Legion's top cop, teacher from Worland

Two Worland professionals have been named the Law Enforcement Officer of the Year and the Educator of the Year by The American Legion Department of Wyoming.

The statewide honors were presented to retired Washakie County Sheriff Steve Rakness and retired Worland High School history teacher Randy Durr at the Legion's annual Department Convention in Lusk on June 17. The award winners were nominated by Floyd Minch Post 44 of The American Legion in Worland. They were the winners at the District 4 Spring Conference and again at the state level against candidates from the other five districts in Wyoming.

"Post 44 is proud to have been able to nominate these two Washakie County leaders for statewide recognition," said Post 44 Adjutant Don Hall. "We were fortunate to have citizens of this caliber to put forward and grateful that others around the state agreed with our selection."

Rakness served 33 years for Washakie County, 17 as sheriff, opting not to seek re-election in 2022.

In addition to his career in law enforcement, which started in Saratoga, Rakness also served with the Wyoming Army National Guard. According to Hall, Rakness joined the Wyoming National Guard 133rd Engineer Company Support Platoon in Wheatland in 1975, and in 1979 after his time in Saratoga, he attended Officer Candidate School, where he graduated and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. From 1979 to 1982 he served as a Platoon Leader in the 133rd Engineer Company.

Durr began his career in education at Colstrip, Montana in 1981, where he taught U.S. History at the high school, six classes a day for three years. After Colstrip, Randy taught at a number of small Montana towns, including his hometown of Forsythe, Circle, Hamilton and Fort Benton, with a stint in Rupert, Idaho as well, where he was an assistant principal. In addition to his classroom duties, Randy coached football, basketball, and track and field at different schools.

It was at Fort Benton in 1994 that Durr decided to begin his week-long field trips to Washington, D.C.

Randy says the students walk an average of eighty miles during the field trip, with many of their tour destinations at the memorials and buildings surrounding the National Mall, which stretches from the National Capitol building to the Lincoln Memorial, with the Washington Monument rising 555 feet in the middle of the mall. In addition to walking the center of the Nation's Capital, the students travel on the Metro, Washington's subway system.

After 15 years in Worland, where he has served as principal (for a short stint), teacher and counselor, Durr retired from the Wyoming school system. He has signed a three-year contract with the Harlowton school district to be the school's superintendent.