Ms. Ethel Wang teaches technology and multimedia classes and has devoted over a decade of her cheerful intelligence and creativity to making MCSM students technologically ready for college and beyond. In the last few years she also made possible the timely transition of our high school yearbook from a print-only edition into a multimedia digital format. In the short interview below Ms. Wang was kind enough to share with us a little about what brought a woman of her considerable talents to teach at MCSM.
Q: When did you start teaching at MCSM? Was it right after you finished college?
A: No. While still in Guam I taught first at Untalan Middle School before taking positions at two different high schools: Simon Sanchez High and JFK High School. In 2000 MCSM became my first teaching job in New York although it was my fourth school placement.
Q: Did you teach the same subjects in Guam as you do here?
A: No, part of my time there I was a science teacher.
Q: What kind of science?
A: I taught physical science. Which is a combination of baby chemistry and baby physics. It was designed as an introductory course.
Q: How or why did you choose to teach at MCSM?
A: I wanted to see a big city…so why not NYC? MCSM was looking for someone to teach computer classes, as well as a yearbook advisor, so it was a good fit.
Q: So why did you move away from your country?
A: No, it’s not a country. Guam is actually a US territory in the Pacific. Do you know Puerto Rico?! Yeah, it’s like that, but on the west side. So, I figured that I should get away from island life and check out the big city. I thought I should give a try.
Q: What do you think made MCSM a good fit for you work-wise?
A: Initially, I found a position similar to what I was doing in my old school. In Guam I was yearbook adviser. So I started to work at MCSM as a yearbook adviser and technical-drawing teacher.
Q: How did you train to teach what you teach now?
A: You mean computer classes and stuff?! Hmm…In college I had to take some classes like Specialization in Instructional Technology and then I took my masters in that as well.
Q: Media technology is changing all the time, how do you keep up?
A: Most of the time I will find and research projects on the internet, from blogs and tutorial websites. Then I will try them out myself first, so I can decide if it’s a good fit for my lessons. But they are all fundamental projects, so I just teach the basic skills.
Q: Are you teaching exactly what you want to teach at this time, or are there other classes and skills you might also like to teach?
A: Actually, I am pretty happy about what I teach right now.
Q: For many years you were the faculty supervisor and creative mastermind for the MCSM yearbook, and you guided its transition from a traditional “hard copy” yearbook into digital and multimedia formats. Tell us how much labor went into that transition?
A: Oh wow, ha-ha! You mean about how I had no holidays! All through Christmas break and the Spring breaks I would be working on yearbook pages. It was a lot of work, but since it is a lifetime memorial I hope the time I spent on it was appreciated by the graduates.
Q: You also remember back to when MCSM used to put out an actual “physical” newspaper. Tell us what aspects of the old MCSM newspaper you might like to see revived in our new digital format?
A: I think one advantage of the old traditional newspaper was having a so-called “hard copy”, which students can hold in their hands. But changing to a digital mode is good too, with the potential to be seen by parents and readers from all over the world. But at the same time people do enjoy flipping the pages of a hard-copy newspaper! So maybe you guys can also eventually provide a small physical print-run of your online editions.
Q: Our seniors know what it is like to feel sad upon leaving an environment that has shaped and encouraged them for many years. But few students think about the mixture of sadness and satisfaction that teachers feel every year when students they’ve taught move up a grade, or finally graduate. Personally, do you find it easy or hard to watch new students learn, grow, then leave your supervision like baby birds leave the nest?
A: I look at it as positive because they have grown. I would like to think that they move on better things, from choosing their college major to training to become a doctor or an architect. Because that’s part of my job right?! To make sure they are growing and have thoroughly learned the skills I am teaching.
Q: When you were in high school did you already know you wanted to become a teacher? And what high school classes do you think best prepared you for what you teach now?
A: When I was in high school, I was the yearbook photographer. And I was always involved in many clubs and stuff. That background helped a lot when I started to work as a yearbook adviser. But it was my college classes which updated my skills for what I teach now.
by Jennet Kurbandurdyyeva