DURAND

BURRILLVILLE — The valedictory speech was Stephanie L. Durand’s last homework assignment after four standout years at Burrillville High School.

She sweated over every word, anxious to come up with something unique. In the end, it was a word that she and her friends had already coined that made her speech special.

The word was “Christmahanakwanzakah.” It was a way of referring to a holiday party and trying to be politically correct at the same time, according to the valedictorian.

In her farewell address, Durand, the student who scored more correct answers than anyone else in high school, openly acknowledged that the Christmahanakwanzakah was a failure as far as political correctness goes.

But her recollection of the episode earlier this month gave Durand’s speech the sort of cachet she was looking for.

Durand, 17, has learned a lot since she went to the Deer Farm Elementary School.

For the most part, she’s always been heavily focused on her schoolwork. At one point, she took up figure skating, but that faded a while ago.

She developed a love of math and physics in high school.

Her older sister was a model student herself, eventually ranking near the top of her high school class.

The younger sister mentions this when she is asked why she thinks she was able to excel in school.

“I don’t know,” she says.

“It was just kind of expected of me,” she adds. “I loved to do what I was supposed to do.”

Durand also credits her teachers.

One of her history teachers is responsible for Durand’s college choice. She will attend the College of William & Mary in Virginia this fall.

During class one day, the teacher mentioned that he would have chosen William & Mary if he could do it all over again, Durand says.

Durand also likes history.

“It’s interesting,” Durand says. “You get to listen to other people’s stories.”

That was part of the allure for William & Mary. She says it is the nation’s oldest school. She liked the overall feel of the place when she visited.

Durand hopes to become a teacher herself one day.

She figures she’s likely to do that somewhere in her home state, depending on how much she likes Virginia. For now, she’s a Rhode Island girl.

“This is where my family is,” she says. “I might end up coming back here.”

mreynold@projo.com