BRECKENRIDGE - The Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center (BOEC) announced on Wednesday the hiring of a new executive director, Bruce Fitch. As the outgoing president of Outward Bound Wilderness, Fitch will begin work at the BOEC on March 13.

"It is an honor to be selected for this opportunity," Fitch said. "The BOEC is legendary for helping children and adults discover their abilities, rather than focus on their disabilities."

Fitch was involved with the Outward Bound organization for 28 years. He began as an instructor with the Colorado Outward Bound School in Golden in 1977, and moved through the ranks until 1995, when he began his post as the executive director until 2002. He became the president and executive director of Outward Bound West, which merged two Outward Bound schools, and was named president of Outward Bound Wilderness, the largest division of the newly reorganized Outward Bound system, in March 2005.

"Bruce has done a great job of building Colorado Outward Bound School and we look forward to his patient leadership of the BOEC," said Brownell Bailey, chairman of the BOEC Board. "He has demonstrated an aptitude for building an organization while participating in the community."

Fitch lives in Frisco with his wife, Gini Bradley, a longtime participant in the local nonprofit community and former BOEC ski director herself, and his two children, ages 11 and 8.