What is your name?
Leslie Do
What subject(s) do you teach?
Art 1: Drawing and Painting
What college did you attend?
University of California, Davis (bachelor’s degree) and San Jose State University (teaching credential)
Where did you go to high school?
Milpitas High School
How many years have you been in education?
5
What are your pet peeves?
I live on the bottom floor of an apartment. My pet peeves are when my upstairs neighbor stomps loudly and when my next door neighbor watches TV with full volume on.
Who is your hero and why?
My heroes are my parents; they were refugees who fled Vietnam by boat during the Vietnam War, and they were sponsored to live in the US after staying in refugee camps in Malaysia and Japan. They didn’t even know how to communicate in English when they were in the refugee camps, and they had limited access to education in Vietnam. They lived in poverty, and both my parents have six siblings. My mother was 13 years old at the time of being a refugee, and she didn’t even have her parents with her when she fled her country! (Her parents immigrated to the US much later.) My parents had to work very hard to catch up with their American classmates at school and find jobs to become part of the middle class.
What is your current favorite song/genre?
Ambient music; I love being swept away by instrumental music while hiking in national parks and state parks.
Who was your most influential teacher and why?
My most influential teacher was my AP Drawing teacher during my senior year of high school. Her family’s background and her culture as a Chinese Canadian person were very similar to my family’s background and my culture. She was so passionate about art, and I learned so much from her because I had a strong connection to her stories about her childhood, especially when she talked about overcoming adversity. She is a very empathetic person. She did not let setbacks stop her from pursuing her education. She also reads a lot of books to keep herself updated on current events and historical forces.
What is your favorite meal?
Hot pot with beef belly slices, tom yum soup, and enoki mushrooms.
What is your gas station order?
Cup of coffee and a donut.
The ideal vacation is…
One month in Bend, Oregon!!! Hiking with Ms. Barbara West (from Branham High School), visiting the alpaca farm in Terrebonne, exploring lava tubes, and wandering in the Painted Hills are all a must.
A student needs…
Sincere praise, verbal reminders about their strengths and positive traits, an understanding that every student is unique in terms of their needs, active listening from their teacher, clear expectations and stated norms, and a teacher who is intuitive about what they need to succeed in class.
A teacher is…
A role model, a coach, a guide, and a responsible, trustworthy adult.