Beloved Newtown High School Teacher Passes Away

Throughout your years in school, there will always be those teachers that stand out. The ones that you will remember for the rest of your life because of the lessons they taught you, and because of who they were as a person. One of those teachers taught at Newtown High School, and his passing is being felt by many people.

Mr. McHugh was such a favorite that he had a streak of being the commencement speaker for the graduating class year after year. It was actually a running joke that each year was his last year giving the speech, but the next year he would be giving a speech again.

I had him as a teacher, and he definitely made class fun. He wasn't an easy teacher, but he made learning fun and made you want to go to class. Sometimes it can feel like you are being talked down to when you are a student, but he didn't do that. He treated us like we were adults, and because of that, so many students greatly respected him (and still do to this day).

One of my friends from high school, Joann Bartek, said, "So sad. He made me enjoy class so much. I wanted to go to class because of him."

That pretty much sums up how students who took his classes, felt about him and his classes. It didn't matter if it was first period or last period, we wanted to go to his class. He was full of personality and knowledge that just made learning fun.

One of the homework assignments was to forget the word 'elephant' (psychology class), but, of course, everyone remembered it the next day. Most of us remember that homework assignment to this day.

He was such a nice person, and I am very sad about his passing. The world has lost a good one. That's for sure.

Mr. McHugh retired from teaching at Newtown High School in 2007. He passed away on February 5, 2016 at the age of 68. Way too young.

If you would like to share a memory of Mr. McHugh, you can go to redgatehennessy.com. Also, please feel free to share memories in the comment section here.

Rest in Peace Mr. McHugh. You will be missed.

One last thing. Elephant. We will never forget.

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