There’s a 新老师 (new teacher) in town

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American Heritage welcomes 15 new teachers to the school. Ms. Wenjing Hu teaches Mandarin Chinese three and four honors. China has a history over 5,000 years and it is currently undergoing major changes such as new market reforms. Ms. Hu’s goal for the year is to prepare all her students to eventually succeed in AP Chinese or however their future endeavors incorporate Chinese language and culture.

“Learning Chinese will be such a fun and enjoyable experience in my class. I plan to explore, discover and learn Chinese culture with my students as well as practice the Chinese language in listening, reading, writing and speaking by different activities,” Ms. Hu said. She hopes that using interactive resources and activities will motivate students to become more confident in their knowledge of Chinese language and culture.

Ms. Hu always dreamed of becoming a teacher but still went to college with a double major in teaching and law. After getting her teaching degree in China, she decided to teach at one of the best public high schools there. Ms. Hu moved to Arizona in 2003, where she taught at Tucson Chinese and International School. After a few years, she moved to Maryland, where she taught at the Howard County Chinese School. Ms. Hu moved to Florida years ago to teach at the Contemporary Chinese School of South Florida. “I am eager to teach students at American Heritage the history of China. Learning Chinese culture and language is a beneficial thing for all her students to learn,” said Ms. Hu.

In Ms. Hu’s free time, she loves exercising, drawing and organizing. She believes that teaching students to organize their thoughts is one of the most important skills a person can learn.

“When I went to college, the mantra everyone repeated was; you came to teach and be knowledgeable, but you also have to be a role model for your students,” said Ms. Hu.

Ms. Hu looks forward to seeing more and more students fall in love with the Chinese culture and language.

“In the near future, I hope that they not only can learn the ancient, long history and philosophy of China, but can also master the daily conversations and topics of modern China,” Ms. Hu said.

Alyssa Herzbrun, a senior at American Heritage, is in her third year of newspaper. She currently edits the opinion section of the newspaper and is a Co-Assistant Editor-in-Chief. On the weekends, Alyssa loves to volunteer at places like Broward Outreach Center, Ronald McDonald House and Feeding South Florida. Alyssa is an avid reader. Over the summer she read a book every day but school is interfering with her reading streak. She also loves to clog (not the toilet but the dance). Alyssa is looking for a great year and hopes to meet many opinionated people.