Hard-working. Humble. Honorable. Three words that describe Mrs Hughes perfectly. From stories to a duck during spelling tests to making books come to life, she always knew how to keep me interested in school. And surprisingly, I was excited to go to school everyday because of her.
She was my teacher from 4th grade to 8th grade, and not just for one subject. She was my english and vocabulary teacher. She was my math and science teacher. She was my history and literature teacher. Mrs Hughes was the teacher that could make me want to read more about a girl from the 1600s in love with a man she’s not allowed to marry. She was the teacher that could make me laugh while talking about y=mx+b. She was the teacher that always made me want to walk into school every morning.
Many people haven’t heard a thing about Peace Lutheran Academy, but I think that needs to change. Why? Because the best teacher in the world is there: Mrs Hughes. She is like a computer that knows everything in the entire world. There is only one time that I ever heard her say, “I can’t teach you that because I don’t know what it is.” And that was because it was a math problem someone showed her from a calculus class.
Mrs Hughes is someone that I strive to be everyday: smart, sophisticated, and little silly. She can teach over 5 subjects to 6 different grades without even breaking a sweat. She could talk about Jane Austen and and tea parties all day if she could. She could even tell a hilarious story about a plastic duck she was gifted over 20 years ago.
That duck holds many great stories that I will never forget. Every week I would have to take a spelling test consisting of 20 random words from our vocabulary book, and every week she would come up with stories of the adventures of Duck Duck and occasionally his friend Quack Quack using those 20 words. I still remember some of the stories: Duck Duck eating the entire cake at a wedding, Duck Duck stealing a car and cruising down the freeway with his buddy Quack Quack, and The Amazing Duck Duck saving the lives of many from the evil Quack Quack.
Mrs. Hughes always knew how to make the most boring things interesting, like a spelling test or boring old book. After we would finish reading a book, she would make it come to life. She would have a day where our gym would be decorated based on the book, eat authentic food from the book’s time period and theme, and then watch the movie of the book. I couldn’t wait for these days because it would always be the perfect ending to a book, and it would always be a nice break from the rigors of school.
Everyday, I looked forward to school because of Mrs. Hughes. Because of her, I was interested in school and would do better in every class. I will never forget Mrs. Hughes, and I hope that every student gets a teacher like her someday. Mrs. Hughes. She was my teacher. She is my teacher. She is my family.