Vincent Anthony Hynson was a teacher, coach, pastor and leader in the Chestertown African-American community. He was committed to strengthening the community through its young people. Working within the school system, he taught 6th grade at Rock Hall Middle School and was also a first-year coach for Kent County High School’s tennis and volleyball teams. He lobbied to have the name of Chestertown’s elementary school changed back to H. H. Garnett School to reflect its heritage.
After Hynson’s untimely death in 2004, the newly appointed President of Washington College, Baird Tipson, developed a scholarship to honor the late Rev. Hynson. “The scholarship is presented to an entering freshman who is a graduate of a secondary school in Kent County, who demonstrates financial need, and whose achievements and aspirations most closely emulate the values of community service exemplified by the life of Rev. Hynson. The scholarship covers 100 percent of the cost of tuition, room and board, books, and fees for the recipient.”
Nina Newlin says
Vincent Hyson was important to so many people in so many ways. He was a person you could trust to honestly tell you his thoughts, but he could also be trusted to listen. He cared so deeply for so many ideas and so many people.
Here is the tribute we wrote for him back when we lost him in 2004:
In Memory of Mr. Vincent Hynson – RHMS Teacher Extraordinaire
Mr. Vincent Hynson taught for ten years at Rock Hall Middle School. Sadly, we lost him to
cancer on August 16, 2004. However, he enriched the lives of everyone he met and will
always have a place in our hearts. While at Rock Hall Middle School, as well as teaching a
variety of subjects to sixth and seventh graders, he also was a mentor both in and out of
school to many of our students. He coached chess and tennis in the after school program. He
helped get our program to support positive behavior up and running and was one of our best
advisory teachers. He wanted advisory students to embrace the Fish Philosophy, to encourage
students to make a difference in their own and other people’s lives by making someone else’s
day every day, choosing to have a positive attitude, being actively present for those around
you, and always having a sense of fun. As a result of this wish, we are teaching all our
students about the Fish Philosophy this year. He also brought The Seven Habits of Highly
Effective Teens by Sean Covey to our school and last year a few of our advisory groups began
using it to help students learn to make good choices and better resist the pressures they face.
Because of Mr. Hynson, the whole school will be discussing Sean Covey’s ideas during
advisory this year.
Whenever Vincent walked through the school, it was obvious how students felt about him by
the way they sought him out. Not a week went by without a former student stopping in to sit
and visit awhile. Vincent Hynson will be deeply missed by each and every member of our
school community.
Beth Herman says
I have been working with President Tipson to make permanent the already-successful Vincent Hynson Scholarship. We are seeking to create an endowed scholarship fund that will yield income sufficient to fund awards to Vincent Hynson Scholars in perpetuity. Working with Washington College alumni and friends on this worthy goal has generated generous new gifts–and inspiring stories–that will keep Mr. Hynson’s memory and Baird’s generosity alive for years to come. We are not to $1 million yet, but we have reached close to $500,000 and the work continues. EBH