Chinese teacher, Mrs. Rue, recognized with teacher of the year award
Last weekend, Mrs. Yingping Rue, Farragut’s Upper School Chinese teacher, was recognized with the “2015-16 Chinese Teacher of the Year” award by the Florida Chinese Teachers Association (FCTA). Mrs. Rue was presented with the award in a ceremony at Gulliver Preparatory School in Miami, Florida during a class trip by Farragut to the area.
“I’m extremely happy, not only for myself but for my students who were able to attend the FCTA Chinese Competition,” said Mrs. Rue, who has been teaching at Farragut since 2010. “It’s rewarding on a personal level because I am proud to be a teacher and I love to teach and to help students learn.”
The FCTA, an affiliate of the Florida Foreign Language Teachers Association, is a nonpolitical, nonprofit educational and professional organization that organizes an annual Florida Statewide Chinese Competition for middle and high school Chinese learners. Its mission is to promote the study, teaching, and research of the Chinese language and culture on all educational levels and to enhance the quality of Chinese language teaching at all levels.
Mrs. Rue, who has taught at Farragut since arriving here in 2010 from her native town of Xi’an in the province of Shaanxi, China, said being at Farragut has helped her develop as a teacher in a way she wouldn’t have done so back in her homeland.
“Farragut has given me the platform to teach with a certain openness that has not only helped me grow as a teacher but has given me the ability to connect with students and help them learn the language effectively,” said Mrs. Rue, who graduated from Xi’an International Studies University with a B.A. degree in Chinese Language and Literature in 2004 before earning her master’s in Teaching, Learning, and Assessment from National Louis University in Tampa.
For Zachary Fine ’17, who entered his first day of Mrs. Rue’s Chinese class five years ago with a tad bit of trepidation, he said he now is able to have fluid conversations with his Chinese peers at Farragut because of the excellent guidance and patience of a teacher like Mrs. Rue.
“I really didn’t know what to think except I was anxiously excited about learning a new language, especially a language of a country that has such a global influence,” said Zachary, who is now taking Mrs. Rue’s Level 4 Chinese class. “Mrs. Rue has obviously been a big reason for me having been able to be so successful in it.”
Mrs. Rue, who has traveled to Belize, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Honduras, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Sweden, and Switzerland, plans on taking several students from Farragut to China this summer to participate as student counselors at a camp in Shan Dong Province.
