Fundraising Begins For Lower Merion HS Principal Sean Hughes Memorial

LOWER MERION TOWNSHIP, PA — The Lower Merion School District is beginning its efforts to honor late Lower Merion High School Principal Sean Hughes with an artistic tribute.

Local sculptor and Harriton High School alumnus Miguel Antonio Horn is designing an artistic multipart tribute on the Lower Merion High School campus to the late Hughes.

Hughes, 51, died on Nov. 13, 2021, after a vehicle crash in Winslow Township, New Jersey.

"The proposed design, which would require approval from the Lower Merion Board of School Directors, includes a unique gateway to campus reflecting both the physical image of Dr. Hughes and the tenets of his oft-stated motto that Character Counts," the district said. "As ninth-grade students Enter to Learn and twelfth-grade students Go Forth to Serve, they will pass through this gateway, creating the kind of school tradition that Dr. Hughes so loved."

Later proposed aspects of the on-campus memorial will include turning a grass slope between the high school and administration buildings into both a memorial garden for quiet reflection and an outdoor amphitheater for use by classes and other student groups, according to the district.

Donations to the Sean Hughes Tribute Committee are being collected through the Education Foundation of Lower Merion

Contributions can may be made through PayPal or by sending a check to Sean Hughes Tribute Committee Fund c/o Education Foundation of Lower Merion P.O. Box 79, Narberth, PA 19072

The Sean Hughes Tribute Committee is also collecting for donations to fund two other projects.

The first is fully funding the 25-year Sean Hughes Character Counts Scholarship through the Lower Merion Township Scholarship Fund.

The scholarship will be a needs-based scholarship, with particular consideration given to a child who has lost a parent.

The second is the creation of a children's book accompanying curriculum based on Hughes that emphasizes the importance of character.

Children's author and Lower Merion High School alumnus Nahjee Grant is collaborating with Kristi Hughes on the book development.

Grant has also designed a sneaker that pays tribute to Hughes, with proceeds from the shoe sales going toward the Tribute Committee's fundraising goals.