She retired after a decorated Hamilton teaching career. Now she’s back to run ‘Genius Hour’

After she retired, former Hamilton Schools employee Susan Damm decided the best way to cap off three decades of teaching was to do some more teaching.

A past winner of the teacher of the year award at Hamilton’s old Filmore Elementary — now Highland Elementary — Damm has returned to her old school system as a volunteer at Highland and Bridgeport Elementary’s “Genius Hour” extracurricular learning program.

The 68-year-old’s return from retirement isn’t unusual for the Hamilton native and graduate of the city schools.

“So much of my life has involved teaching,” said Damm. “It’s not so much a vocation or even a profession. It’s a part of who I am and I’ve been very blessed.”

As a language arts teacher, Damm said during her 30 years of teaching, she averaged about 50 students per each school year.

She is reminded of the many former students as she ventures around the Butler County city and said it’s one of the perks of a long teaching career in one school system.

The Genius Hour program takes place before and after school and allows 5th and 6th grade students to explore, research subject matters of interest to them rather than those topics assigned during a typical school day.

That makes a lot of difference, said Damm, because the participating students also do projects around their areas of study, which are showcased later in the school year during a special event.

“They have a project where they teach everyone what they’ve been learning. A lot of learning today isn’t fun because of all the student testing. There isn’t a lot of time for kids to pursue what they are interested in,” she said.

Feeding youthful curiosity is essential, she said, “if you are going to foster life-long learning.”

“I help them refine their thinking as they come up with their passion projects,” said Damm.

The subjects chosen to be studied by the students at times surprises her.

“I have one student studying the impact of the French Resistance on World War II and another one is studying the first fort settlement in Hamilton,” she said.

Joni Copas, spokeswoman for the 10,000-student Hamilton Schools, said students benefit when a teacher makes volunteering part of their retirement.

“The district is very grateful when retired teachers like Mrs. Damm come back into our schools to volunteer, whether it be helping out at Book Fairs, sharing their expertise for special activities such as Genius Hour, judging Science Fairs, substituting in classrooms or tutoring students to strengthen the students’ reading skills,” said Copas.

“The passion and dedication to our students are very strong and we truly appreciate them being willing to still give their talents and time to benefit students,” she said.

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