On Monday after teacher Jason Hughes’ death, coach resurrects ‘connection’
Jason Hughes was scheduled to speak Monday morning at a North Hall High School leadership meeting.
His message to students was supposed to be about connection.
Instead, North Hall football coach Sean Pender stood in front of roughly 60 students, more than double the typical attendance, and aimed to carry forward Hughes’ message.
Hughes, a 40-year-old math teacher who filled numerous athletic and academic roles at the Gainesville school, was killed Friday after he was struck by a pickup truck driven by teens who had allegedly rolled several of his trees with toilet paper as a prank.
After the 7 a.m. leadership meeting, Pender said one student delivered a “powerful” speech, and another sang as hundreds of students and teachers gathered.
Pender said what he witnessed during the first day of school after Hughes’ death made him feel something encouraging.
It was connection.
“This was Jason’s vision,” Pender said Monday afternoon in a telephone interview. “Jason preached connection, so we tried to move forward by turning these emotions we’re feeling into conviction.”
Pender came to North Hall and met Hughes in 2022. Hughes was then the golf coach, but Pender said Hughes stepped away from that role because he wanted to work with more students.
Hughes became the academic and spiritual counselor for the football team. He compiled schoolwide data to determine areas for improvement, led the math department and worked with a Christian mentoring organization that partnered with schools. He also helped coach his two sons in youth sports.
Typical early mornings before school included leadership meetings and workouts. On Fridays, Hughes led a Bible study group for coaches and staff. Pender described the gatherings as more like counseling sessions, where Hughes led discussions about being better husbands and fathers.
He challenged his peers to find new ways to help kids struggling to find their place or reach their potential.
“He helped us keep our path where it needed to be,” Pender said.
Hughes and his wife, Laura, also a North Hall teacher, loved the students involved in the incident that led to Hughes’ death, according to Pender. Hughes’ family has called on the Hall County district attorney to drop charges against the teens.
The driver of the truck that struck Hughes was identified as 18-year-old Jayden Ryan Wallace, police said. He faces charges of first-degree vehicular homicide and reckless driving. Four other teens, all 18, were charged with criminal trespass and littering on private property.
“This was an accident,” Pender said. “It was nothing out of malice. They are really good kids, and they’re thinking everyone’s going to hate them. No one hates them. We love those children. They’re part of our community. We want to be able to put our arms around them and embrace them because they’re hurting.”
When Pender addressed the leadership meeting Monday morning, he said he drew from Hughes.
He encouraged students to speak up in uncomfortable situations and to lift others during times of adversity.
“That message couldn’t have been delivered without Jason’s help,” Pender said. “Not without his inspiration.”
In a written statement, Principal Billy Wells said Hughes “was a great influencer” who “would never accept any praise, but always deflected the glory to others” and that he “embraced all students.”
In a separate statement, Sam Borg, the school’s athletic director, said Hughes “woke up each morning doing his very best to be a godly man.”
About the Author
Fletcher Page is Athens bureau chief covering northeast Georgia for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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