AUSTIN, Texas — When Asia Coleman remembers Ara Duke, her son's former teacher at IDEA Rundberg Academy, she immediately chokes up.
"She was the light of the day," Coleman said. "She was someone who we look forward to seeing at the school every day, you know? If we had an issue at the school or anything like that, she would handle it. She would go ahead and handle it for me."
If anyone ever needed encouragement, Duke's friend and the school's Assistant Principal of Operations Alexcia Daniels said Duke was always ready to give it.
"She found a way to make sure that you knew that you were capable and you were able and you were strong – whether that meant a student or whether that meant an adult that was having a rough day. Because we all have our days," Daniels said.
That connection is now broken. Duke was one of two people killed in a shooting during Saturday night's Juneteenth celebration at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock, leaving behind a husband and daughter who is pregnant with her first child.
Law enforcement officials are still searching for the suspect.
"It just hurts so bad because you try to wonder like, 'Why her?'" Coleman said.
It is a question left unanswered for incoming students and staff and a light dimmed and now missed from the hallways as families soon prepare for another school year.
"They're going to miss out on that graciousness, that love, that warm greeting, that 'I'm happy that you're here,'" Daniels said. "It's just one of those things that's irreplaceable, just spirit that's going to be in this building."
Daniels also said they are planning a memorial for Duke when the school year kicks off and are still ironing out the details. In the meantime, the school is offering counseling to those who need it.