By Jamie Deng, Staff writer
Starting as a PE teacher in 1994, then becoming a counselor in 2000, Ms. Chan has seen a number of things and experienced a number of changes after being at Galileo for over 20 years. Though she’s seen Galileo go through both good and bad, Ms. Chan has loved working at Galileo.
Before she was in her current role as a counselor, Ms. Chan taught at Galileo as a PE teacher for 5 years. She has always liked sports, playing on her high school volleyball and badminton teams. She originally worked at a newcomer high school before she jumped at an opportunity to teach at Galileo as a PE teacher.
As a PE teacher, she never had being a counselor in mind, but Galileo assistant principal at the time, Dennis Lu, asked Ms. Chan if she was interested in becoming one. Eventually she decided to give it a try and went back to college to get her counseling credential, and was recruited back to Galileo.
According to Ms. Chan, through the years she’s been here at Galileo there have been many ups and downs at Galileo, but she also believes that anywhere you go there will be ups and downs. She said, “It just takes everyone to work together to make a school better. But I really love the faculty, and the students. They are all really nice.”
One of the best things about Galileo for Ms. Chan is talking to students. She thinks it is fantasizing to learn about students, especially if they aren’t from America because she gets to learn about their different cultures and backgrounds. Another great thing for her about the school is seeing students graduate. She says “It is the most rewarding experience seeing students grow up. It is also nice when they come back to visit, and tell me about how they are doing in college or work.”
Ms Chan first started working with kids in her younger days, when she was helping out at church. Back then she used to work with elementary aged kids, but prefers working with high school kids more because she likes this age group. She said, “Talking to high school kids makes me feel younger, and they are easier to talk to since they are learning to become mature and learning to be an adult.”
