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Former history, Japanese and Spanish teacher Emil Lugo passed away on Friday, May 16 from a heart attack. The funeral was held on Monday, May 21 at Saint Joseph’s Church in Lower Manhattan. Lugo was 61.

He began his teaching career at Stuyvesant 35 years ago and retired in 2000. “He was very happy and enjoyed retirement,” Ubieta said. “When he left, he had a huge retirement party that many Stuyvesant people went to.”

He was initially a history teacher, but taught Spanish when there was a shortage of teachers.
Lugo also founded the Japanese language class in 1986 when he “had a midlife crisis and decided to go to Japan,” Assistant Principal World Languages Arlene Ubieta said. “When he returned, he had learned Japanese and began to teach an introductory Japanese class at Stuy.”

According to Ubieta, when Stuyvesant used to have dual programs where several topics were taught in one classroom, Lugo taught a class that incorporated Japanese language, Spanish language and Spanish history and culture.

“He was a good man, very loyal to his friends, his students,” Japanese teacher Chie Helinski said. “The only thing that mattered to him was the students and how his teaching went to their hearts.”

“He taught with such a brutally honest sense of humor that left a mark on all of his students,” former student John J. Seto (’01) wrote in an e-mail.

“He would have heated discussions and jump up from desk to desk. He was a really good teacher […] it was a quiet school, but he was very animated. He was really passionate,” former student Dr. George Raptis (’79) said.

“He’s the legendary teacher,” Helinski said. “When I started teaching the program, I lost some students my first year, because they were only in it for [Lugo].”

Lugo was the winner of the 2000 New York Times sponsored “Teachers Who Make a Difference” award. In order to win this award, a distinguished student must nominate a teacher who made a difference in the student’s life.

“He never bragged about his accomplishments, but he was very thrilled when he won the award,” Helinski said. “He thought it was the highest honor since a student had to nomnate him for it […] He deserved every bit of it.”

The Stuyvesant Japanese National Honor Society chapter is also named after Lugo. The 2008 Japanese Honor Society ceremony that will be held in Wednesday, May 28 will be dedicated to Lugo.

“What [he] taught me has been the foundation for anything and everything Japan and Japanese-related,” former student Minh Vu (’00) wrote in an e-mail.

“He was a very passionate teacher, who really helped me learn to love Japanese and was always pushing me to do better. He changed my life in more ways than he ever knew,” former student Isha Sheth (’01) wrote in an e-mail.

“With prodding, bellowing, dramatics and humor, Mr. Lugo drove us down the difficult path of learning a language totally unrelated to English.  His presence would fill the room and push us along,” former student Randy Au (’01) wrote in an e-mail.

Former Stuyvesant Principal Gaspar Fabbricante wrote in a letter, “He was extremely gifted in a department and school known for teaching excellence. His wise and witty manners added warmth and charm which was appreciated and admired by his students. He will always be remembered by his colleagues and students for these very special gifts which he possessed and passes on to others.”