After a temporary halt in curriculum resulting from the “unexpected resignation” of Ms. Yongyan Liu, former Chinese teacher, the Chinese classes picked back up today after the hiring of Ms. Shanhui Chen.  

According to Mr. Brett Bowers, principal, on Oct. 25., Ms. Liu made “a personal decision” to resign. “Sometimes, as adults, you can’t do life and work,” Mr. Bowers said. “I think she was in that place… In those situations, we want to be supportive, so honoring that resignation was the best for her and the best for our students.”

Despite the district’s support, Ms. Liu’s resignation did spark several difficulties. First, due to the unique curricular area, locating a qualified substitute during the period between her resignation and Ms. Chen’s hiring proved impossible.

“There is one Chinese teacher in the entire school district, so when that Chinese teacher is no longer here and there are students, you might think, ‘Okay, let’s get a sub.’ Who is that sub? There’s just not that person,” Mr. Bowers said.

According to Jonathan Chudnow, senior, the class used the Chinese period as a study hall in the IMC. “I don’t feel like I forgot too much, but all I can hope for is to pick up from where we left off,” Chudnow said. “The Homestead staff fought rigorously to find a new teacher, and I commend them for their efforts.”

Although Mr. Bowers is not pleased with the absence of curriculum, he is thankful for how quickly a qualified replacement was found.

“When we had that resignation, we really had no choice… but to take a timeout and say ‘We’re going to concentrate all of our energies into hiring a highly qualified replacement teacher,’” Mr. Bowers said.  

According to Mr. Bowers, cancelling Chinese was never an option. If he had not found a qualified replacement, he would have explored online providers. However, after reaching out to multiple sources, including the Chinese teacher at University School of Milwaukee, a retired Chinese teacher from Arrowhead High School, Homestead’s original Chinese teacher and several Chinese teacher associations, Mr. Bowers received several inquiries; he officially hired Ms. Chen this Tuesday.

According to a letter Mr. Bowers sent on Nov. 3 to the families of the students taking Chinese, “Ms. Chen began her teaching career in China, where she taught English for several years. While living in the United States, she earned a teaching certification from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee as well as a Masters Degree in Education from Alverno College… Ms. Chen is excited to get to know our Chinese language learners, collaborate with them to determine their needs as they are reintroduced to their study of Chinese, and help them progress in their language study.”

With the hiring process complete, Mr. Bowers looks forward to the continuation of the Chinese curriculum. “On Monday (after Ms. Chen is more acquainted with her students and the curriculum), we will be picking up from where we left off,” Mr. Bowers said. “I have very high hopes.”