Karen Akashi
It was Lee who set the foundation for my 37 year tenure as a high school art teacher...first 10 years at Alhambra High and the remaining 27 in Orange County. As my very first department chair, his patience and humor helped me through those rough first couple of years that I would return year after year happy and full of new ideas. Knowing that he was just a short hallway away gave me the confidence to grow into a career that I will always refer to as "the best job ever!" His relationship with his students, disciplined but always with great empathy, is what I have aspired to every day in the classroom. Lee showed me by example how important, significant, meaningful, purposeful being a teacher is all about. Lee, all it takes is a whiff of cocoa butter and you materialize right in front of my eyes. And to this day, when I need to step out to the restroom, I too am "going to see a man about a horse."
