Valerie was and is an inspiration to do your best. I remember her written feedback was almost as long as my reports. She modeled attention to detail, commitment to fairness for all students, and recognizing how different cultures have interpreted the world and indeed have lots they can teach us. In 1985, when I did not have a place to live, Valerie and her husband allowed me to stay with them for several weeks. Especially Valerie was generous and gave

Valerie was and is an inspiration to do your best. I remember her written feedback was almost as long as my reports. She modeled attention to detail, commitment to fairness for all students, and recognizing how different cultures have interpreted the world and indeed have lots they can teach us. In 1985, when I did not have a place to live, Valerie and her husband allowed me to stay with them for several weeks. Especially Valerie was generous and gave me the space I needed to think of my next step in life. A few years later, when my sister had given birth to a distressed baby, Valerie wanted to help her and made herself available to be of compassionate assistance as needed. In graduate school, she gave me lots of support and helped me get through the whole Master's dissertation process along with the other professors. As a school psycholoogist, she helped inform and support me through Bilingual grant money to get my first computer to assist with the bilingual school psychologist team and bilingual assessment process. Even in the mid-1990's when my wife and I were planning on going to Hawaii, Valerie let me borrow her family albums to see how much fun they had in Hawaii and the various places to anticipate once my wife and I got there. I will never forget her support, her smile, her sterness when necessary that challenged me to think in more depth about the issues surrounding children and their educational needs. She was a blessing to me and my family on professional and personal levels and I will never forget her contributions to helping life be a little better.