Kim Lawe, former  science educator and STEM school principal, now works for the Riverside County Office of Education in Riverside, California. Photo credit: Azusa Pacific University.

Here is the inspirational story of a very amazing educator, Dr. Kim Lawe. I worked with her at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Eastvale, California, before I retired from the teaching profession in 2017. In the brief video below, Dr. Lawe shares a story about her family’s escape by boat from Communist Viet Nam following the fall of Saigon, and how she eventually grew up to become a teacher in the United States.

From her humble beginnings, Kim went through American schools, eventually earning her Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Redlands University in Redlands, California. She earned her Master’s degree in Curriculum and Design from California Polytechnic University in Pomona, California. She completed the requirements for her Ph.D. at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, California. She inaugurated her career in education as a science teacher, eventually becoming the principal of the STEM academy in the Corona Norco Unified School District in Corona, California. Recently she accepted a position in the Riverside County Office of Education in Riverside, California.

“Our family’s journey from Vietnam to the US succeeded because of my father’s diligent planning, and because everyone shared a vision of where we were going and what we needed to do to get there,” Kim asserts. Now a leader in secondary education, this amazing Chalkboard Champion applies that same mindset to create a common mission among the faculty, staff, and students she serves, knowing that collective purpose put into action can achieve mighty things. “My history is a testament to that,” she declares. “I want them to know that together we can beat the odds and rise to the occasion, no matter the challenges.”

To read more about Dr. Kim Lawe. read this profile of her published by Azusa Pacific University.