A new school year always comes with its new rules and expectations but one thing people weren’t expecting was the amount of new teachers that we received.

All the teachers are actually really unique. Taking the time to slow down and take a stroll through the minds of some of them makes that a lot more clear. Daniel Park, for example, has quite an interesting story. This is actually Mr. Park’s first year in education as an algebra teacher and he says he’s enjoying it much more than he initially thought. Previously Mr. Park had worked as an English language and critical thinking program instructor for the Japan America Academic Center. He also worked as a 911 and 311 operator and he says he’s here now finishing up his masters degree while working here at Grand Center. When asking Mr. Park how passionate he is about teaching math he responded with “quite.” He said “It’s among the absolutely necessary skills one needs to live.” Park expresses how logic is a very important skill and while math is usually thought to be mainly numbers. Math is more about applying systems of logic. He does signify that music is what he is more passionate about

As for how he’s liking GCAA. “Very much,” he says. According to him, everyone in his classes are focused and seem to actually want to be there. Mr. Park also goes into how he likes that everyone has really strong personalities and whenever someone is feeling down or not particularly in the mood, they are able to convey that in a respectable way. When asked what he was looking forward to in the year his answer was less direct. He said he was mostly looking forward to the year in general. “Teaching is really a day to day thing and the only thing I look forward to in that setting is the day to day itself.” So far Mr. Park says there hasn’t been any major challenges though he expressed that he struggles with communicating certain ideas and finds it difficult to reword some concepts. He added that oftentimes when a student pitches in it just clicks and he enjoys hearing their perspectives.

As we approach the end of the stroll we can see now that Mr. Park is a great example of just how interesting the teachers are at GCAA. Mr. Park is someone who is passionate about what they do and is always willing to hear someone out and there is no doubt that he will do great things here.