Team Hoyt Tells Lincoln Street Students: "Yes You Can!"

Rick Hoyt calls graduating from Boston University "my greatest personal accomplishment."

Known for competing in the Boston Marathon with his father, Dick, Rick Hoyt, who has cerebral palsy, studied special education in college.

"I cannot describe the feeling of happiness and fulfillment I had on graduation day," Rick Hoyt told students at Northborough's Lincoln Street School recently.

"This has been my greatest personal accomplishment. Because I have shown to disabled people that they don't have to sit back and watch the world go by. They too can go to school, get a job, and be included in everyday life."

The Hoyts spoke during the Lincoln Street School's first all-school assembly of the academic year.

Their message -- "Yes You Can!" -- "goes right along with our school improvement plan. So, it's a great way to kick it off for the school year," and to begin discussing a number of healthy topics, physical education teacher Patricia Rollins said.

Last year, the school did a one-mile fun run for kids, and all students participated in, that "went along with the Boston Marathon" and  "due to the tragedy, we used it as a fundraiser, Rollins said.

"We have a lot of programs like that that we try to include all of the students for fitness, and this goes right along with it," she said.Dick Hoyt said that "there isn't anything you can't do as long as you make up your mind to do it."

The Hoyts' presentation included videos and slideshows about their story.

Rick was born with cerebral palsy, his father noted."At the time, we knew there was something wrong with Rick, but we did not know exactly what," Dick Hoyt said.

The Hoyts took their infant son  to see specialists, and "they said, 'Forget Rick. Put him away. Put him in an institution. He's going to be nothing but a vegetable for the rest of his life,'" Dick Hoyt said.

"Today, Rick is 51 years old. And we still haven't figured out what kind of vegetable he is," Dick Hoyt said.

Dick Hoyt said he and his wife decided to raise Rick "like any other child."

"Rick has been mainstreamed and included all of his life," he said. 

Rick Hoyt told he students that hiking and swimming are among his interests.

"You may wonder how I feel about being disabled. Well, to tell you the truth, I do not know what it is like not to be disabled. I was born with cerebral palsy, and it it all I know," he said.

A computer helps Rick communicate. "It may take a half hour for me to put together one paragraph. So, it is not useful to me when I am having a one-on-one conversation," he said.

Rick Hoyt said the Boston Marathon, which he and his father first competed in in 1981, is "definitely my favorite race."

"There's such excitement and electricity throughout the air. The people along the way are the best." he said.