Monticello Live

John Hoy began his life in the small town of Hughes, AR. He was raised by his mother and stepfather, James and Zenobia Graham. Mr. Hoy’s mother dropped out of high school in order to work on the farms in northeast Arkansas, and then earned her GED. She went on to receive her nursing license as well, and her promise was that all of her children would graduate from high school. They did.

Even with two hard-working parents, John’s family was living in poverty and the family would move wherever the most affordable housing could be found, including a move into Mr. Hoy’s grandfather’s house.

“I remember my family living with my grandfather for a while and with my aunt for a while before actually getting into a stable residence.”

John began working himself at a young age. He remembers being less than ten years old and working in a field picking cotton.

“All I really remember is that I wanted to make some money so I was allowed to try it. I picked all day, made one nickel, spent the nickel on one moon pie, and never picked again.”

After graduating from Hughes High School, John continued his education at East Arkansas Community College, Memphis State University (now University of Memphis), and he completed most of his undergraduate and graduate level work at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.

To help pay for college John worked construction with his stepfather. He said it was the hardest job he’s ever had.

“I was the person that dragged roots and tree limbs from the top of the road that the construction crew was building. The temperature was always around 100 degrees and I was on my feet dragging logs and roots for 12 hours per day. Eight hours on Saturday. If you compound that with the hour ride from Hughes to Memphis every day, all I did was eat, sleep, and work that summer. It did help pay for college that year.”

Mr. Hoy’s decision to go into education as a profession was made during his very first year of college. He said that he took a placement test and the results showed that mathematics was one of his greatest strengths.

“My rationale was simple. If I could become a math teacher, I would never have to worry about finding a job. You see, as much as I wanted to work, I could never find a real job in Arkansas prior to receiving my teaching certification.”

Finding work after graduating was definitely not a problem for Mr. Hoy. He has had quite the career in teaching, including teaching mathematics in Forrest City Public Schools, Atlanta Public Schools, and Forrest City Alternative School. He went on to serve as assistance principal for two years at Hughes School District before becoming principal there for six years.

“The last eight years prior to the position in Monticello I alternated between positions as an accountability coordinator and a federal programs coordinator in the Lee County School District in Marianna, AR.”

John’s greatest pride is not his career in education, but his two children Scarlet and Adam Hoy.

“Scarlet is my oldest. She is a graduate of ASU and is a registered nurse at Helena Regional Medical Center. My son, Adam, is a student at Monticello High School and he participates in football, basketball, cross country, and track. He is also in pre-AP classes and has regularly been on the honor roll.”

Currently, Mr. Hoy is the Assistant Superintendent for the Monticello School District. He says he really couldn’t pick one favorite part of his job, because every part is his favorite.

“Honestly, I love the work. I love teaching and interacting with students of all ages. I enjoy speaking on compelling issues. I enjoy studying the data in an attempt to make sense of it all. I enjoy conferences with people who might not agree with the decisions that I have to make as an administrator. I find that discourse with someone who disagrees with me always offers me perspectives that I might not otherwise understand.”

John has his career goals laid out very clearly. He says that his personal goals are always the same for the first three years on any job:

Year 1 – Stay out of the news.

“You see, with tremendous responsibility comes the opportunity to make tremendous mistakes. I consider the responsibility of education our nation’s youth to be a tremendous responsibility, so even small mistakes can become magnified.”

Year 2 – Have a positive impact.

“Having a job is nice, but just having a job has not been enough for me during my career. This is my year 2, so this year I plan to use what I have learned from year 1, combine that with all of the other experiences that I’ve had up to this point, and see if I can offer a positive contribution to Monticello School District.”

Year 3 – Make a difference.

“Year 3 and beyond is always about making a difference in the life of a child, a teacher, a school, a district, a city, a state, a nation, and/or a planet. The truth is, if you can make a positive difference in the life of a child or a teacher, the rest will take care of itself.”

John Hoy is a member of Holmes Chapel Presbyterian Church and is involved in clubs such as the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators, National Staff Development Council, Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, and the Arkansas Association of Curriculum and Instruction Administrators.

FAVORTIES

Food – “I enjoy a variety of foods so nothing stands out.”

Restaurant – “No favorite – I would rather cook and eat in.”

TV Shows – Survivor and NFL football (if the Minnesota Vikings are playing)

Movies – Oh Brother Where Art Thou, Terminator, Remember the Titans, Gladiator, Stand and Deliver, The Imitation of Life

Author – Dr. Seuss “He and I together helped my children learn to read.”

Book – KJV of the Bible

Favorite thing to do when you’re not working? “Walking. Preferably with a group of people laughing and talking about life in general.”

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 29th, 2010 at 11:50 am and is filed under Feature: OML. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.