After spending the 2016-17 school year coaching middle school girls and boys volleyball, Esther Chen joins UPA this year as a Math 8 and Integrated Math 3 teacher.

Teaching Experience

Prior to teaching at UPA, Chen taught at Brownell Middle School in Gilroy for one year.
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She received her undergraduate degree in math education at New York University, and her master’s degree in communication and education at Columbia University.

Her career as a math teacher seems to be an anomaly, as Chen admitted that she never really enjoyed math.

She found herself frequently having to either teach herself or receive help from a tutor due to a lack of quality math teachers.

However “… because of that,” she said, “I wanted to [make sure] other students wouldn’t find math to be such a daunting, abstract subject.”

As a teacher, Chen treasures her ability to help others grow and develop every day.

“I enjoyed the reward of being able to educate and [see] improvements among students,” Chen said, “especially that ‘aha’ moment.”

Although teaching can be challenging at times, she reaches out to students and builds relationships with them, some which might last for a long time.
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​“Teaching has taught me to be patient and to find multiple ways to teach something so that it makes sense to different learners,” Chen said. “It also has taught me how to motivate and teach struggling students.”