BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Santa Fe College held a retirement reception for outgoing Specialist and Academic Advisor Karen Lake on June 30.
Robert Wolfson, the Watson Center’s first director, recalled Lake interviewing him for a story in the Lake Region Monitor, and then applying for a job a short time later.
Wolfson, who served as the center’s director for a decade, recalled Lake as a quick study and as a ready volunteer for additional duties.
“We had a complicated computer system and she learned it fast, Wolfson recalled. “She learned how to register students. She learned the budget. She really got the office going and on track.”
Wolfson added that Lake excelled after taking on leadership of the center’s dual enrollment program.
“Karen pretty much started the dual enrollment program here at the Watson Center,” he said. “And it wasn’t long before we had more Watson Center students who were dual-enrolled students and graduating with their AA than any other campus, even the main campus.”
Wolfson also credited Lake with pushing for more nursing and health sciences classes in Keystone Heights, saving students a trip to Gainesville when earning their prerequisites for the programs.
The center’s current director, Dr. Gina Greenridge, said Lake taught her a lot when she first arrived in the Lake Region.
She wished Lake well on her retirement, adding that she hoped her former employee would enjoy time with her two granddaughters, Maelyn and Mila.
One of Lake’s fellow Kiwanis members, Tina Bullock, rounded out the celebrations with a poem.
