WFA: Kyle Hughes

[Gary Dillard]

It was my pleasure to work with Kyle developing some educational material at FIRST place a few years back - wow, is her enthusiasm contagious! She has so much energy and a love for inspiring her students. She even manages to survive marriage to an engineer (just kidding Dennis). There was never any doubt that she was deserving of the WFA. Congrats Kyle - wear your SPAM cape proudly!

I really never had much contact with Mrs Hughes until this weekend at the Midwest Regional. Either her or one of her students photoshopped my hand and turned my thumbs down into a thumbs up from Ford Sweet Repeat and Ive heard stories and seen her and Baker pick on each other...but this weekend I saw her in action and all I can say is awesome. Her team had this awesome pit display of what their team does throughout the year and its incredible what she does for her team and FIRST. Also this weekend she took in our new field coach under her wing. Mrs. Hughes has been coaching her drive team on the field for several years (From my understanding) and her expierence helped the confidence level of our coach, Amy. It was really amusing seeing one of the only female coaches train another female coach on the game...I was really hoping to see a 45, 27 match so we could have seen the two female coaches in action with their respective squad. Team RUSH is lucky to have someone like her

Congrats again.

Final Note: She was the WF winner my rookie season in FIRST


Edit: Heres a pic of what I was talking about

[jagman2882]

I remember Kyle Hughes from last year at the buckeye regional were we were on a alliance with team 27 and 541. Shes a great mentor and im excited to find out that she won that award. congrats!!!!!!! (only a little late )

[Kyle Hughes]

Okay - DJ ... you could have taken a better picture!

Thank you for all your kind words!

I have been very humbled by the nice things said in this thread!

[Kyle Hughes]

Originally Posted by Gary Dillard

It was my pleasure to work with Kyle developing some educational material at FIRST place a few years back - wow, is her enthusiasm contagious! She has so much energy and a love for inspiring her students. She even manages to survive marriage to an engineer (just kidding Dennis). There was never any doubt that she was deserving of the WFA. Congrats Kyle - wear your SPAM cape proudly!

Oh Gary ... you are so silly! I was totally inspired and awed by YOUR knowledge, creativity and enthusiasm!

(And yes, it is cool what you do!)

[dlavery]

Several years ago I was riding on the bus at Disney back to the hotel one evening after the day's competition, and wearing my team t-shirt. I started talking with this amazingly energetic, excited, bubbly woman that saw the shirt and just started going on and on and on about how much fun she was having with her team at the competition. Even among the normally high-energy FIRST crowd, her enthusiam was remarkable.

A year later I was sitting in the FIRST Board meeting in Orlando during the Championships, and there she was again. This time she was giving a special talk to the members of the FIRST Board and Executive Advisory Board about the impacts of the program to her and her students. It is fair to say that her story was one of the most compelling and meaningful statements about the power of the FIRST program to make an impact that we had ever heard.

And every year since then, when I run into Kyle at the Championships, I see the same enthusiasm and committment - never wavering, never flagging, never decreasing. Every year, just talking to her for a few minutes gets me re-engergized. Kyle embodies the spirit of FIRST that we all talk about, and is a wonderful role model for the rest of us.

-dave

[Kyle Hughes]

Originally Posted by dlavery

Several years ago I was riding on the bus at Disney back to the hotel one evening after the day's competition, and wearing my team t-shirt. I started talking with this amazingly energetic, excited, bubbly woman that saw the shirt and just started going on and on and on about how much fun she was having with her team at the competition. Even among the normally high-energy FIRST crowd, her enthusiam was remarkable.


-dave

Dave - I remember that bus ride as well. I remembered you as, "That NASA guy". I almost died the next day when you recieved YOUR AWARD! I said to Dennis, "Hey, isn't that That NASA Guy from the bus?" You seemed so ordinary ... Now I know it was just too many Krispy Kreams and Diet Pop!

Your kind words come in good timing ... this past week we found out that our school board is NOT going to support our school. We only have 105 kids ... kids who want to learn about math, science and technology! It is a special program - like vocational education, but academic. If we cannot raise the money to keep the doors open, it will close June 1. It is hard to imagine what some budgets are for their teams ... What I do know is that some team budgets could keep my school open. Ugh. I need to find that special company that wants the perfect relationship between school and team. Any suggestions?

Who knows what will happen to our school ... let alone Team RUSH. At this time, I do not know where I will be next year. I know I will never give up FIRST, but I may be forced to "do FIRST differently".

HEY - I think somebody "moved my cheeze"!

Thanks again, Dave! You are an inspiration as well.
Kyle

[Clark - Rush]

I was on Team Rush a few years ago until our family moved overseas, and I'd have to say Team 27 is one of the things I miss most about home. The teamwork and co-operation was amazing. And I definitely think it's due to Kyle Hughes. She kept the team running, pushing us as hard as we could be pushed, making us achieve the impossible. Congrats again.

And I do sincerely hope that either Oakland Schools gets it together, or you guys can get a sponsor again, because it would truly be a shame to see that team fall apart purely because of financial problems... but good luck, and hope to see you going again in '05-06!!!

[Alexander McGee]

Mrs. Hughes!

I can't begin to thank you for what you have done for me. Mrs. Hughes was my math teacher all throughout high school. I attended OSMTech for 4 years, and it was one of the most valuable experiences of my life.

Even though i was only on team 27 for a year, and was on 68 (highly considered great rivals at that time) for the remainder of my FIRST endeavors, Mrs. Hughes continued to support me and give me advice.

It was sometimes awkward being on a rival team, and attending the Academy, but it was all worth it in the end. Mrs. Hughes has also generously offered to be my rookie team's mentor team. We will be building in the same general location, and we will be sharing a playing field, as well as college mentors.

Thank you so much for being such an inspirational teacher, a wonderful team leader, and a very good friend. You have changed my life for the better.

-Alex

[meaubry]

Congrats to Kyle - we are all lucky to have her around. This woman is an inspiration to many (including me). She is a competitor on the field and a supporter of FIRST on and off the field. It would be a shame if she and Denny were not able to be part of FIRST, I hope next year you find a place - you know you are always welcome to be part of Team 47.