43nd. Annual Award

The 2025 Educator of the Year is Johanna Kimball, who has been making a significant difference in her Music students lives at the Amesbury Middle School; she has been teaching in the Amesbury school system for 12 years.. Johanna was nominated by Middle School Guidance Counselor; Caitlin Bailey, and Health Teacher; Mary Mitchell.  Present for the award presentation were her family, most notable of whom were her father; Peter Hoyte - the 1984 and 3rd recipient of this award and her mother Patty Hoyt - the 1986 and 4th recipient of the Educator of the Year. Recognition of Johanna's work, contributions and accomplishments were may by remarks from Amesbury Superintendent (and Amesbury Rotarian); Elizabeth McAndrews, and Amesbury Middle School Principal; Doug Nebel. 

The Amesbury Rotary Club is committed to serving the youth of our community. We sponsor scholarships and offer interest-free loans to Amesbury students. We also honor one of the many outstanding educators in our school system each year. This award recognizes professional excellence and the performance of outstanding service in the Amesbury School System. Eligibility requirements as follows:

• Must teach in the Amesbury School System - this includes all classroom/special education teachers and specialists in technology, art, music, library, guidance counselors, etc. Administrators are not eligible.

• Must have been employed in the Amesbury School System for at least five years.

• Must not plan on retiring within the next two years.

• Must not be a previous recipient.

43 years and counting

This is the 43nd. year that the Amesbury Rotary Club has given an Educator of the Year award,” said Donna Collins, who heads the nominating committee., “which recognizes professional excellence." The Amesbury Rotary Club takes nominations from students, parents, co-workers, anyone in the community, Collins said. “We get all these letters and I screen them. The teachers have to have taught in Amesbury for at least five years and not plan to retire within the next two years.”

After Collins sifts through the nomination letters and verifies eligibility with the school department, the committee, which includes three or four Rotarians and four past winners, reviews all eligible nominations. Rotarians make the final decision,” she said, “but the input from the teachers is very valuable to us in making that decision.”

For a  list of all Educator of the Year awardees,, please click on the READ MORE button on the lower right of this screen