SECURITY-WIDEFIELD, Colo. — After 31 years in education, the Superintendent of Widefield School District 3 will retire at the end of this school year. Kevin Duren has spent years teaching in D-3 and has served as Superintendent since 2021.
Duren decided to retire to spend more time with his wife, children and grandkids.
He said teachers have to make sacrifices during their career and oftentimes, its family. Duren is excited to spend more time with his loved ones when he retires.
“God bless teachers. They are the hardest working folks in the world. You give up your own connections with your own kids to connect to other students and it's a noble sacrifice that you make, but it is a sacrifice. I started to see my own grandchild and her development. I remember that there was a time where my daughter was right there where my granddaughter was and I was going to work and I was spending long hours and I didn't have the time. So I just really want to spend and invest that time back into my own family and make sure that, you know, their needs are taken care of,” Duren said.
He said it's time for someone else who is passionate about education and has new ideas to take on this role.
“I could sit here for another five years and continue to make it all about my ideas. But that's not how we get better. It's about getting different folks in there with a different perspective. We have good principals that are ready to to move up,” Duren said.
Duren grew up in a military family. Before Colorado Springs, he moved around quite a lot.
“My dad was in the military and so his last duty station was here in Fort Carson and we came to Widefield from Cleveland, Ohio. Before Cleveland was Okinawa, Japan, so we jumped around a lot,” Duren said.
Duren grew up going to school in District 3.
“I went to King Elementary in Widefield School District and went through 3rd through 12th grade,” Duren said.
He said he felt very accepted when he started school at Widefield.
“I think the biggest memory is just the acceptance that I felt. I got here being a military kid that just bounced around. It's hard to make friends. It's hard to feel like you have roots. It's hard to feel like people are going to accept you because in all the other places you kind of were just in a temporary stance. You were here for a little bit, knowing that you were going to leave. When I came to Widefield, I really felt like people were interested in me, in my development. I found skill sets that I never knew that I had. I was challenged in ways that I never knew that I could be challenged,” Duren said.
After graduating from Colorado State University, Duren got his first job back in Colorado Springs. He began teaching math at Janitell Junior High.
“I really felt the enjoyment of watching people learn and feeling the pride of being able to teach somebody,” Duren said.
Duren taught math for several years before transitioning into an administrative role.
“My goal was to be the principal of Widefield High School. When I got into administration, that was my main goal. I wanted to be the principal of the school that I went to,” Duren said.
He also served as assistant principal at Mesa Ridge High School and was the District's Executive Director of Secondary Learning.
“Being in leadership I've added to some of the things that we have really excelled at in District 3 is computer science, engineering, robotics,” Duren said.
With a passion for math, Duren launched coding courses, a robotics club, and engineering classes at many D-3 schools.
“If we can get kids excited about the applications of math computers is a cool thing. The accessibility of computers now being in the palm of your hand, how do you get kids really engaged in that work and seeing themselves as not just being consumers of it, but being authors of it,” Duren said.
News5 asked Duren what has changed the most over his 30 year career in education, he tells student's individual needs have grown.
“They need meals or there's some emotional concerns or there's, you know, mental health issues or maybe there's trauma in their background and for us to be able to understand that we just can't move forward with the lesson unless we've had our kids that have their basic needs,” Duren said.
He said education is no longer one size fits all.
“Every student is not seen as a number. Every student isn't seen as just, well, that person is just like this person. Everyone is unique and we have to identify those differences and really tailor what we do and the impacts of how we're engaging students in their educational opportunity on a personal level,” Duren said.
One of his focuses Duren had as a Superinindant was to make partnerships with the Colroado Springs workforce. He said it is important to listen to community partners and business to hear what the workforce needs, so D-3 can make modifications to their educational system in order to best prepare kids for life beyond public education.
“We are more connected to what happens after public education ends, which then backward propagates us into the things that we need to change within education, so that then we could send a better product into those areas,” Duren said.
Duren said it's hard to predict what the future of education will look like, but he said the teacher shortage, and navigating parent-involvement in schools are two challenges his successor will more than likely have to work through.
“When we are setting our goals of education, it's matching the goals of what the parents want for their students, and we're all on the same page. That handoff and that handshake has to include the parent. They have to be part of that team to say here's the direction and here's the package of opportunities that I want from my student and everybody needs to have a voice,” Duren said.
Duren said he will always remember the relationships he made with teachers, students, and parents in Widefield saying the district is a huge part of who he is today.
“Widefield has always been about relationships. When you've been in a district and a community for as long as you have your name, your name is your calling card and it's your reputation. It's the things that you have done. The good work that I did in my classroom is now still paying dividends as those students are now parents. As parents they are experiencing good things, bad things, conversations, questions, they feel comfortable and knowing that well, that's the same teacher or that's the same Ms. whoever that I had in those classes and we're still connecting as a community of learners and so it's the relationships,” Duren said.
Duren has some advice for his successor.
“I would just tell them to enjoy it. Enjoy the opportunity, really get out and talk to people. Get down at the street level knock on doors and I'll get a feel of where people are at and what their needs are. Really get a connection to the community that we're serving," Duren said. "I think for any new Superintendent is to embrace change, embrace having ambiguity in how decisions are to be made. There's not one size fits all. Nothing is ever going to stay the same from year to the next and enjoy the challenge. Make sure that there's other voices in the room before you make a definitive decision. Having as many issues and voices is going to give you the right angle to make the right decision,” Duren said.
He said even though he will be retired, he is planning on still being involved in activities within the school district, such as the robotics program.
“I never see myself just sitting around watching daytime TV or game shows. Not my speed. I still want to be involved in that arena and really, you know, make a difference for a lot more students in the community of Colorado Springs,” Duren said.
The board of education will start its process of hiring a new superintendent in the coming weeks.
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