A Change of Guard

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Wednesday 10 August 2011

Betty Seal left her mark in Long Beach education, activism


Betty Seal had a distinguished career in Long Beach aiding others. (Family Photo)

'A voice for immigrant children,' Carl Cohn says.

By Greg Mellen, Staff writer
Posted: 08/09/2011

LONG BEACH — Refugees from Cambodia, Southeast Asia and other impoverished regions, students attempting to learn English, homeless children seeking schooling, victims of natural disasters. During her life, Betty Seal reached out to them all.

A life-long resident of Long Beach, Betty died peacefully in her home after a period of fragile health. She was 86.

Betty was born at Seaside Hospital in Long Beach. She attended school here, volunteered here and, but for a short stint in Seal Beach, worked her entire career in Long Beach.

The child of Oklahomans who relocated in Long Beach, Betty was raised with a notion of service from her parents and which she would later impart to her own children.

After her graduation from Poly High School in 1941, Betty's astonishing life was in some ways was bookended at Long Beach City College. In 1943, Betty became the first woman elected as the student body president at the college. And 49 years later, she was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame, in part for her academic, charitable and humanitarian work.

Throughout her life, Betty was an academic and an activist who seemed particularly attuned to those who had the least and needed help and hope the most.

"That philosophy of helping others cascaded through everything she did," said Judy Seal, Betty's youngest daughter.

Judy said her parents were always helping others, her mom regularly cooked for the poor and made money to give it away.

After becoming one of the most popular teachers at Newcomb Academy, Betty was chosen by the Long Beach Unified School District in 1975 to design and implement the district's bilingual English as a Second Language program.

Although this was not her introduction to the immigrant community, it helped set the stage for what in some ways became her legacy.

"I remember her as a voice for immigrant children long before many of those issues came on the radar," said Carl Cohn, former superintendent of the Long Beach Unified School District.

Cohn said Betty was one of the first educators to realize that the face of Long Beach was changing away from its "Iowa By the Sea" nickname.

It was a change she not only saw, but embraced.

"She was a welcoming figure," Cohn said. "It was her view that immigrants would make Long Beach a better community."

In the late 1970 s, as Long Beach became a landing spot for refugees fleeing the bloody wars in Southeast Asia and the horrific Killing Fields of Cambodia, Betty became instrumental in designing programs to help refugee children integrate into local schools.

In writing about her mother's work, Judy Seal put it this way:

"In 1981, determined to strategically coordinate the district's response to demographic shifts in Long Beach, while at the same time giving children the best possible education possible no matter their first language or culture, Betty Seal designed and implemented the International Student Registration program."

According to Judy, the program became a model that is still being studied for assessing education levels and gaps and integrating children into the proper classes, schools and curricula.

And while the terminology may sound been dry, the heart behind it helped transform lives.

Betty befriended Cambodian immigrants such as Mory Ouk and Lay Kry and together they helped create the South East Asian Learners program, the state's first Cambodian bilingual program. It's probably just coincidence that the acronym is SEAL.

In the process of placing children, Betty would often send the parents to Long Beach City College, where her husband, William, was an academic counselor.

Cut from similar cloth, William would then help the parents get the educational assistance and tools they needed to succeed.

Betty retired from teaching in 1985, but her giving spirit never waned. She became a volunteer at the Long Beach City College Foundation and the LBCC Friends of Languages. She became instrumental in the Long Beach Red Cross -- so much so that it named its youth volunteer awards in her honor.

She was also a sustainer in the Junior League of Long Beach.

In 1989, Betty helped her daughter July and the Junior League with a project to bring education to homeless children. Using the international registry model Betty had helped create, Judy with the backing of Cohn and others began work that resulted in the creation of the Mary McLeod Bethune Transitional Center for Homeless Children in the Long Beach Unified School District. It was a program that helped redefine the education of homeless children.

Fittingly, Betty was the first chair of its advisory committee.

Judy said her mother died peacefully at her home in the company of her husband, William and daughter Nancy.

Judy said as her mother took her final breaths, she sat up and looked straight ahead. Judy says her dad described it this way.

"It's like she got up and walked through a door and left her body behind."

Betty is survived by her husband, William B. Seal; daughters Judy Seal and Nancy Pryor; son, Rev. Canon Christopher Seal; nine grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

A funeral for Betty will he held Thursday at 11 a.m. at All Saints Anglican Church, 346 Termino Ave., followed immediately by a reception. Burial will take place at 3 p.m. at Sunnyside Cemetery, 1095 E. Willow Street.

In Betty's memory, the family has set up a memorial fund. In lieu of flowers, donations are requested to the LBCC Betty Houston Seal Memorial Scholarship in the Long Beach City College Foundation, 4901 E. Carson St., Long Beach, CA., 90808. Please note Betty Seal in memo line, or donate online at www.foundation.lbcc.edu, choose scholarship and add Betty Seal.

greg.mellen@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1291

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