REMEMBERING MR. HUGHES

PHOTOS FROM PAST SHOWS

MEMORIES OF MR. HUGHES

"For the 2019 production, which was our tenth show, we started the show with a tap number. Mr. Hughes had never worn tap shoes before (and neither had our other emcees, Davon Collins and Sam Fogel) - but that didn't slow him down one bit. He embraced the challenge and showed the kids that it's okay to try something new, even if it's kind of terrifying." - Mrs. Christman

"The afternoon before the show, I sat in a boardroom with Mr. Hughes and some of the other contestants brainstorming Q&A responses and reminiscing about past shows. Mr. Hughes was busy working from his laptop yet at the same time offering quick-witted remarks and recalling past acts with his different perspective to build our anticipation. Mr. Hughes always viewed part of his job description as connecting and engaging with his students. That evening, I had the lucky opportunity to watch him run around backstage with Erez [Potok-Holmes] and Emily [Harnett], spreading his positivity to everyone he possibly could. He would make upbeat comments on the smallest of details to everyone from the crew to the fellow contestants. Mr. Hughes' drive, airiness, and ability to make anyone feel comfortable made him loved and supported by the entire LM community. He will be missed." - Jordan Robinson, Mr. LM 2017 Winner

"I was absolutely shocked and devastated to hear about the passing of Mr. Hughes. He was such an amazing person who always made every single student in our school feel seen and heard. He was the kind of person who just seemed to get what life is about, knowing not to sweat the small stuff. He was always so supportive and encouraging of me in every aspect of my high school life, especially when it came to doing Mr. LM. When I was practicing for the show I was also in the middle of our basketball team's playoff portion of the season. My weekdays were very stressful, as I would often have to go right from a hard-run Coach Downer practice into our rehearsals for the show. At times, I felt like I was being pulled in two different directions and could not give my full focus to either. Mr. Hughes, being the leader he was, picked up on my stress with his special 6th sense that he had. I will never forget a talk we had outside of the auditorium after one rehearsal where he told me how he knew how hard I was working and how he was proud of me for straying from the norm and doing the show. It was his encouragement and support that got me through it all. I knew that if he believed I could do both the show and basketball playoffs with my best effort, then it was possible.

Hughes was the kind of person who would do whatever he could to help out kids from our community. When I got put on the waitlist for a college I wanted to attend very much at the time, he wrote me a letter of recommendation. When we had the national merit semifinalist ceremony at the school board meeting, he let me go earlier than I was supposed to because he knew I had tickets to the Eagles game that night (of course he did not do so without calling me out on the mic to everyone there, which was hilarious). When our basketball season ended, he called me into his office to let me know it was all going to be okay. He knew that life as a high schooler was rough and certain things seemed to be way bigger deals to us than they really were, and he chose to always give his support and make us feel safe. It is undoubtedly tragic and unfair that a person of his character was taken from us so soon, but his legacy is one that will never perish and the impact he has had on every kid who walked through the doors of LM will carry on his spirit." - Zack Slogoff, Mr. LM 2018 Contestant

"Mr. Hughes made you want to come to school. He never made you feel like you had to face high school alone. He got involved in so many activities and events that it made you want to join in too.

Mr. LM was my absolute favorite event that I was a part of, and a lot of it had to do with Mr. Hughes. He was never without a joke to tell, and even after numerous rehearsals, his jokes never got old by the night of the event. He IS Mr. LM. He embodied everything LM stands for, and you could tell with every interaction you had with him, even if it was just a simple high five in the hallway. Our community will never be the same without him." - Lexi Silow, Mr. LM Teleprompter Operator, 2012-2015