Mr. Hughes was the first person that I met at LM when I started coaching football in 2000. We became friends right away and that friendship never changed as he moved his way up the ladder from teacher to Athletic Director to Assistant Principal to Principal. We were always workout partners throughout our years at LM. We would arrive early before school and run all over town, sharing stories of our families, current events in the world, and things going on at LM. We ran the Broad Street Run together about ten different times. When we didn’t run, we would lift weights in the weight room, or do P90x workouts in my classroom, or work out in the wrestling room with circuit training. As a principal, he was a tremendous leader. He never made you feel like you were working for him; you were working with him. He brought tremendous energy to this building and showed a deep caring personality towards the students and staff. He made time for you to visit him in his office and share new ideas for your classroom or the overall building.
Of all the things that I am going to miss about him, I will miss his laugh the most. That laugh was used on so many occasions to share his excitement with new ideas as well as his enjoyment with the day-to-day running of the school. It was his way of letting his guard down and telling others not to take themselves so seriously all the time. Many times, he used that laugh to brighten the mood of a stressful situation at school. I know that many current LM students did not get a chance to know Mr. Hughes, and for those of you who didn’t, I can tell you that you have missed out on a wonderful person who would have tried to really get to know you over the next few years and make you feel like an important part of this school community. He didn’t care what your GPA was, if you were heading to college, the workforce, or the military; he would take an interest in you for the sole reason that you attended Lower Merion High School, and that’s all that mattered to him, because you were one of his students. He was a very special person, who I will think about and miss every day. Rest in Peace Sean Hughes, you made me a better person just by being associated with you.
