Mr. Bach has taught at Hudson High School for 22 years, 15 of which have been dedicated to AP US History. Mr. Bach says what he loves about history is the ability to look back with the perspective of time and see how and what happened, which is one of the reasons why he generally dislikes modern history in comparison to the rest of the units he teaches.
His favorite part about teaching in general is, “Getting to know the students and what they bring. Though you might teach some of the same topics each year and you might try to teach it in different ways, it’s what the students bring to it and what they add.” Bach really loves the community present at HHS, saying that his favorite part is “Really the whole community, students don’t really see everything because you know your high school.”
He also commented on the level of assistance and camaraderie present at the school. “The students here really do support each other, and the parents are really supportive of their children. They want what’s best for their community and their kids, so I think it’s really the cohesion in this community. You’re always gonna have outliers. No place is going to be perfect, but overall, this community, from the young people to the old people, are really supportive.” He says that these are some of the reasons why HHS is so great, and the community is so friendly.
Before coming to Hudson, Bach taught in the Chicago suburbs. Growing up, he wanted to work in one of three professions as a child: teaching, law enforcement or to be on the radio. He grew up on the south side of Chicago and lived there until he was 24 years old. While studying at Northwestern University, he met his wife, with whom he later moved to Cleveland.
He recalls his childhood in Chicago fondly. “I grew up in the south side of Chicago on a block that had about 30 homes on one city block, and it was just the neighborhood. We as kids were just able to go out and ride our bikes and play ghost in the graveyard, or we literally had a cemetery next door we used to hang out in—the Chicago police didn’t like that. Play 4 corners baseball, play basketball in the alley, play touch football in the street, play street hockey, hang out at 7/11: the amount of freedom we just had to roam around and just be kids was awesome, I loved that.”
Now, he says that he lives in “suburban dad paradise” with his family. Mr. Bach has two children, William and Xander, both of them attend University School. His wife is an attorney and they have a dog named Anabelle, who is a cavachon. When asked about what his favorite part about having a family was, he said it was “Hard for me to put into words. I couldn’t imagine a world without my wife and my boys. I mean it’s just so complete with all of them.”
In his free time, Mr. Bach likes to listen to audiobooks. He is also fond of sports, specifically the NFL. One of his favorite things to do is travel.
Mr. Bach has traveled out of the US multiple times and enjoys doing so with his family. His favorite country that he has visited is Ireland. He traveled there with his family and he loves its natural beauty, long stretching history and the presence of well preserved ancient sites in the country, such as the castles and monasteries dating back to the medieval era.
The Bach family mainly visited the northeastern part of the island. “We stuck to the countryside, where there weren’t any tourists. So, when I got close to Dublin I started to see big interchanges like back home like the interstate and I went ‘eh let’s go back up to the countryside.’ So we kind of stayed where there were very few tourists and it was just gorgeous out in the countryside.” He also has an RV which he likes to travel in with his family for vacations.
Mr. Bach is a dedicated teacher, family member and part of the HHS community. He’s an interesting person with a variety of interests and an enthusiasm that makes him a unique and widely-loved teacher. Mr. Bach loves the sense of togetherness at HHS and works hard to contribute to it.
