A Conversation with Mrs. Durant

Hailing from rural Maryland, Mrs. Kathy Durant has been teaching AP European History for about thirty years.

Eliana: What classes do you teach with TPS? How long have you been teaching? 

Mrs. Durant: I teach AP European History, and this is my second year at TPS.

Eliana: Can you tell me about your family? What are some of your favorite activities to do together?

Mrs. Durant: My husband, David, and I have three sons, three daughters-in-law, and nine grandchildren.  Our family loves to be together, just to be together. We like to talk, laugh, play games, sing, cook, hike, and just hang out together.

Eliana: Where do you live? What’s the area like? If you could choose anywhere in the world to live, what place would that be? 

Mrs. Durant: Right now, I live in rural Maryland, which is beautiful, hilly, and green.  But next month, Dave and I are moving to a suburban community just north of Columbus, Ohio, because 4 of our 9 grandchildren are there.  They are a homeschooling family, and they need our help!  My husband is a minister who works for a national ministry, and I teach with TPS, so we basically can live anywhere.  We are excited to be moving close to them but a little sad to leave our friends and family members here. If we could live anywhere at all, it would be close to all of our children and grandchildren, preferably on a mountain close to a beach, haha – kind of impossible!

Eliana: Ha, on a mountain close to a beach might be hard, but where I live, the beach and the mountains are both a half hour drive from the house: an easy day trip either way! Now, construct your dream ice cream sundae: flavors, toppings, sauces, the works!

Mrs. Durant: That’s easy.  Homemade Callebaut chocolate ice cream, marshmallow cream, and hot fudge.

Eliana: Hot chocolate but in sundae form. I love it. What’s one of the funniest/most memorable episodes from a TPS class that you have? 

Mrs. Durant: Nearly every AP Euro class gets a good laugh looking at Louis XIV’s hairstyle.  Last year, a student decided to see if she could recreate it. She did, posting a picture of herself as Louise XIV.  It was hilarious – you just could not un-see it afterwards.

Eliana: That sounds iconic. Moving on to the most wonderful topic of the year, what’s your favorite Christmas tradition and why?

Mrs. Durant: I have two favorites. The first is getting our whole family together. It just makes me happy to see siblings and cousins enjoy each other. The second is playing Christmas music on the hammered dulcimer with a friend. I love adding to the beauty of the remembrance of Christ’s birth.

Eliana: How lovely! Unique instruments like the hammered dulcimer are so fun. What’s one difficult and one rewarding aspect of teaching your specific subject?

Mrs. Durant: What is difficult about teaching AP European History is that there is so much content for students to grasp, and much of it is unfamiliar.  It is hard to be so demanding as a teacher.

Two really rewarding aspects of teaching this course stand out for me. One is seeing students accomplish so much more than they thought possible. The other is helping students grow in their cultural literacy because so much in our culture derives from European history; it’s not uncommon that APEH students start besting others in their families when they play Jeopardy!. 

Eliana: Haha, I love that! Speaking of trivia – what’s one of those movies to which you basically have every line of dialogue memorized and often reference?

Mrs. Durant: The Princess Bride and the Lord of the Rings trilogy (I know; you asked for one, but I couldn’t decide.)

Eliana: Completely understandable; both of those are excellent and very quotable choices, if I may say so myself. What’s a Bible verse you’d like to share with the TPS community, and why?

Mrs. Durant: “The mind of a person plans his way,

But the Lord directs his steps.” – Proverbs 16:9

I think it is very reassuring that God looks out for us and directs us. We have our plans, but we really don’t know what is best and most wise. God loves us enough to lead us where we should go.

What great advice to keep in mind as we come up on the new year! No matter whether you’re a senior facing big decisions on what to do next year after graduation or an underclassman preparing your study plan for next fall, the beginning of 2024 will surely bring about situations in which it’s extra comforting to keep in mind that no matter what we do, God is directing our steps for us along His wonderful path for our lives. Merry Christmas from your friendly neighborhood Teacher Spotlight columnist, and have a lovely school break!

Image credit: Kathy Durant