New Castle High School–or Chrysler High School for the wiser–has been standing tall ever since its construction was completed in 1958. Thousands of students have been through the halls that defined the later childhoods of the many current residents of New Castle. Said students who were molded by the many excellent teachers who instilled their honorable values. Today, however, the teacher being discussed is one of the most incredible teachers in New Castle history, one who many students show daily respect to. A man so integral in his teaching, his honesty let his students see their own academic flaws and improve upon them. This teacher, of course, is Robert Hamilton.
For those who are unaware, Hamilton is a Biology teacher here at NCHS. He teaches both the normal biology classes as well as the higher academic classes and is extraordinarily good at teaching. Unlike most teachers, Hamilton sticks to an older, but very effective, style of teaching that many in the business like to call: Honesty. In other words, he does not sugarcoat a problem. If a student raises their hand to answer a question and they answer incorrectly, Hamilton will simply tell them they are wrong and help them understand why without treating the child like a toddler. One may think that behavior such as this would leave students with a negative view of him, however, the opposite is true. Many students share their positive opinions and memories when Hamilton is brought up. About his teaching method, he states that it is an incredibly effective way to teach a subject with haste. 60% of time in class must be spent in a lab of some sort, so he has to keep things incredibly brief. Some may disagree with his teaching style, however, his experience of teaching cannot be questioned.
Hamilton has been teaching for an incredibly admirable 39 years. With combined experience at places such as Purdue, Ferris State, North Central, and Lawrence Central, it is no surprise that Hamilton knows what he is doing when it comes to education. Surprisingly, however, Hamilton has stated that he did not always want to be a teacher. Biology had always been a given ever since he was younger, he specifically went to Butler for a bachelors of science and biology, but teaching was something that happened by pure coincidence. He did teaching as a coach while going to grad school, but as he coached he began to love the act of teaching. Eventually, Hamilton became a biology teacher and through that, he met his wife. As he states, “The rest was history.”
Since then, Hamilton has been faithfully teaching New Castle High School while building an incredible rapport with students. He states that one of his most memorable moments of teaching was helping students reach their potential. Regardless of whether the student cared about the subject, Hamilton always tried to help them, leading to mutual respect from many of the more–as he states–infamous students. Hamilton also states that he is thankful for New Castle to be able to provide him with the labs he uses, saying that they are some of the best educational labs in Indiana.
To anyone who is curious, no, Hamilton has no (admitted) favorite class. He notes that he respects all of his students individually and finds that respect and admiration can be found in all of them. Sadly, however, this is Hamilton’s last year of teaching as a whole. After this school year is over he will be officially retired. It is definite that he will miss the place. Hamilton states how much he enjoyed teaching here and how appreciative he is of all the students and people who made this job so rewarding. He is also incredibly excited for retirement, Hamilton noted how he has so much he wants to do with his wife and now that he is retiring he can not wait to check some things off his bucket list and live to his fullest.
