Biography

 

       Bonjour!    Hola!   I am Mrs. Hughes, also known as Madame Hughes or Senora Hughes.  I have the good fortune of teaching both Spanish I and French I at Stapley Junior High.

       I am a native Floridian who also spent much of my youth in Illinois.  Since I went to the University of Florida, I cheer the Fightin' Gators with my husband (also a University of Florida alum) every fall Saturday!  My degree is in English with a minor in Spanish.  I learned French as a girl and continued my interest French language and culture for a lifetime.  My two favorite travel destinations are Chartres, France and London.  I have also been a lifeguard, taught swimming, managed a bookstore, worked as a law librarian, worked as a cataloguer in the ASU library, spent a short stint in law school and have volunteered and substituted in the Mesa Public Schools for over twenty years before I made teaching my full-time career.

 

     Both of my parents were educators, in Illinois and Florida.  My mother was a longtime elementary teacher and my father was a teacher, principal, district business manager and later a Superintendent of Schools.  I feel quite comfortable in the classroom!

 

     As you can tell from all my experience, I came to teaching later in life, after my children were older (I spent twenty years as a full-time mom).  I have taught at Stapley for four years now, and I absolutely love it.  After my first career as a Mom, I feel rejuvenated to have a second career.  I have a 22-year-old recent college graduate son and a 14-year-old daughter, both products of Mesa Public Schools.  My husband is a journalist and we have been married for 27 years.  We live near Stapley.

 

       I love to read (right now I'm into both history and fantasy -- I know, what a combination!), play tennis, spend time with my family, travel, teach and baby our three dogs.  I am an Anglophile and enjoy studying my Celtic roots.

 

     I feel privileged to work with the developing minds and personalities of junior high students.  Teaching seems to be the culmination of all my experience and education!