He showed me how to carry yourself in a setting like ours. No matter what he may have been dealing with behind closed doors on any given day he always had a smile on his face and would take that moment to ask how you were doing when you crossed paths in the halls.
—Jared Bernatowicz
I have so many and most involve laughing. But the most poignant is in 2014. My son played football for Haverford High School and was being recruited to play in college. He was probably going to play for Villanova. In October of his senior year he got injured and could no longer play football. I was talking to Mr. Hughes about the situation and as many of you know, October of senior year is when you are applying to schools. I said, “I don’t know what to do.” He said, “Did you ever think of LaSalle?” Well we hadn’t. He said to bring my son to school with me one day and he would take him up there himself. If you didn’t already know, Mr. Hughes went to LaSalle, loved it there and was on the alumni board. I protested it was too much for him to do, he was so busy, but he insisted. So that’s what we did. He drove my son to LaSalle, took him on a tour and bought him a T-shirt at the bookstore. Stephen (my son) loved LaSalle. He went there and did very well and not only got his B.A. but went on to get his M.A. He was highly involved and just loved it. Mr. Hughes and he would get together about once a month, whenever Mr. Hughes went up for a meeting. And he never failed to celebrate any accomplishment Stephen had and they continued to stay in touch.
—Louise Pierce
Sean showed me how to be a better educator and person. He believed excellent teachers are not only knowledgeable in their discipline, creative, and love what they do. More importantly, they are able to build warm and effective relationships with students, parents, colleagues, administrators, and the community as a whole.
—Glenn Rosazza
Because Mr. Hughes acknowledged me as a professional, I worked harder to meet his high expectations. Every decision I made within my classroom and while lesson planning, I asked myself, “Am I putting the students first? Is this what is best for the students?” This question was ingrained by Mr. Hughes and will continue to guide all of my actions as a teacher.
—Andria Johnson
He made me into a much better educator over the years, through his philosophy of teaching people first, curriculum second.
—Mike Bomze
I keep thinking about the day I visited Mr. Hughes’ office two weeks before his passing. I wanted to tell him about my non-urgent personal issues. He was on the phone, and since I did not want to bother him, I asked if he had three minutes. He said “What are you talking about?? Of course!!” and pulled the chair out for me and listened to me. I think about this day (turned out to be my last interaction with him) over and over. Mr. Hughes was the person who treated anyone with dignity and respect at any time. I will never forget his compassion and kindness. Thank you Mr. Hughes for listening to me with your warm heart.
—Hanae Nakamura
Mr. Hughes changed the way I look at education. Students want to know how much you care rather than how much you know. He has showed me the rapport building isn’t just a one day thing. This needs to take place throughout the year and this is when you have the strongest classroom environment possible.
—Glen Hughes
