HINGHAM — In honor of Fred Jewett, a Hingham High School track and field coach who died in April, the School Committee voted to name the school’s track the Fred Jewett Track at Michelson Field.
Jewett retired from teaching English at Hingham High School in 2010 and coached track and field until his death in April. School Committee Chair Jen Benham said that the track’s name would “ensure a legacy” for Jewett.
“He changed many lives for many, many generations,” she said. “His impact extended far beyond the athletes’ accomplishments beyond championships, titles. And this would be a true measure of his influence.”
The Hingham High School track and field boosters wrote a letter to the School Committee requesting that the track be named for Jewett, and the School Committee voted to do so a week after announcing the date of the vote to allow community members time to give feedback, in accordance with the town’s policy for naming facilities.
“His level of dedication to both ensuring the wellbeing of his students and also coaching them to be better athletes and better community members is a rare find,” the letter read. “We have all been more than lucky to have known Fred.”
The letter said the new name “an honorary remembrance of a beloved community leader” and “a symbol of inspiration for future generations.”
To prepare for the vote, community members and library employees researched the name of the field within the track, Michelson Field, and found that Michelson was an abutter of the high school who donated the land of the field. Jewett coached on Michelson Field when he worked as Hingham High School’s head football coach.
A week before the vote, residents spoke at the May 11 School Committee meeting about Jewett’s impact and the school community’s desire to name the track after him.
“I doubt there is any human being who spent more time on that track ever, for the whole life of that track, than Fred Jewett,” Rich Chamberlain said.
“My entire trajectory to life, Fred was always there for me,” said Select Board Member Bill Ramsey, who attended Hingham High School and played football under Jewett.
The school will host a celebration of life May 23 at 12:30 p.m. in the Hingham High School auditorium.
Under Jewett, Hingham High School track and field won 11 state titles. The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletics Association named him a coach of the year in 2012, and he was inducted into the Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2015.
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