This spring Middle School Chinese teacher Ya-yi Weng will depart from KO and go off to explore a new job opportunity.
“One of the reasons I’m leaving is that KO was my first teaching job, and I’d love to venture out to some new possibilities” Ms. Weng said.
Come next fall, Ms. Weng will teach at a kindergarten through 12th grade co-ed school in Philadelphia called Episcopal Academy. Ms. Weng will be in the Chinese classroom with sixth, seventh, ninth, and 10th graders.
Although Ms. Weng said she holds mixed feelings about leaving, she said she is excited about the new challenges of teaching Upper School students, discovering a whole new area, starting a volleyball program at the new school, and being involved in the international program.
“I’m the type of person that loves the feeling of a fresh start,” Ms. Weng said. Ms. Weng is originally from Taiwan, where she graduated from National Taiwan University and majored in foreign language and literature. After working for a few years, Ms. Weng decided to earn her master’s degree at New York University in foreign language, specifically Mandarin and TESOL, short for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.
As this year marks Ms. Weng’s third year at KO, she has coached Middle and Upper School intramural volleyball, Middle School intramural tennis, and Upper School junior varsity volleyball.
Ms. Weng said she chose to teach Chinese because she wants to spread her love for the language. “I think it’s important for students here to not just see stereotypes and what’s on T.V., but learn the culture along with the language,” Ms. Weng said.
Most of all, Ms. Weng said she will miss her students and the players she coached once she leaves CT.
While KO says, “goodbye” to Ms. Weng with heavy hearts, the community is excited that Ms. Weng will be spreading her love for the Chinese language to more students.
