FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — The Franklin County Schools community is mourning the loss of a high school Social Studies teacher who died in a crash Sunday.
Adam Hyatt had just finished his tenth school year at the district. Franklin County High School Principal Charles Lewis said he started working at the school the same time as Hyatt. He describes the teacher as a man who cared deeply about his work and loved his students.
"Adam was a great teacher and a better person," he told LEX 18. "Adam has as much energy the last year here as he did his first year, maybe even more so, more involved."
Adam was one of those teachers whose influence didn't stop when he left the classroom.
"He sponsored the Beta Club, which was all grade levels, had been an assistant and then also the head bass fishing coach, organized the blood drive every year," said Lewis.
Comments from his former students flooded a social media post about his passing. Many called him an "amazing teacher" and a "role model."
There is no doubt that Franklin County High School will feel very different in the fall because of the loss of such an important figure to the school, but Lewis says they will come together in this tough time.
"We'll come together as a Flyer family and figure something out to honor his memory, continue his legacy, and make sure that what he stood for and what he believed in and how he carried himself is not forgotten," said Lewis.
The crash happened Sunday afternoon on I-75 in Whitley County. Kentucky State Police determined that 50-year-old Robert D. Sturtz, of Indiana, was travelling northbound in a pickup truck when he hit Hyatt's Honda, which was stopped in heavy traffic. That caused Hyatt's vehicle to hit a pickup driven by 47-year-old Stephen Riggs, Upton.
Hyatt died at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. Sturtz was treated and released at Baptist Health Corbin. Riggs was not injured.
Alcohol and drugs are not suspected in the crash, according to KSP.
