Huntingtown student gets national recognition

Friday, Oct. 10, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by DARWIN WEIGEL Kyle Hutzler, 16, a junior at Huntingtown High School, recently received a $10,000 scholarship for a project he completed on education reform. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

Kyle Hutzler, 16, was the recent recipient of a Davidson Fellows scholarship by the Davidson Institute of Talent Development for an essay he wrote on education reform.

According to a press release, Hutzler, a junior at Huntingtown High School, is one of 20 students across the nation to be recognized as a Davidson Fellow.

Hutzler and the other recipients were honored on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., this month for their accomplishments.

"It all started by chance," Hutzler said.

Hutzler said he took an interest in education issues and began researching and analyzing possible education reform.

"Originally, a one-page ,typed bullet-list ballooned into a monster," Hutzler said.

Some 30,000 words later, Hutzler's teachers sought to find a way for his essay to get some kind of recognition and together, Hutzler and the staff at Huntingtown High School stumbled on to this scholarship opportunity.

In an interview last week, Hutzler said he was humbled to be around the other recipients and Congressional representatives, especially by what he said they saw in him.

Principal of Huntingtown High School Rick Webber said he was proud of Hutzler's accomplishments and that Hutzler was a good representation of both Huntingtown High School and Calvert County when he went to Capitol Hill.

Two teachers who have worked closely with Hutzler on this project were Sandra Dawes and Amy Gibson.

While Hutzler created the idea and implemented the project on his own, these teachers assisted Hutzler with advice and made suggestions as to where to go with his project.

Dawes, a social studies teacher at Huntingtown High School, said what she finds most striking about Hutzler is "his interest beyond his immediate world. The global stage resonates with Kyle socially, economically and politically. He considers "the big picture" and looks at connections between ideas, institutions, agencies and countries."

"He wants public education to be relevant, meaningful and appropriately challenging, not just for himself, but for everyone," Gibson wrote in an e-mail. "He takes the time to get to know his classmates and reaches out to others in extraordinary ways.

"The Davidson Institute has identified him as ‘profoundly gifted,' and he is that, but I have also seen him at work in the classroom, interacting with his classmates in all sorts of positive ways to raise the level of engagement for us all. I love working with him," she added.

Hutzler said his essay points to education focusing on accountability and autonomy among other things, and says he sees changes in school systems that are leading to such focuses.

While he seems to have a strong grasp of education issues, Hutzler said he would like to study economics on a managerial level in college.

Having just started his junior year, Hutzler said he is unsure as to where he will attend college, but said he is sure to reach for the sky.

gphillips@somdnews.com