Students Vote Mr. Liang 2021 Teacher of the Year
By JIMMY NGUYEN, KAMAIL MUKHTAR, and FARIS YOUSEF
Mr. Liang preps for his 8th period sophomore English class. Photo: Kaylen Ormsby
Mr. Jimmy Liang, an English teacher, has been named Midwood’s 2021 Teacher of the Year, as voted on by students. Mr. Liang currently teaches sophomores and freshmen, but has also taught AP Capstone previously.
“Mr. Liang was a very respectful and knowledgeable teacher who helped me progress as a student,” said junior Lawrence Veytsman. “I felt comfortable in his class because it was so organized. I miss the experience. I was always learning something.”
Aly Emran ‘23 said, “He was a very understanding teacher. His workload was never more than we could handle. He always treated us as equals and was very helpful. I miss his lessons, too; they were very well put together.”
Mr. Eric Tupone, an English teacher, said, “I think Mr. Liang is perhaps one of the most conscientious people I have ever worked with – very positive, upbeat, and committed. He’s not in the job halfway. You can tell he’s always 100% there to achieve his goals in the classroom.”
Mr. Liang was “shocked” to check his email at the end of the remote year and realize he had won the award. “I honestly just didn’t see it coming,” he said. “I was surprised, but really happy.”
“I feel that so many Midwood teachers do so much for their students,” he said. Having won the award at an early stage in his career, Mr. Liang acknowledged that whatever he was doing “must be working,” and said he plans to try his best to transition that into in-person learning this year.
He worked other jobs before becoming a teacher but he felt he “could be replaced by a robot anytime.” Teaching, however, “is a very meaningful job,” he said. “It’s unique. Teaching requires a level of creativity that makes the day-to-day very different. I feel as if I’m doing a lot of good here.”
He first started teaching at Canarsie High School. “The road to becoming a teacher is very, very long, and you have to go through many different locations,” he said. Canarsie was a good place to start, as it had a great sense of community; it was a small “family” where he knew all the students and teachers.
His next destination was Richard R. Green High School, by Wall Street. The students there called teachers by their first names, he said, which he liked because it broke down a lot of the barriers in a teacher-student relationship.
Next was Midwood, his favorite school he’s taught at so far. “A lot of other schools have a level of detachment between students and the school,” he said. “But here, there’s a commitment that you can’t easily find in other places.” This is Mr. Liang’s fifth year teaching at Midwood, and he “doesn’t see an end in sight.”
“This is a great place for me right now,” he said. “Love the school, love the students, love the staff.”
Geographically, it’s not so far from Edward R. Murrow, where Mr. Liang went to high school and excelled in English.
“English can be an escape,” he explained. “You can read a book or write and express yourself. It’s different. You can’t find that in any other subject.”
At age 14, he got a little practice as a teaching assistant and tutor. “That sort of role fit me really well,” he said, “because even when I was younger, I was really good at explaining things, and helping other people brought me joy.” Though he went through a period of feeling a little “lost” in college, he eventually found his way back to teaching.
Andrew Hendrix ‘23 said, “Mr. Liang was chill – my favorite teacher freshman year. His class was a good experience.”
“He was a great teacher,” said junior Maryam Mohamed, who said she appreciated the amount of guidance Mr. Liang gave her.
“He was a very understanding teacher,” said Jacky Wong ‘23, “and he was able to improve my writing skills. I felt good going to his class. I also miss the cookies that he gave out!”
Mr. Liang said he wants his students to see their English skills “as something that’s valuable across whatever they do in their lives.”
“School is not a place where you learn everything,” he said. “It’s a place where you figure out which experiences and people you fit best with.” One of his main hopes, he said, is that his students can take what they learn in his class and apply it in the next stage of their lives.