A Lifetime with Adult Education: How May Lahham Built a Career and a Community at WVOC

May Lahham’s connection to adult education began in 1985, when, as a high school student, she enrolled in a Regional Occupational Center/Program (ROC/P). Through concurrent enrollment in the cosmetology program at West Valley Occupational Center (WVOC), she earned both her high school diploma and her cosmetology license—before turning 18.

After graduation, she continued her journey in adult education by taking evening secretarial classes at WVOC while working full-time as a cosmetologist. In 1987, she was hired at West Valley as a lab technician in the cosmetology department and soon transitioned into a secretary position.

Encouraged by the cosmetology teachers she worked alongside, she pursued and proudly earned a teaching credential in 1990. That encouragement changed the trajectory of her life. She began teaching part-time for LAUSD’s ROC/P as well as at other public and private beauty schools. By 1997, when her mentor teachers retired, she stepped into a full-time role teaching cosmetology to concurrent high school students. Over the years, she became department chairperson, and today, she serves as a CTE Program Advisor at West Valley Occupational Center—supporting the very programs and educators that shaped her own career.

​Adult education has been the cornerstone of Ms. Lahham’s professional journey, allowing her to grow from student to classified staff, to certificated teacher, and now, 40 years later, to a leadership role within the same community that first inspired her. Because of the early head start that adult education provided, she was able to raise three children, buy a home, and build a fulfilling life. For Ms. Lahham, adult education didn’t just provide a career—it gave her purpose, stability, and the opportunity to give back. It remains the foundation of both her professional success and personal fulfillment.