March 28, 2024

Randy Hughes shaped two generations of Creston high schoolers

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Randy Hughes, or Mr. Hughes as he’s known to two generations of Creston high schoolers, said that of his approximately 13,000 students, his all-time favorite student is whichever one he was with at the time. He believes there is a genius in every student:what talent, skill and unique perspective they have.

“My job was to help them find it,” he said.

This showed in his teaching. Hughes had the ability to make every student feel special. Anyone who went to Creston Community High School any time in the past five decades most likely has a Mr. Hughes story – even if it was after he moved on to Southwestern Community College.

Hughes spent all 47 of his teaching years in Creston: 36 at the high school and 11 at SWCC. He said that he enjoyed teaching at the high school because he connected to the students with more than teaching. He taught long enough that he was able to teach the children of some of his former students. Once during a parent teacher conference with former students, who were the parents of a student who was struggling, Hughes was asked what the problem was. He replied, “Genetics.” Fortunately, the parents were familiar with his brand of humor and took the joke the right way.

In 2006, Hughes moved on to teaching at SWCC to slow down a little. He said high school students need more energy. At the college level, the focus is more inside the classroom. He was able to give all of his time and energy to instruction and evaluation.

Coaching

Hughes was an AcademicDecathlon coach at CCHS for 10 years. This is a program where students across ability ranges can compete. The teams are comprised of B and C students (by GPA) along with the A students, who are naturally attracted to an academic competition. Hughes made learning the information needed for the competition fun by hosting study sessions at his home complete with “brain food” – Oreos.

In the 1989-90 yearbook, he described the AcademicDecathlon team. “Every team develops a personality as the members get to know each other. This team is Sybil.” Hughes said, referring to a famous case of multiple personality disorder in the 1970s.

Hughes was named the Outstanding Coach for AcademicDecathlon for Iowa in 1990.

In addition to academics, Hughes also coached girls tennis and middle school wrestling, was the announcer at home high school wrestling meets for 38 years and worked with the Student Council – often using wacky stunts to help raise money or just to entertain.

One memorable stunt in recent years was allowing students to purchase strips of duct tape which they then used to tape him to a wall. Once they had him firmly fixed, they removed the chair he was standing on. Regrettably, there was no plan in place to get him down, and he had to call someone over to start removing the tape.

Hughes’ portrayal of “Reverend Victory” was a staple at homecoming pep rallies. In 1990, he appeared as the “Ghost of Harlan” during Fun Day.

Changes

According to Hughes, the changes in Creston over time have been positive but often leave room for nostalgia. When he moved here in 1970, there were fields and pastures where there are now houses. He wishes more effort would be made to preserve the older homes in town rather than building new ones. He said there has also been a delocalization of businesses as stores move out of uptown.

Hughes said that Creston used to be a place where people came. Now he observes a steady stream of cars leaving town in the morning on the way to work in places like Des Moines. People “zip here and zip there,” he laments.

None of the buildings currently used by CCHS have been here as long as Mr. Hughes. He remembers the old high school on the corner of Maple and Irving streets as stately and well-constructed, but it was outdated with inadequate wiring for new technology, hard to heat, starting to decay and not handicap accessible. He said the four story building also made it difficult for students. Band students had to climb all the way to the fourth floor for classes.

Hughes still has a brick from the old building was torn down, which was given to him by one of the custodians, who saved a truckload of bricks.

‘Together spirit’

The move to the new high school on Townline Street in 1989 is an event Hughes remembers of Creston coming together. Although some things had to be professionally moved, much of it was accomplished by teachers, students, parents and friends of the school.

“They just opened up the school and said, ‘come on and help,’” Hughes said. “People showed up with low boys and pick up trucks.”

He remarked that some people might think that millions of dollars of equipment would have ended up in people’s homes instead of at the school where it belonged and joked that there wasn’t $1 million worth of stuff to start with.

In 2012, during his tenure at SWCC when a tornado struck and damaged the college, he was impressed with the response. He saw all the devastation and thought the school was done. Then a community clean-up day was announced.

“The community showed up!” Hughes said.

Although he moved to Creston as an adult, Hughes sees it as home. After he and his wife, Linda, graduated from University of Northern Iowa, and they chose Creston to raise their family. It was the to the quiet atmosphere and the feeling of a "together spirit" that he said they liked about the area when they arrived, and feels that, although there have been a lot of changes, that sense of community still exists.