York Town News
In memory: beloved teacher’s legacy will continue
By Jennifer L. Saunders
Jack Hoyt
YORK - It was the news no one in the York School Department - from administrators to staff to students - wanted to hear.
Early Wednesday morning, June 20, beloved York High School teacher Kenneth "Jack" Hoyt, Sr., passed away after a nine-month battle with acute myelogenous leukemia. He was 57 years old.
School Committee Chairwoman Marilyn Zotos announced Hoyt's passing to the community when the committee met that evening.
"He is a very beloved teacher," she said, adding, "This year's senior class had really done a lot to honor him."
Hoyt was diagnosed with leukemia last August. Just months later, in December, York High School's Shtick Happens Players, a new improvisational troupe, performed in honor of Hoyt in a benefit production at the York High School Auditorium. The performance was videotaped so that Hoyt, who was too ill to attend, would be able to see the humorous antics of these young performers who were taking the stage in his honor.
Then, on May 31, the Hoyt-a-thon fundraiser, also organized by York High School students and staff, raised more than $13,000 for a teacher who has become known across the community for making a difference in the lives of students.
Just one day later, the Class of 2007 dedicated their yearbook to Hoyt. The dedication was shared with Hoyt via a live feed to his laptop computer, which he watched with his wife.
His response to the students and staff at that ceremony was, "Thank you all very, very, very much. ... I'm pretty sick right now, but I'm trying to work as hard as I can to get better. Your prayers and strength have helped me through this ordeal, so thanks an awful lot."
As York High School Principal Bob Stevens said in an earlier interview, all of the efforts on Hoyt's behalf were well deserved. With more than 25 years of service at York High School, Stevens said Hoyt touched the lives of innumerable students.
As he put it, "He has always been an advocate for kids who struggle to come to school."
For Lisa Stathoplos, director of the Shtick Happens Players and a colleague of Hoyt's at York High School, hope had remained strong that Hoyt would beat the disease until his passing was announced last week. His death is a tragedy for students and members of the community alike, many of whom, she said, have known Hoyt much longer than she has.
"I would just say in my six years of knowing him that he is ‘the salt of the earth' - he really is," she said last week.
Zotos said Hoyt will not be forgotten.
"The entire community just feels so sorry to hear about Jack's passing," she said, expressing sympathy to Hoyt's family on behalf of the York Schools. "... Please know that Jack's legacy is a very strong one. When you touch students in the way that Jack has, you leave so much behind here."
Curriculum Coordinator Dr. Maryann Minard said Hoyt's passing on the last day of the 2006-2007 school year was felt by students and staff at York High School and beyond.
Everyone, she said, "really grieved Jack's loss" and came together to remember him and support one another. "We were left truly moved by the sense of family we have here."
On Saturday, June 23, a Mass of Christian Burial was held in Hoyt's honor at St. Anne's Church in his home town of Gorham. In addition to his wife, the family Hoyt leaves behind includes his son, Kenneth J. Hoyt, Jr.; daughter and son-in-law Casey Ann and John Paul Martinez and granddaughter Natalia Martinez, and his sister, Claudia Othuese.
As former students and colleagues have repeatedly said, teaching was Hoyt's first love.
"Jack really embraced a lot of our students who have been at-risk students," Zotos said. "... His memory will live on in a very memorable way."
Hoyt's family has requested that those who wish to honor his memory send donations to the Hoyt Memorial Scholarship, care of York High School, York, ME 03909.
