Award Honorees

After more than 30 years of teaching in Minnetonka, Mary Skoy is still known as the teacher who instilled a love for language arts and a passion for writing in her students. A highly respected teacher and colleague, Mary is a mentor and a beloved teacher who influenced several generations of Minnetonka students.

"She was kind and funny," remembers one former student. "Stern if necessary, but always thoughtful and fun."

Before retiring in 2002, Mary mostly taught sophomores, which was probably fitting, as she claims she has never lost her 10th grade sense of humor. She also never lost her joy for books and reading, which is probably why her students developed a love for them too. Even today, she still speaks of the titles and authors she taught and studied for so many years with the same freshness and bright eyes of a first year teacher.

Her students remember her for her warmth, humor and skill with her knitting needles. Mary taught many of her students how to knit and even founded the Minnetonka Knitting Club, which now includes 120 MHS students.

While many former students credit her with inspiring them, Mary says she learned something new every year from her students and enjoyed watching her 15-year-olds open up to more than just the story in a novel.

Mary and her husband, Glenn, also a long-time Minnetonka teacher, have "always been proud to say [they] were Minnetonka teachers." Mary appreciates the generous community and amazing support for schools in the Minnetonka. She felt empowered as a teacher at MHS, always able to pursue curriculums and only limited by imagination.

After retirement, Mary worked for an organization titled Project Regina in Minneapolis, teaching immigrant women sewing and English skills. Mary also has a passion for textiles and works as the Librarian at the Weavers Guild of Minnesota. In her free time she enjoys cooking, reading, traveling to visit family and like a true English teacher, she continues to enjoy grammar.