First Rate for Second Grade

Cape Voices: Kathy Duran

CapeCod.com is proud to present Cape Voices.

Our goal with Cape Voices is to share different perspectives from people who live or work on the Cape.

Whether they be doctors, firefighters, teachers, cashiers, or lifeguards, we plan to share their stories with you.

 

kathy duranCape Countdown 

with Kathy Duran, 

Second Grade teacher

at Hyannis West Elementary School

 

 

 

6)      How long have you been in your current career?

I’ve been an educator in Barnstable for 20 years.

5)      What do you like most about it?

My career as an educator provides me with the opportunity to make a positive difference by teaching compassion alongside the curriculum needed to prepare these young ones for  the world of possibilities that lay ahead of them. I see my students clearly as leaders of tomorrow, and teach them to use their “voice” to invoke change.

4)      What are the biggest challenges?

Equity in education has always been, and still is the greatest challenge.

3)      What do you like most about living/working on Cape Cod?

My husband Matt and I moved from Jamaica Plain to Cape Cod to raise our family. I love my family and always put them first.  Family first; I actually teach that!  Josiah and Gina flourished here, and although it was a major shift for me, a Boston native, the longer I stay, the more I feel Cape Cod is home sweet home. We are nature lovers. Being able to walk the beach year round, (yes, even in the winter wind) and breathe in the energy it carries, is the greatest luxury, and the sunsets… The community spirit is alive and well here! Family + School = Success @ HYWEST is my motto.

Among the wonderful events at Hyannis West, we celebrate our families’  cultures at our annual Multicultural Night (which took place in June) with music, stories, artwork, history, and home-cooked dishes from Cape Verde to China.  The more we explore our differences, the more we see our commonalities. That’s what cool about humanity.

2)      What’s your favorite hobby?

My favorite hobbies are running along the surf with my dogs, biking the Cape Cod Rail Trail and photography.

1)      What is something that people might not know about you?

People might not know that I received the highest honor last year when I was recognized as Educator of the Year by the NAACP Cape Cod Chapter for my “contribution in the field of education and for the betterment of mankind.”  For a kid who thrived within the evolution of education that took place during the forced busing “crisis” to desegregate Boston Public Schools, this was a dream realized. People also may not know that just recently, my heart’s capacity to love increased ten fold, the moment I laid eyes on my firstborn grandson.



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