Beloved Ohio middle school teacher and cheerleading coach Amy Jo Ward succumbs to Covid 19 on Feb. 9, 2021. She was 48 years old. Photo credit: Legacy.

With great sadness we report that educator Amy Jo Ward of Crooksville, Ohio, has  succumbed to Covid-19. She was 48 years old when she passed away on Feb. 19, 2021.

Amy Jo taught seventh and eighth grade Social Studies at Crooksville Middle School in the district known as Crooksville Exempted Village Schools. In addition to her responsibilities in the classroom, Amy Jo served her school as their cheerleader advisor and she was active in the Crooksville Band Boosters. Prior to teaching at the middle school, she taught fourth grade in the same district. Her career as an educator spanned 21 years.

The beloved educator will be greatly missed. “Amy loved being a teacher,” remembered colleague Sheila Smith. “In the last several years, we have been switching teacher assignments like crazy, but Amy adjusted like it was no big deal,” Smith continued.

“I went from being a troubled kid, being in drama 24/7, being in fights, downgrading myself, swearing I will never succeed to taking myself from drama, focusing on myself, committing myself to a college,” remembered former student Betty Randolph. “When I look back on who I was I changed because you were by my side the whole way through it. You changed me for the better and I thanked you everyday for it,” Randolph continued.

The fallen educator was born on Feb. 23, 1972, in Zanesville, Ohio. As a young girl, she attended Crooksville High School, where she graduated in 1990. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in elementary Education from the Ohio State University, Zanesville.

To read more about this beloved teacher, see this article about her published by Perry County Tribune.