Bruce Hitchcock: DAR's Outstanding Teacher

Bruce Hitchcock, chairman of the social studies department at Noblesville High School, is the state winner of the Daughter of the American Revolution's Outstanding Teacher of American History award.

As a state winner, Mr. Hitchcock is among the teachers being considered for national recognition.

"This is a nice honor. It speaks well of Noblesville High School and Noblesville Schools," Mr. Hitchcock said.

"The DAR award is a validation, serving to remind us of the value and importance of the teaching of history and that efforts have not gone unnoticed," he said. "A history teacher has an inherent singular responsibility - to help students discover and understand the story of where we have been, where we are, and muse at to where we may be headed."

But the teaching of history is much more than the teaching of facts and information.

"It is also helping students improve skills in reading, writing, thinking, and analysis - those critical life skills which are so important to their future success in virtually whatever endeavor they engage," he said.

Mr. Hitchcock will be honored at a DAR program on March 31 in Indianapolis. He will not be able to attend because he will be enroute to Washington, D.C., with seven NHS students who will working as interns with Representative Dan Burton during Spring Break. He will be represented at the program by a school administrator who will read his statement to the DAR.

Although chapter members would love to have Mr. Hitchcock in attendance, it's appropriate that he would be on his way to the nation's capital with students, said Pat Egler of Carmel, the DAR member who nominated Mr. Hitchcock for the award.

Not only will the students be working with Representative Burton, they will be receiving "behind-the-scenes" tours of the Supreme Court, the West Wing of the White House, and the Capitol. Also, they will be visiting Mt. Vernon, Arlington National Cemetery, many of the national monuments and museums, and taking a three-hour dinner cruise on the Potomac. On their drive to Washington, they will stop at the Gettysburg batteground for a four-hour tour.

Just a year ago, Mr. Hitchcock received an "Outstanding Teacher Award" from the Center on Congress at Indiana University in recognition of his exemplary teaching about U.S. Congress. He also is a past recipient of the IPL Golden Apple Award. He also counts among his honors the opportunity to testify before Congress regarding a bill to extend the life of the JFK Assassinations Records Review Board.

Mr. Hitchcock teaches Honors U.S. History, Government, Honors Government, and International Relations classes at NHS. He has been a teacher for 32 years, all of those years in Noblesville.

His classes involve a variety of activities designed to promote critical thinking and problem solving skills. An example is the Model Congress.

Each year, students in his honors government classes participate in a model Congress simulation. If he has two government classes, one takes on the role of the House of Representatives and the second simulates the Senate. If he has three classes, the third becomes the executive branch.

Students are divided into political parties, discuss party issues, and publish a party platform. Each student is required to research and write a bill - and it must be written according to the format used in Congress.

Students who are a part of the executive branch also are required to write a bill and find a congressman to sponsor it.

Model Congress at NHS follows the same procedures as Congress on Capitol Hill. Students debate and approve rules for their chambers and follow guidelines for introducing bills.

The leadership assigns bills to committees and committees discuss and debate the bills, hold hearings, and call witnesses. Bills reported out of committee go to the floor for debate, amendments, and voting, and bills that are passed go to the President. If the President vetoes the bill, it is sent back for consideration by the House and Senate which may attempt to override the veto.

"This simulation attempts to fully provide students with an opportunity to experience being a member of Congress and the law-making process," Mr. Hitchcock said.

Learning doesn't stop at the classroom door.

Since 1981, he has taken student groups to Washington, D.C., to participate in seminar and internship opportunities. To date, he has taken more than 35 trips and well over 300 students to the nation's capital. Each trip involves a visit to the Gettysburg battlefield, Mt. Vernon, and various historic sites in D.C.

Seminar activities have been in conjunction with the Washington Workshops Congressional Seminar and internships have been with the offices of the JFK Assassination Records Review Board, Senator Lugar and Representative Burton. Noblesville High School is the only high school in the country to work with the Assassination Records Review Board, and Mr. Hitchcock believes it is the only high school to conduct such internship opportunities with congressional offices.

Mr. Hitchcock lists his association with the Advance College Project at Indiana University as one the highlights of his career. The program permits high school students to earn college credit in American History by taking the equivalent of IU's classes while in high school. He has participated in the program for several years. He and IU Professor Irving Katz conduct summer seminars for teachers new to the program and an annual History Review Day at IU for all ACP teachers.