The Lewis Award Committee announces that Joseph “Joe” Hughes, 6th–8th Grad Social Studies teacher at St. Peter School in Greenville, NC, is the Recipient of the 2012-2013 Msgr. Gerald Lawrence Lewis Award for Excellence in Teaching. Mr. Hughes has been teaching at St. Peter’s for twenty-three of his twenty-five years of teaching.

According to Dr. Joseph Nelson, Principal of St. Peter School, “Mr. Hughes appears to have come into the teaching profession by divine intervention.” Joe Hughes was working in the construction industry in 1990 when he came to the attention of Brother Robert LaFave, OSF, who was Principal of St. Peter’s at the time. Brother Robert recognized Mr. Hughes talent of being able to relate with students as well as his scholarly interest, especially in History. Over the years, Mr. Hughes’ classes have amassed a large wall of First, Second and Third place award plaques from their participation in local, state and national History Days competitions.

Mr. Hughes attended St. John Vianney Preparatory Seminary, Costal Carolina Community College and graduated with a BA in History and philosophy from St. Joseph Seminary College. Before joining the faculty of St. Peter in 1990, Mr. Hughes was a graduate assistant at East Carolina University; taught Religion and PE at St. Pius X Catholic School in Greensboro, NC; and has taught at Pitt Community College in Greenville, NC.

Mr. Hughes resides in Greenville with his wife, Elaine. They are the parents of a son, Joseph, Jr., aka “Joe-Joe”, who is a student at East Carolina University in Greenville.