Hueneme Principal Terry Taylor Dies From Cancer

Terry Taylor, who as principal of Hueneme High School encouraged students to take pride in academics, died Thursday morning after a long battle with cancer. She was 50.

Students and teachers said that even though they knew Taylor was ill, they were unprepared for her death.

“We all expected her to be at a back-to-school rally today,” sophomore Heather Molloy said. “It was just terrible. People here are in shock.”

Teachers at the school were notified before classes began Thursday and they announced Taylor’s death in their first-period classes.

While Taylor was well known for introducing several innovative programs, her colleagues said she will be best remembered for her ability to connect with students.

“She had 2,000 children,” said Chris Olin, a bookkeeper at the school who is president of the Parent Teacher Student Assn. “Her office was always full of kids. She just had a way of building people up.”

Taylor, who began her career as an English teacher at Hueneme in 1969, continued teaching writing classes after she became principal in 1987.

“She was the only one in the district who did that,” said Joanne Black, who had taken on the roll of co-principal when Taylor’s illness worsened last month. “She loved to be with the kids.”

Black said Taylor liked to set up programs to reward children.

An example, she said, was Taylor’s idea of presenting athletic-style letter jackets to students for academic achievements.

Taylor also created an academic awards event at the school.

“She decided we should give awards to a couple of the students who had less than a B average,” Black said. “A lot of these students had never gotten recognition before, but she wanted these kids to be appreciated for their efforts, even if they didn’t have the highest grades. It really had an impact on them.”

Students at the school agreed.

“She got kids to take pride in schoolwork,” sophomore Joe Castro said. “She was really enthusiastic about it. That rubbed off.”

“Everybody seemed to get along with her,” added Peter Insley, a senior. “The kids here are really going to miss her.”

Taylor also was responsible for replacing the semester system at Hueneme High School with a quarter system. Students take three to four 90-minute classes each quarter, allowing them to spend more time each day on a particular subject.

“This allowed them to concentrate more on what they were learning and go into the subject matter in depth,” said Janet Lindgren, a member of the Oxnard Union High School district’s board of trustees. “It seems to have worked quite well. Absenteeism is down and grades have gone up. We even had visitors from other districts in the state come to see how it was working.

“Terry Taylor was continually trying to find new ways to teach the kids and help them improve. That is her legacy.”

Taylor, who lived in Oxnard, died at St. John’s Regional Medical Center. She is survived by her mother, Theresa Taylor, and sister, Barbara.

Services will be private, but a public memorial service is planned.

The school has established a Terry A. Taylor scholarship fund in her honor. Donations may be sent to the school.