While some students struggle to choose a college major, Megan Lee’s career path was clear years before she enrolled at Cal State Fullerton
“You know you want to be a teacher when you’ve lined up all your stuffed animals and you’re teaching them as a kid,” said Lee ’12, ’14 (B.A. liberal studies, M.S. education).
Now in her 10th year in the profession, Lee teaches transitional kindergarten at Anaheim’s Loara Elementary School, where she inspires her students to go beyond the curriculum and creates community to help them thrive.
Her dedication and extra efforts — like leading field trips for students’ families in her free time — earned her a 2026 Teacher of the Year award from the Orange County Department of Education. Lee was one of six local educators who were recognized this year.
Lee grew up in Orange County and studied for two years at Irvine Valley College before transferring to CSUF to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees and a teaching credential.
Transitional kindergarten, or TK, helps prepare 4-year-olds for school and is part of the state’s drive to offer pre-kindergarten programs to every young student.
Lee’s students draw self-portraits and make crafts such as coffee filter butterflies to hone their fine motor skills. They learn their letters and sound out words to practice writing, and they read with younger preschool “buddies” for whom they can be role models. And to engage students and connect lessons to real life, Lee gets hands-on: For a farm unit, they incubated eggs and hatched a duckling.
Her philosophy? “Kids are capable. Kids can do it when you give them the challenge,” Lee said
But Lee also wants to give them a strong network of support on their educational path, so she strives to build that community with students’ families. Her “meetups with Mrs. Lee” on weekends and after school have included tours of a library, a fire station and the Yakult bottling factory in Fountain Valley.
When her classroom families get to know each other and get to meet her husband and children, it helps break down barriers so that “not only are our parents more engaged in their child’s learning, but maybe they’re also now going to be invested in somebody else’s child,” Lee said.
For Lee, CSUF was an important part of reaching her career goals. Even as a commuter student, she was able to forge meaningful relationships with her professors and peers.
“I had amazing professors who really motivated and challenged me to be thoughtful in my instruction, and also the way that they valued me as a student at Fullerton was impactful in how I taught and continue to teach my students,” she said.
More than 1,200 students have completed College of Education credential programs since 2020 to become teachers, many of whom have gone on to jobs in Orange County school districts.
“We hear from a lot of principals that they really like hiring from Cal State Fullerton because they feel like our teacher candidates come out prepared and ready to meet the needs in the classroom,” said Michelle Brye, chair and professor of elementary and bilingual education.
Lee built such a strong connection with CSUF that she couldn’t stay away long. She’s currently enrolled in an administrative credential program to give her future career options, and she’s serving as a mentor for Titans who want to pursue teaching careers.
She sees her students as lights, “and I will always find opportunities to nurture their potential and brighten their futures.”