Montana Duty is—a person who simply shows up when people need her most.