GUILFORD, Maine (AP) A Piscataquis County educator is Maine’s 2019 Teacher of the Year.

Joseph Hennessey, an English teacher at Piscataquis Community High School, learned of the award in a surprise all-school assembly in the gym on Friday.

Hennessey taught at public and charter schools in Colorado before moving to Maine to teach in the town Guilford. He was selected from more than 300 nominees.

It’s the second year in a row that a teacher from Piscataquis County has received the award. Elementary school music teacher Kaitlin Young was 2018 Teacher of the Year.