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                  LOSING A LIVING LEGEND                       

Losing A 
Living Legend

Lena M. Seeman 


How does an Association honor a teacher who has meant so much to the Temecula Valley over the course of three and a half decades?  Lena Seeman was one of the most respected individuals in our community, so words fail in describing the deep and abiding love those who knew her felt about this marvelous teacher.  We would like to share just a few of her achievements with our membership, however, and remind everyone of her impact as an educator, an advocate, and a friend.  Lena’s career began during the first term of President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956.  She would serve as a classroom teacher for 51 years, and the majority of those years were spent in this community.  Her willingness to take a stand and challenge any “conventional wisdom” about instruction she believed counterproductive to her young students was well-known. During the push to whole language reading programs, she bootlegged phonics lessons to her young counterparts, stating “kids will never learn to read well without these skills”.  Eventually, “conventional wisdom” shifted back to her point of view, but never at the expense of her charges.  We’ll miss her very much, but those of us who taught with her, called her friend, or most fortunately “teacher”, will never forget her. 

The TVEA Executive Board passed a resolution on Monday December 3^rd in memory of and respect for her dedicated service to us all. It reads in part:

Be it resolved by the Temecula Valley Educators Association Executive Board, that upon the official TVUSD passing of one year, the Association will support and promote all efforts for either the renaming of Temecula Elementary School, or the naming of the next newly opened Elementary School, as Lena M. Seeman Elementary School.

      Adopted by the TVEA Executive Board this day, December 3rd, 2007