By OLIVIA ROBBINS
Ms. Nicole Yuen recently joined Jericho High School as a 9th grade English teacher after having served as a middle school teacher last year.
Ms. Yuen decided to pursue a profession in English education because she was greatly moved by the beauty of language and all of the opportunities it offers. Ms. Yuen believes that writing is similar to art and music, as it allows people to express themselves. She said, “For art it’s with paints or brushes; for music it’s with notes and all these auditory ways of expressing yourself; but for language it’s words, words are your paintbrush.”
Ms. Yuen attended Amherst College in Massachusetts and earned her undergraduate degree in two majors: music and English. She also earned her master’s degree from Teachers College, Columbia University in the teaching of English.
After completing her student teaching in graduate school, Ms. Yuen was employed for a year as a middle school teacher in New York City. She said, “During remote teaching, I learned a lot about how to create a classroom environment without a physical classroom, and that was very challenging.”
Since this is her first year teaching classes in the high school, some students have now had Ms. Yuen twice. Freshman Myra K. said, “I truly loved having Ms. Yuen both last year in middle school and now this year in high school.”
Ms. Yuen teaches her class about their independent reading books.
Ms. Yuen is amazed by how much she has learned in just 6 weeks of teaching in the high school. She believes that she has grown in terms of figuring out her classroom presence and coming up with ideas for lessons that will be relevant to her students. Freshman Skylar W. said, “Ms. Yuen has found a beneficial way to improve teaching so it’s more engaging towards all students.”
Students are motivated to participate more in class because of Ms. Yuen, who makes an effort to connect her lessons to real-word situations and uses storytelling in different contexts to increase student involvement. Freshman Max S. said, “She makes class very understandable and engaging.”
English Language Arts curriculum associate Dr. Salzman said that Ms. Yuen was one of among approximately 300 applicants, but Ms. Yuen made an impression. Dr. Salzman said, “What stood out to me the most was her musical expertise. She had experience in managing sound for a musical orchestra in the city, so she had a balance between a very strong experience in writing instruction as well as outside interest in music, and I’ve seen those things carrying on into the classroom.”
Outside of school, Ms. Yuen enjoys baking, playing with her dog and visiting flower fields whenever they are in season. She believes that baking helps her refocus and clears her head, which in turn helps her craft engaging and masterful lessons for her classroom.