By: Ethan H, staff writer
Coming directly from SF State’s credential program, Mr. Chinn worked his first full-time job as a Biology teacher at Galileo starting in 1996 and has continued teaching at the school due to his love for the population and community.
During Mr. Chinn’s 2 semesters in his credential program, Mr. Chinn had to decide where his student teaching would be located, needing to decide between Oceania High School, Albany High School, Galileo, and a number of middle schools. After 60 hours sitting in and observing other teachers, Mr. Chinn ultimately decided on Galileo, which eventually led to him being hired at Galileo.
Despite his roots as a Lowell student, Mr. Chinn has stayed at Galileo throughout all these years due his fondness of the school population. He said,“In the 90s, Galileo was made up of a lot of kids from Chinatown, the Tenderloin, from Fillmore, which made it feel like more of a neighborhood school and I liked the vibe.”
Over the course of Mr. Chinn’s time at Galileo, he often involved himself within the Galileo community. He was the class sponsor for the class of 2013 and currently the sponsor of the class of 2023. Also, Mr.Chinn has been the Science Department Head twice, once in 1999-2001, and from 2019 to the present. The Science Club was sponsored by Mr. Chinn a couple of different times and currently, he has been the Aquarium Club sponsor since 2010. Outside of school, Mr. Chinn produces a podcast called Infatuasian, where Galileo students and teachers often make appearances as guests.
During his tenure at Galileo, Mr. Chinn did have his doubts of whether he wanted to stay at the school long term. In 2002 to 2003, Mr. Chinn went to grad school, and during that time, he thought about teaching in another country. But in the end, Mr. Chinn’s heart was at Galileo. He said,“I missed teaching, and Galileo, so I came back and have been here ever since!”
Mr. Chinn has noticed only minor changes socially between students throughout the years. He states, “Teens will always be teens, but I feel like kids started investing in the school rather than just themselves; I felt that kids became more spirited and involved but it just be a phase caused by the pandemic. Honestly overall, things have stayed similar in more ways than they have been different.” He also noted that teachers come and go more often than in the past, with many long term teachers as opposed to now, partially because of the soaring rent prices in San Francisco.
When asked about what excites him still about teaching biology year after year, Mr.Chinn chuckled,“ What excites me about teaching is maybe being part of my student’s story, for one year in their life, I get to be a part of it. Maybe they will go into medicine or a science career and just being a part of that is kinda cool”.
