Meet Joanne Hames, A Distinguished Educator

She taught at De Anza College for almost three decades, retired and continues to teach part-time ("because I love it"). She has a law degree and was a practicing attorney for several years prior to teaching. She worked to obtain American Bar Association (ABA) approval for the college's paralegal program in 1992 and reapproval in 1998 and 2005. She's Joanne Hames, De Anza's Distinguished Educator for January.

"I respect and admire the students who enter our program," said Hames. "Many of them are returning to school after some period working in another field or being homemakers. All of them have a strong desire to succeed and develop skills that will allow them to succeed as paralegals.

"My motivation is to do all I can to help them succeed--not only in school but in their chosen profession."

"Joanne Hames represents the best in education," wrote one of her several student nominators. "She welcomes all students and is patient, respectful and encouraging to every student in her classroom...I am confident that her students have become capable paralegals. Mrs. Hames has given to the community, and to California...inspired professionals."

"We are truly privileged that Joanne spent her career here at De Anza, and that she continues to teach part-time," said Vice President of Instruction Judy Miner. "Students have clearly been the beneficiaries."

Hames, who earned both her undergraduate degree in Spanish and law degree from Santa Clara University, cites "co-workers and students, and the positive and supportive attitude of administration"as the reasons she likes teaching at De Anza. "I am extremely proud and honored [to receive this award] because there are so many distinguished educators at De Anza," she said.

"Mrs. Joanne Hames has an extraordinary soul," wrote the same student nominator. "She extends kindness to her students that I have never witnessed by any other instructor anywhere. Her attentiveness to her individual students has an extraordinary kindness and gentility."

A teacher through and through, Hames' favorite quotation, a Chinese proverb, is in itself instructive: "I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I do and I understand."