By Katie Jones
Lily Chen, called 莉莉老师 (Teacher Lily) by her students, is one of three Chinese teachers at the
Dayton Regional STEM School. Mrs. Chen is the 10th and 11th
grade Chinese teacher. Born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan, Mrs. Chen grew up on a
campus setting, where having a teacher for a father influenced her greatly as a child. “My dream
as a child was to be a teacher. I believe I was born a teacher,” she explained.
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| Lily Chen, 10th and 11th grade Chinese Teacher at DRSS. |
She moved to Ohio in 1989 after attending the University of Minnesota for her
master’s degree in education. She started teaching at STEM when it first
opened. When interviewed and asked what her favorite part of teaching was, she
said “seeing my kids smile.” She likes seeing her students enjoy learning about
Chinese. One of the annual projects she does to help them learn classroom
expressions specifically is the “I Am a Chinese Teacher” project, where
students are paired up to be teacher and pupil in a skit.
Outside of her job, Mrs. Chen also enjoys writing and reading. She loves
to spend time with her family, and has made it a tradition for her family to
always spend Christmas together, no matter how far apart they live from each
other.
She cares greatly for her them, and is fond
of her students as well. Mrs. Chen is dedicated to both her family and
students, and STEM is lucky to have her.
