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Catelyn Boze faced a decision after completing her master’s degree in English education at the University of Florida: Accept fully funded admission to a doctoral program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill or a similar offer from the University of Tennessee.

An ambitious student, she had completed her undergraduate work in interdisciplinary studies in the UF College of Liberal Arts and Sciences under the direction of Mary Watt, Ph.D., that melded medieval literature and culture, physical geography, climatology, English, and classical studies. Her choice: teaching high school in rural Putnam County.

Now, nearly a decade later, Boze’s decision has been validated with the Durling Prize from the Dante Society of America. She is the first teacher in Florida to receive the award, and the first public school teacher anywhere to be honored with it.

“I grew up in rural Florida. I really love the work of teaching and working with students, and so at the very last minute I decided to stay local,” she said from her classroom at Q.I. Roberts Jr-Sr High School in Florahome, midway between Gainesville and St. Augustine. “I just thought it was really important to bring great humanities teaching to a place where oftentimes students don’t get access to texts like Dante’s Inferno or Virgil’s Aeneid. It’s just been my mission to bring great humanities teaching to rural Florida.”

The 143-year-old Dante Society of America presents three annual prizes. The Dante Prize recognizes the best undergraduate paper. The Grandgent Award honors the best graduate student essay. And the Durling Prize celebrates excellence among secondary school teachers in the teaching of Dante’s work, life and times.

Boze maintains a close connection with UF and Watt, her adviser, who recently was named the interim dean of the college. Each year, Boze brings her rigorous Cambridge International Education program class to attend Watt’s lectures on Dante or other classical authors.

“(Watt) has always taken time to stay in touch with me and even mentor our kids, who oftentimes go to the University of Florida,” Boze said.

Watt commended Boze’s dedication to passing along the value of education, particularly in the humanities, to the next generation.

“At its core, Dante’s Divine Comedy is about striving for more – not more in the sense of material fame or fortune – but rather more knowledge, more spiritual fulfillment, and a deeper understanding of the world around us and the people with whom we walk the journey of life,” she said.

“At the same time, it emphasizes the importance of sharing with others what one has learned on this journey.  Catelyn’s commitment to teaching Dante in Putnam County embodies the spirit of the Divine Comedy, bringing to her students the wisdom she has acquired on her journey while enabling them to seek out a world beyond their own,” Watt said.

Among this year’s 52 graduates of Roberts High School, 12 have enrolled at UF, according to Boze.

“I’m really proud of the kids who major in classical studies at UF. Right now two of them are my former students,” she said.