Teresa King teaches her English class during sixth period.
Teresa King
After recently moving back to America, Teresa King has come to join the Chantilly family as a special education English teacher.
Where were you before you came to Chantilly?
I came from Yokosuka, Japan. I was a military spouse, and we spent about 14 years overseas. While living in Japan I got into education, and have been working in education for the past seven years.
Was there anything that inspired you to teach children with disabilities?
I worked in a lot of different areas in education, but I found that I loved getting to know the student on a personal level, and you have to do that a lot when you’re working with students with disabilities. I really love to dig [deeper] and find out what it is that makes the student click, what it is that works for them and what doesn’t work. So that’s where I found my niche.
Why did you choose to teach English in particular?
Up until about two years ago, I felt a little intimidated by teaching English. Most of my previous experience was teaching middle school math and science. I recently developed an interest in teaching English, [so] when the opportunity of teaching English here at Chantilly presented itself, I took it with the idea that it would be challenging, rewarding and educational for me as well.
What has been the most gratifying experience about working here so far?
Being here at Chantilly, I have been exposed to a wider variety of students, which I appreciate. [When I was] around military students, most of them came from the same type of backgrounds and the same economic standards, so it’s been different being here.
What kinds of things make you happy?
My kids keep me pretty busy. I have a son who is a freshman in college, a daughter who is a senior in high school and an eighth-grader. Normally, living overseas, it was fun for us to just go out and explore, find different areas and go to a lot of the parks. I haven’t had much time to do that here yet, but that’s what we plan on doing, [as well as] checking out some of the parks. I heard there were a lot of beautiful parks and museums here.
