Editor’s Note: This article is part of our series of highlighted exemplar recognitions. See our introduction post for all the details, or view all the posts in this series. This article was written by Central Pennsylvania Area Rep Jacob Kriner.

Joe Hughto is a Level 3 Judge from Northampton, Massachusetts. His recognitions this wave were for his broad work in the Judge program, from events to projects to judge swag:

It’s hard for me to pin down one specific example of you being exemplary, Joe (there are many!), but one interaction that will stick with me is you taking the time to sit down with me and talk about a rough Outside Assistance situation at SCG NJ. You advised me to keep a level head and logically walked me through something that you saw was bothering me. I wasn’t even on staff at the time, but you donated your time and effort to make sure I was okay. Thank you for being a fantastic judge and a wonderful friend. – Elliot Raff

Thank you Joe for continuing to be he great resource of judges that you are. Between Mystical Tutor and the Slack Group, you share a lot of wisdom. The thing that I want to highlight the most is the way you took it upon yourself to become a sounding board for anyone who needed you in the wake of the judge suspensions. There were many people upset with what had happened, and you gave them a outlet to share their frustrations and fears. It’s shown me what it means to be a positive member of the community. – Daniel Jackson

So first you organized this awesome North East judge swag order. Then you organized delivering it to people at major events, and sank a ton of time into this process. Plus later mailing out the ones you haven’t been able to deliver in person. You’ve done an amazing job making sure the North East really feels like a great community really impresses me, and that aspect of community is loved by everybody I know. Keep it up! – Christopher Wendelboe

Here’s what Jacob Kriner had to say about these recommendations:

Welcome to the fifth day of highlighting the awesome things judges in our region have done! I have the privilege of highlighting Joe Hughto, L3 from Massachusetts.

Joe has been recognized for his involvement in building and supporting our community in many ways. He made himself available for conversation with many of us during the judge banning and JudgeApps outage. This helped our community stay strong during a tough time. Joe spearheaded the Mystical Tutor Project that has been a benefit to the Judge Program as a whole. He was also involved in the Slack project, which has improved region development and communication. Joe brought our group together with the judge swag project as well. Last but not least Joe’s style of feedback has been helpful to multiple judges in the program. Thank you, Joe for being a pillar in the community and a great role model for everyone.