Students mourn loss of teacher

GREENUP COUNTY, Ky. (WSAZ) - Students and unit connected Thursday were mourning the decease of Greenup County High School teacher and manager Jamie Kennedy.

A wellness teacher and adjunct shot coach, Kennedy’s passing distant was announced Wednesday by Superintendent Traysea Moresea.

Kennnedy was 49.

“When I had to talk the words to our squad that Jamie Kennedy had passed away, it wounded deeply,” said Zack Moore, Greenup County High’s caput shot coach. “Although everyone successful the country knew it was true, the words wounded due to the fact that we had to admit what we had lost. A friend, coach, teacher, and 1 of the astir genuine men immoderate of america person known.”

Players connected Kennedy’s team, including Tanner Fortson, said Kennedy was much similar a begetter fig and relation model.

“You could telephone him astatine 3 o’clock successful the greeting successful the mediate of the nighttime and if you needed anything, didn’t substance what clip it was, helium was determination to help,” Fortson said.

Superintendent Moresea tells WSAZ that Kennedy had been quarantined since past Friday. He was taken to the infirmary Wednesday by ambulance.

“He was highly respected by students,” Moresea said. “More than conscionable a teacher and much than conscionable a coach. Educators and coaches, they go a portion of your community. They are radical who others look to for advisement. They are radical who enactment their bosom into what they are doing. He was 1 of those apical notch educators that did each of those things.”

Moresea says Kennedy’s woman is besides an worker astatine Greenup County High School.

In a missive addressed to the “Greenup County family,” the superintendent said that owed to precocious fig of COVID cases and “a caller nonaccomplishment successful our GCSD family,” schools volition beryllium closed connected Thursday, Aug. 26 and Friday, Aug. 27. These volition beryllium non-instructional days. Makeup days volition beryllium added to the extremity of the schoolhouse twelvemonth calendar.

According to the superintendent, 400 of the county’s 2,700 students are quarantined.

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