Bob Hodder with the James R. Garfield II "Teddy” and a Model-T Ford
President James A. Garfield’s Great Grandson.
For 35 years, veteran teacher Robert K. Hodder made history, English, and government classes seem alive for his high school and middle school students at Richmond Heights Local Schools. His favorite type of lesson was to have his students simulate historical events, such as the events leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence or to have them put Harry Truman on trial for War Crimes or Crimes Against Humanity.
These student simulations worked, but took large amounts of class time, something which today’s classroom teachers find vanishing rapidly. About the time that Hodder was retiring from teaching at Richmond Heights, several colleagues pointed out his close resemblance both facially and in size to President Theodore Roosevelt who just happened to be his favorite figure in American history.
Using this enjoyment of Theodore Roosevelt and his new employer’s need for an occasional reenactment of a president, Hodder began to enlarge his Roosevelt library. He began to study of all facets of the former president’s life and has put together a program which he puts on for various groups.
Hodder has found out that, by becoming former President Roosevelt, he commands the respect of students much more easily than most teachers are able to. Students seem to look at him as they would look at the president and they ask him the questions that they would want to know of Roosevelt. Little class time is wasted.
Rather than by lecturing a class about Theodore Roosevelt and Progressivism, the Colonel can come into your classroom as if it is 1912 and as if he is campaigning against William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson on the Bull Moose ticket. Your students will find some humor in his Taft tales and will be surprised in how the “radical progressive” tenets have all been pretty much accepted today.The students will also learn how the sickly, rich New York boy became a family man, a reformer, a Rough Rider, and President, among other things.
James R. Garfield II, Grandson of James R. Garfield, Theodore Roosevelt’s Secretary of the Interior and member of TR’s Tennis Cabinet
Nancy Kneen, Proprietor, Lawnfield Inn & Suites and host of “Dinner with the Presidents”
Chris Weinkamer (after “Dinner with the Presidents”)
Allison Sharaba, Operations Manager, James A. Garfield National Historic Site
Click Here to request this
presenter - 
Name of Program: President Theodore Roosevelt Looks Back
Typical Length of Program: 50-60 minutes
Grade Levels for Which Most Appropriate: 7-12
Would this be a good program in which members of your community could participate? Yes
Description
of Program:
This is a
first-person history of the 26th President of the United States as he
runs for an unprecedented third term for office. He shares exciting life
stories and accepts questions from the audience as he goes along.
Is
there a specific topic the teacher could or should cover before participating in
this videoconference?
A basic
knowledge of Theodore Roosevelt and the reasons for the Progressive movement.
Standard
1
How the rise of corporations, heavy industry, and mechanized farming transformed
the American people
Standard
2
Massive immigration after 1870 and how new social patterns, conflicts, and ideas
of national unity developed amid growing cultural diversity
Standard
3
The rise of the American labor movement and how political issues reflected
social and economic changes
Standard
4
Federal Indian policy and United States foreign policy after the Civil War
Standard
1
How Progressives and others addressed problems of industrial capitalism,
urbanization, and political corruption
Standard
2
The changing role of the United States in world affairs through World War I
Standard
3
How the United States changed from the end of World War I to the eve of the
Great Depression
Same as National History Standards
Contact
Jim Spence
Virent Broadcasting Co.
1320 Glenview Street
Reynoldsburg, OH 43068
Phone: (614)
860-9558
Email: virent@att.net