Seaside High School to name classroom wing after former principal and long-time Monterey Peninsula Unified board member
NEWS ADVISORY
September 9, 2022
Seaside High School to name classroom wing after former principal and long-time Monterey Peninsula Unified board member
Seaside, CA - Seaside High School will host a dedication ceremony on Saturday, September 17, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. to name its new classroom wing after former Principal and Monterey Peninsula Unified School District Board Member Dr. Bettye J. Lusk . The classroom wing will be dedicated the Dr. Bettye J. Lusk Classroom Wing.
The community and media are invited to attend.
10:30 - 11:00 a.m. Community Gathering
- Coffee and Pastries
- Cheerleader Greeting and Performance | Seaside High Cheer
11:00 a.m. Classroom Wing Dedication
- Welcome | Superintendent PK Diffenbaugh
- Drumline Performance | Seaside High School Drumline
- Remarks | Board of Education Member Dr. Bettye J. Lusk
- Unveiling of Dr. Bettye Lusk Classroom Wing Plaque
- Viewing of classrooms
About Dr. Bettye J. Lusk
Dr. Bettye J. Lusk has had a long and distinguished career in education. She received a bachelor of arts degree in special education from Philander Smith College in Arkansas, an NIA degree in counseling and a doctorate in education from the University of San Francisco. She also obtained administrative credentials from Chapman College at Fort Ord.
Dr. Lusk was hired over the phone and recruited to come to California to teach in Merced, where she taught Special Education at Merced High school from 1966-1969. In 1969, she married and moved to Seaside and was hired by the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District where she began teaching 3rd grade then 6th grade at Marina Vista Elementary School until 1971. She took a leave of absence to enjoy motherhood with her two sons Hendrick and Harold, and opened Operation Shoe String Child Development Center in Seaside as director with her late husband Rev. H.H. Lusk Sr. She couldn't stay away from her passion of teaching and soon began subbing at George S. Patton Elementary now known as Marina High School. In 1973, Dr. Lusk took a permanent position at Juan Cabrillo Elementary where she taught 2nd grade and later 5th and 6th grades. While teaching 6th grade and studying for her masters degree, she designed and facilitated a transitional counseling program for 6th grade students entering junior high. After receiving her degree she became an academic counselor at Fremont Junior High for students in grades 7th through 9th grade from 1976 until the school closure of the school in 1981. Dr. Lusk then went to Seaside High School where she was a counselor, dean of students and assistant principal. In 1992, Dr. Lusk was appointed as the first woman and first African American principal at Seaside High School. She served in that capacity until 2004 when she retired to care for her ailing mother who left this earth very soon after.
She was asked by community members to serve on the MPUSD Board of Trustees. Dr. Lusk won the 2004 election and was sworn in January 2005. She has been committed to serving the community in her role as trustee for the past 17 years. Over the course of time she has been MPUSD board president, Monterey County School Board Association (MCSBA) executive member, California Association of Black School Educators (CASBE) member, and Director -at-Large, African American for the California School Board Association.
Dr. Lusk has extended her teachings to the California Department of Corrections as a teacher and counselor for the Level 1 Correctional Early Release Program at CTF, Soledad Prison. She has numerous professional affiliations that include memberships in the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) and the Monterey Bay Teachers Association (MBTA) that she has faithfully served during her career as an educator.