Upper School language teacher Daphne Wang is saying goodbye to the KO community after four and a half years of working as a Chinese teacher, the international student advisor, and teaching a wellness class.
Ms. Wang came to KO in the middle of 2020 because she needed a school that let her work remotely so she could take care of her kids during COVID. As KO will no longer offer a Chinese program, Ms. Wang will no longer be needed as a Chinese teacher, but she will be shifting her focus on earning further academic degrees.
Ms. Wang has dedicated herself to helping international students adjust, communicating with parents and agencies, along with many other duties. This takes up about 15-20 hours of her time per week. “There’s lots of meetings with parents at night because of time differences,” Ms. Wang explained. “We have almost a 12 hour [time] difference.”
Ms. Wang went on to explain the challenge that COVID-19 had on her job. “You can imagine if you are not home, during COVID or after COVID, and you have a culture shock, right?” Ms. Wang explained. “And also your lifestyle and everything’s different. So that makes students’ lives really challenging, especially for the beginners.”
Ms. Wang deeply cares about helping international students learn to adapt and thrive in their new environment. She has been committed to helping these students in any way she can. About three years ago, KO provided Ms. Wang with a room in the top floor of Roberts to make into a lounge for international students. She has made it a safe and welcoming environment, and hopes that KO will keep this as a comfortable space for international students after she leaves. She explained the living situation for many international students, enhancing the difficulties of adjusting to KO’s environment. “ We spend a lot of time with students and because we’re a day school, we do not have a dormitory,” Ms Wang said. “So a lot of students have to stay either in the dorm, which is a 40 minute drive, or with a host family.”
When asked about her favorite KO traditions, she mentions how much she likes the assemblies that focus on highlighting and educating students on holidays, cultures, and ethnicities within the KO community. “A lot of good memories at KO,” Ms. Wang said. “We have a beautiful campus. And we have a lot of nice assemblies to celebrate the different cultures. And also we have a lot of interesting and fun guests visiting us.” She also mentioned the school musicals, plays, and Arts Night.
When asked about the most rewarding part of her role at KO, Ms. Wang said that she values watching the international students grow. “I can tell at the very beginning of the year, they know nothing about KO,” Ms. Wang explained. “They do not put their foot totally inside of our community. Then in junior year or even the second year, oh my goodness, I can tell they’re flying. They handle everything on their own. They communicate with teachers on their own. They help their parents to translate what they are doing.” She also noted that within the classroom, she has seen major improvement in students learning Chinese.
Ms. Wang commends KO for their wellness class, which she is teaching now. She believes that each grade would benefit from this class as it really helps the students with managing stress and relationships with others. She also enjoys KO’s impact teaching style and private school philosophy, which was new to her since coming to KO. Ms. Wang’s wish for KO’s future is that our school will have more diversity–not just in the student body, but also within faculty and staff–as she has seen less and less diversity within her four and a half years here.
We thank Ms. Wang for all of her contributions to the KO community, and will miss her presence on campus next year!
