Randy McNaughton: A daughter's reflection

From a very young age, I knew my dad, Randy McNaughton, was special. He taught science at Hackley for 46 years – he’s one of six gargoyles that grace the Hackley façades. I took Geology and Astronomy with him, so I was fortunate to be able to observe him from a student’s perspective. For him, it wasn’t just about teaching. He made it a point to understand his students and where they came from, accepting them for who they were - quirks and all. He respected his students and expected them to respect him in return. There was no judgment. He made learning fun with his fake rocks, plastic dinosaurs, and crazy jokes. One of his favorite lines was “schist happens.” Dad was the perfect combination of humor, intellectual rigor, and empathy. He endeared himself to his students because of his ability to listen and understand how they felt. He made it a point to see things from their point of view, always able to imagine himself in their shoes.

To this day, alumni make a point to seek me out to tell me what an amazing teacher he was and how he changed their lives. He didn’t just teach us about our world – he taught us how to live in it. I was too young to fully understand when he told me that empathy was a gift. It was only as an adult that I realized that he had given it to me, a tool as universally helpful as duct tape, the gift of empathy.