Durr leaving Worland after 15 years

Looking back over his time spent teaching and administrating in Washakie County School District No. 1, Randy Durr said, "It's gone fast, it's just incredible how quick that's gone."

In November 2022, Durr declared that he would be retiring from his position at Worland High School. His retirement was approved to be granted effective the end of the contract year, in the summer of 2023. Rather than retire, however, he has accepted the role of Superintendent of the school district in Harlowton, Montana and will start in the fall of 2023.

Durr said, "We're keeping everything here, we're not moving to Montana altogether. One of the big reasons I agreed to go there is because my son lives 45 minutes away with my two granddaughters in Lewistown and my other son is four hours closer, he lives in Spokane. If we like it up there we might sell here and move back up to Montana, but it's hard to say right now.""

Durr has spent 42 years in education, the last 15 of which have been in Worland. Over that time he served as the Principal of Worland High School, the Guidance Counselor, and the AP United States History instructor. In recent years he also served as the Assistant Coach for both boys and girls Golf.

He mentioned he'd like to thank then Curriculum Director Mary Krisko for giving Durr a chance to return to the classroom in Worland to teach history again.

He set out on this career path starting in high school, at which point he said that he was influenced by his English teacher and Guidance Counselor Bob Clark. Durr said that Clark told him, "watching the way you are both in class and in athletics, being a teacher and coach would be a good fit for you." He graduated high school in Forsyth, Montana in 1976.

Durr said, "I initially was going to go to college to be an English teacher to follow in his footsteps. When I got to Eastern Mountain College I just didn't latch onto the English Curriculum." At this time, he had also taken a history class from a man named Dr. Richard Van Valkenburg, and this class began his interest in learning about history.

Unsure whether he was interested in pursuing a higher education after his first year in college, Durr decided to return home to Forsyth, Montana and worked for the city.

He said, "By semester time, I decided that I was tired of working with my hands and that I wanted to start working with my head." His opportunity to make that switch came when he was contacted by the Football Coach at Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana. Durr had originally been offered a scholarship by this same coach out of high school but didn't take it. Durr tells the story, saying "He said 'hey, I heard you're not in school. We'd like to give you an opportunity to come back to college and play ball, we've got some scholarship money for you.'"

Durr accepted the scholarship and returned to school at Rocky Mountain College. He said that during his schooling there, he took a history class from a professor named Lawrence Small that focused on the 1960's.

This began a passion – some may even call it an obsession – with the history of the 1960's. Durr said "If you look at the 1960's, you talk about an incredibly interesting period of time. You've got the election of the youngest president in United States history, his assassination, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Civil Rights, the Counter-Culture movement, the Manson Murders, the Moon Landing, the Vietnam War, just so much turmoil, and so many things that shaped our future."

The political climate of that era inspired him to major in Political Science which he would go on to receive a bachelor's degree in – alongside Physical Dducation – from Rocky Mountain College in 1981.

He started his career teaching United States History at the high school in Colstrip, Montana and worked as an assistant coach for their Football, Basketball and Track & Field teams for three years.

Durr moved to Circle, Montana in 1984 to once again teach United States History as well as World History. He was also the head coach in Football, Track & Field and served as the Guidance Counselor.

In 1986 he returned home to Forsyth, Montana and taught at the middle school as well as coached at the high school.

In 1988, Durr completed his Master's degree in Education at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana. He was then qualified in Secondary School Administration, Guidance & Counseling, and received endorsement as a Superintendent of Schools.

After completing his degree, Durr went to Rupert, Idaho for four years to serve as the Assistant Principal of Minico High School and teach Modern United States History. He named the superintendent of his school, Gene Snapp, as a main influence in how he approached administration for the rest of his career.

Following his time in Idaho, Durr returned to Montana for the next 16 years. He worked as a teacher, Activities Director, assistant Principal, Dean of Students, Principal and Superintendent over this time. He also coached Football and Basketball.

During that time he also began taking students on his famous Washington, D.C. experience trips, where Durr goes with his students on a week-long excursion to the Capital of the United States, giving students an opportunity to tour places such as the US Capitol Building and Arlington Cemetery. Beginning in 1994, he went on 12 of these trips before ever coming to Worland.

Looking back on his time as an educator, Durr said "After Bob Clark told me he thought I should be a teacher and coach, that's all I ever had in my mind to tell you the truth."

On his decision to leave his position in Worland, Durr said, "I think I've enjoyed the 15 years I've had here in Worland. I'm just kind of a different guy; I'm always looking for a challenge. I thought my role here was getting a little repetitive, and I decided that it was time for a change for me."

Durr said that another contributing factor was conjecture about whether AP classes would still be offered at Worland High School that turned out to be true. This would eliminate his AP United States History class, making Durr's future as a teacher uncertain.

He continued, saying, "I just thought this is a good time for me to get out, I've had a good run of 15 years here. I sat on that retirement from November until March, and then a friend of mine reached out and asked me if I'd be interested in applying to a job for a small school superintendent in Montana which I was before I came here. I thought about it a little bit, and I went over and talked to the people in Harlowton, Montana and we came to an agreement. So, I'm actually going to go be the Superintendent of schools there, and I'll do that until I don't want to do it anymore and then I'll retire."

Durr, after some reminiscing on his time teaching in Worland, said that his fondest memories of his career have been the ones made teaching at Worland over the last 15 years, specifically the Washington, D.C. trips. He said "The D.C. Trips since 2014 are probably the greatest memories simply because it's a different environment. I've gotten to get kids out of Worland to see the outside world and see what our nation's capital is like."

He added, "A lot of people ask me the biggest reward; I think that when kids text you and say 'Hey, I'm in Dallas' or 'I'm in Birmingham, Alabama', somewhere that I've taught them, I think that's very rewarding. When former students come back to see me, whether in person or if they reach out me over the phone or Facebook; just knowing that I've made a difference in their lives."

After a moment of reflection on his time spent in education over 42 years, Durr said "I've spent a lot of years building connections with students. My first group of seniors I taught will be turning 59 this year. It'll be different but I'll get through it somehow."