In 2011, he was named a Kansas Teacher of the Year finalist. He was inducted into the Scholastic Journalism Hall of Fame at the University of Oklahoma and was named a Texas Legend, as one of the most influential people in the state’s 75-year scholastic journalism history. His students’ publications – the newspaper, yearbook and news website -- have earned the nation’s highest honors, including the National Scholastic Press Association’s National Pacemaker and the Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s Gold Crown. Tate has been named the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund’s National High School Journalism Teacher of the Year as well as the Texas Max R. Haddick Teacher of the Year.