Kenn Johnson left impact on many

Social media has been flooded with condolences for the family of Kenn Johnson following his recent passing.

Johnson was a long-time Montgomery County High School journalism and English teacher. He was faculty sponsor of the Tribal Tribune, the MCHS newspaper, founded the broadcast journalism program at MCHS and was also sponsor of Co-Ed-Y.

It was quick to see just how much of an impact Johnson had on his former students as a post on the Advocate's social media page in reference to Johnson had received more than 30,000 views at the time of this posting, been shared nearly 30 times and received more than 60 comments.

R. T. Lowry reached out to the Advocate's newsroom personally and shared the photo that accompanies this story of Johnson and other MCHS staff that was taken during a school trip to Ireland and Great Britain in 2003. Johnson helped sponsor that trip. 

"I had him all four years for journalism. He was very important to me. In his role as Y-Club sponsor, he convinced me to run for governor of KYA (the Kentucky Youth Assembly). I ended up winning, and he did so much to help me get ready to preside over the conference when I served as governor the following year. It was a big deal to get someone elected from MoCo considering the competition," Lowry said.

"I was also Y-Club president. Needless to say, he was the best," Lowry added.

Tonia Rice Witt, well known local photographer and now Advocate sports editor, said "Mr. J's passing (he was commonly referred to as Mr J.) had an impact on her she said she didn't think she fully understood at first. 

"I landed in his class not out of want, but more out of need. I needed an elective, and his class was the only thing that fit my schedule. I told him from day one that I wasn’t a reader or a writer, but anything else he needed done, I could do," Witt shared.

"And I did just that. I became a master of lists, errands and all kinds of other oddities Mr. J could come up with. And if you knew him, you know there were plenty," Witt added.

Saying that Mr. J. could be a lot was likely an understand, according to Witt, but she said it was in the best kind of way.

"That man could get a lot out of the people around him because he put so much into the people around him. A lot of the time, when I was actually in class and not off on one of his wild goose chases, I would just sit back and watch. I watched. I listened. And without realizing it, I learned. I learned from the sidelines and from the shadows, and some of the things I took away from those days have stayed with me all these years later," Witt wrote.

Witt said it's those kind of teacher-student relationships that matter and noted that storytelling never dies.

"Funny coming from the girl who walked into his class and announced she wasn't a reader or a writer. Even years later, after he retired, that relationship continued. He and Janet would travel, and Lukas became their go-to dog sitter. 

"Of course, he and Lukas hit it off talking about all things Kentucky sports. There wasn't a time I saw Mr. J without Lukas that he didn't ask me how he was doing," Witt said.

The thing about growing up in a small town, Witt said, is that "You cross paths with people without knowing the role they'll eventually play in your story. Sometimes you don't recognize what they taught you until years later, when you realize pieces of them have quietly followed you into the person you've become."

Witt said when she thinks about what she does today, which involves meeting people, building relationships, telling stories, that "maybe that girl sitting quietly in Mr. J's classroom was learning a whole lot more than she ever realized. I may not have wanted that class, but I'm awfully glad it was the only one that fit my schedule."

Brandon Elliott shared that while he was a student at Montgomery County High School, Johnson offered a broadcast journalism class Elliott's senior year and he jumped at the opportunity. 

Elliott is a PA announcer and local high school teacher.

"He taught me the basics of radio and television, editing and writing. Together with Bill Montgomery, Michael Paul Clark and a handful of others, he helped us launch the first version of MCHS Smoke Signals in 1999. I wanted to be a radio DJ and he made sure I had the fundamentals. 

"Five years later I had my first commercial radio gig, and a year after that I was a DJ and producer for the largest radio company in the world. He put me on that path and told me I could do it," Elliott added.

Johnson also let Elliott join the school newspaper, and "When I wrote an editorial about the school that caused a bit of a spat between the teachers and students, he defended me when some wanted me punished. He said, 'How can I teach them about their First Amendment rights if he gets punished for exercising them?'"

"Thanks for helping me do what I always wanted sir. Thank you," Elliott concluded.

Kevin Martin is another with Advocate ties and currently serves as deputy director of photography at the Boston Globe.

He wrote that Johnson was not only brilliant, but kind.

"Mr. Johnson (I never felt right calling him Kenn) was my high school journalism teacher. He taught me how to take pictures and trained me in the darkroom. He instilled in me a lifelong sense of purpose.

"The camera in this photo was his. He used it to cover high school sports for the Mt. Sterling Advocate. It was also the camera I used in high school. At some point after I graduated, he gave it to me. To note, it looked just like this in 2000, maybe worse," Martin added. 

Martin said his heart is heavy, "but I find peace knowing that he gave so much to so many. And we are all better for it. I look forward to sharing in his memory at his service in Kentucky.Miss you so much, Mr. Johnson."

Brooke Barrett, photographer and owner of Pieced Together Photography here, said she's been taking pictures since she was young, but wrote that Johnson taught her "how to take pictures, how to develop my own prints, roll my own film and so much more. I didn’t step foot in his classroom until my junior year but it quickly became home. My senior year I had journalism for two periods, choir and then I left for the day for co-op. He would send us to the store for stuff, we’d duck out for the day to sell ads for the paper and he knew good and well we were going to grab a smoothie or food while we were out. He was our chaperone for two trips to Europe and multiple journalism conferences.

"I never could call him Kenn, it was weird, so rest easy Mr. Johnson. Janet Hays Johnson you and the rest of the family are in my thoughts. You both were what educators should strive to be," Barrett concluded.