Lakeside School

Image: T.J. Vassar ’68, circa 1980s. Photo courtesy of the Vassar family.

I learned a lot about grass roots politics at the Central Area School Council. I learned who the players were in the greater Seattle community and in the central community as well. I was always interested in education. I was Director of Education at the Seattle Urban League. I subsequently started to work at the School District promoting diversity in classrooms and in peoples’ attitudes. When a school board position opened up in the south end, I wrote a letter to the editor exhorting someone to run for the board who was concerned, knowledgeable, and dedicated to the education of our children. I read the letter just as filing for the elections opened. My own letter convinced me to run for the board. I started running for office and then I quit my job.  — June 2, 2010, T.J. Vassar ’68 autobiography