BY ISABELLA CRUZ

One of the newest additions to the WCHS staff is Mandarin teacher, Olivia Ko. After 6 years of teaching, she began her first year at Bulldog Country in August. She previously worked at USC Magnet.

What Ko really enjoys about WCHS is the students and how much they have improved.

“I had a bit of a hard time with my Chinese 3 class because they were very talkative at first,” Ko said, “I talked to them about it and I saw the improvement right away. I appreciated it because they understood and changed immediately and that is where I was really impressed.”

The challenge for Ko this year, is being able to understand her students and where they come from.

“I have taught before but the school was different and so was the student body. I want to know more about my students and allow them to know more about myself so that the school year will go much smoother,” Ko said.

One of Ko’s struggles as a teacher is adjusting to the different culture and how students learn today. When she was a student, education and the way it was taught was different but she still has very high expectations for her students.

Ko never imagined that she would be a teacher but was inspired to become one because she enjoys speaking in front of large groups.

“I met some people that wanted to learn Chinese. What really amazed me is these people were from different cultures,” Ko said.

On her free time, Ko likes to make lesson plans for her students. She is busy because she is new here and has schedules to plan out for her day. She also enjoys reading and traveling with her family.