World Journal Newspaper Article

By Lisa Tam

Translation from Chinese of an article written about Lisa Tam's high school board candidacy by Lisa Wu & published on October 10, 2002, in the World Journal. Translation is by Athena Wu.

Lisa Tam is running for Board of Trustees so she can help more people in the community. She would like to connect the entire community to form a support group to support all our students and school staff. She is willing to be a connective bridge to help parents communicate with the school district.

Lisa has been married to Raphael Tam, who is from Hong Kong, for 20 years. It's not easy being in a Western-Eastern marriage, but Lisa enjoys the difference between the cultures. She lived in Hong Kong for 5 years and was active in community service there too. She was the Director of the Vietnamese Refugee Relief Program in Hong Kong. Her youngest daughter, Jacqueline, now 13, was born in Hong Kong. Her oldest daughter, Stephanie, is now a 16 year old at Lynbrook High School.

Lisa had her wedding in Hong Kong. She followed the Chinese traditional wedding, including the tea ceremony. When she lived with her in-laws, she felt comfortable enough to go to the Chinese traditional markets with her mother-in-law. Even the setup of the market is very different. Lisa respects the differences among cultures and ethnicities.

Lisa is very well experienced in leadership. For example, she was Chairman of the 2002 Bay Area CMEA Orchestra Festival at Lynbrook High School, President of the School Site Council at Blue Hills, and Founding Member of the Bilingual Adult Mentoring Program at Lynbrook High School. Currently she will also help the City of Cupertino organize the 2003 Chinese New Year Festival.

Some parents are concerned about the possibility of the redistricting of the high school boundaries. Lisa does not feel it is necessary to do so.

If she is selected to be on Board of Trustees, she will do her best work with the new Superintendent to ensure that our schools will have higher academic standards, career and college counseling, occupational programs, and a positive school environment. She supports initiatives that allow students to engage in extracurricular activities, the arts, and leadership. She is willing to listen to the concerns of our community and create a dialogue based on mutual respect and trust.