Fairport School District to honor biology teacher killed in crash

Posted at: 07/31/2012 6:11 PM | Updated at: 07/31/2012 6:26 PM
By: Amanda Ciavarri | WHEC.com

The Fairport School District is working on plans to honor Heather Boyum. The Biology teacher was killed Sunday morning while riding her bike on Route 250. She was hit by a motorcycle, then a car, but people in the community are coming together to help one another through this hard time.

The Fairport superintendent says it is hard time for everyone. The district is left to help students cope while they are coping themselves. 

Blue ribbons cover almost every tree in Boyum’s neighborhood. It is an outpouring of support for the family and friends she leaves behind.  

According to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Deputies, Boyum was riding her bike on Route 250 in Penfield when she was hit by a motorcycle, then a car. According to the DMV, neither driver had a license. The driver of the motorcycle, Mark Scerbo II, is charged with manslaughter. The driver of the car, Megan Merkel, is facing a DWI charge.

Those who knew Boyum are trying to deal with the news. The superintendent of Fairport schools, Dr. Jon Hunter, says they have crisis support teams at the school to support students and staff. Also they are putting together a memory box to give to Boyum’s husband and two young children. Their hope is that it shows them all the wonderful things she did during her ten years at Fairport High School. 

Dr. Jon Hunter, Fairport superintendent, said, “Heather Boyum was one of those teachers that we would call a powerful teacher. He ability to connect with kids, to light up a room, and then ask kids to work harder than that thought they could ever work was what made her so unique and so special.”

The superintendent said in mid-August they will be forming a team of students and teachers who will think of a way to memorialize Boyum.

Calling hours for Boyum will be Wednesday from 3:00-7:00 p.m. at the Richard H. Keenan Funeral Home. The funeral will be Thursday at 11:00a.m. at St. John’s of Rochester Church.

 

 

 

 

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