Butrimas’s past goes down in history

From skiing adventures in Colorado to travel trips to Russia, upper school AP United States History teacher Darcy Butrimas has had many influential experiences throughout her life.

Since her dad was a labor negotiator, Butrimas’s family was forced to migrate often, beginning at a young age. Butrimas grew up in Minneapolis before moving to Colorado.

“Colorado was definitely the most interesting place that I’ve lived,” Butrimas said. “I guess you could say my dad was an outdoor-type person, so we went camping a lot, and we used to drive up on the side of the mountains. We visited the old camps and ghost towns and what not.”

Alongside engaging in Colorado’s sites as a teenager, Butrimas was also an avid skier.

“I used to bomb down black slope skiing all the time in Colorado every weekend,” Butrimas said. “We just bombed it; we didn’t have any breaks and shot straight down. We bounced off trees, buildings, anything you could possibly think of. By the time we got back, we were so dead.  But that didn’t stop us. My brothers and I were always on every single ski bus that left on Saturday.”

After living in Colorado for ten years, Butrimas then moved to Virginia before attending college.

“My father was an activist; he went back to college when I was in school,” Butrimas said. “He also served in WWII and was working in the Air Force, where he was stationed in England and went over for the invasion of Normandy. When he was done, he went to college on the G.I. Bill, and even though he didn’t finish, he got into working at the Colorado Fuel and Iron.”

With the amount of traveling her father had to do, Butrimas faced adversity at a young age.

“It was really hard work,” Butrimas said. “I remember how hard it was when the workers went on strike – he ate hotdogs for four months. I never saw my dad because he was at meetings or going to people’s houses; it was a tough time and that was sort of indelible.”

Alongside her personal development, Butrimas’s political perspectives were also shaped in her youth.

“I was a red diaper baby – what they called children whose parents were leftists,” Butrimas said. “If your parents were, how could you be anything else? So I’ve always been pretty liberal, which followed me into college and that really influenced me quite a lot.”

Butrimas attended college at the George Washington University, where she was engaged in multiple activities, including protests.

“I was very involved in protests that took place at GW,” Butrimas said. “I attended GW during the Vietnam war, where there were a ton of anti-war protests and marches constantly held. One time, the SDS (Students for the Democratic Society) organized a really big march and the police were there… with their dogs and tear gas.  Everyone ran for their lives as we were being chased by them continuously.”

After Butrimas finished leading protests and debating politics at GW, she got married in 1969.

“I met my husband through my father, who had hired him since my husband was looking for an engineering job in Florida,” she said.

Additionally, Butrimas also has two children.

“My daughter works with billing and coding in the medical field and my son is currently working on his Ph.D. in optics and photonics, alongside being an engineer,” Butrimas said.

“It’s a lot of work, but I’m really proud of them,” she said.

During her time in Florida, Butrimas also decided that she wanted to teach and spent time at the University of Florida and University of Central Florida earning her teaching certificate.

“I was always interested in teaching,” Butrimas said. “Always; constantly spending a lot of time with people and working in study groups so it just seemed to be a natural thing. I don’t have any regrets and have always loved it.”

With her double major in English and History, it wasn’t long before Butrimas began her teaching career.

“When I first began teaching, I taught English for six years,” Butrimas said. “Then I taught European History, and switched to AP U.S. History, which I’ve stayed with for a long time.”

During her time at the school, Butrimas has been able to connect with her students on a different level through school trips and travel opportunities.

“I’ve traveled a lot through vacationing but also through school trips,” Butrimas said. “You get to see a lot of the cultures which is always interesting.

Throughout her lifetime, Butrimas has travelled to many countries in Europe, including England, Ireland, Scotland and Russia.

“Just generally, Russia was the biggest cultural experience because that was a student trip,” Butrimas said. “I had a lot of kids on that trip, and Communism was still in effect, so the kids had a good time poking fun at the agents that were there in the lobby of the hotel, specifically to spy on us.”

Despite the fact that Butrimas finds these foreign adventures an important aspect of her teaching career, she admits that the most rewarding part of her job is teaching the students.

“History is history – you never can finish reading it,” Butrimas said. “It’s always going to change your mind about things, and you’ll always learn something new. That just goes on, like a large river that keeps flowing along. But every year, the kids are different. That’s what keeps you going, because you never know what this new group is going to bring. Each year, the whole group dynamic changes.”

Throughout her 20 years (and counting) of teaching, Butrimas has made a permanent impact on her students.

“Mrs. Butrimas has changed my life as a student in a positive manner,” junior Rahim Gulamali said. “Her teaching style has taught me how to effectively learn about U.S. history, while still having time for extracurriculars, such as Forensics.”

With her ample historical knowledge and intriguing personal stories, Butrimas will no doubt continue to impact students in the future.