By: Aidan Adams

   Did Mrs. Dicks get eaten by a shark, or did a plant eat her? 

   Mrs. Dicks is the high school teacher for Biology 1 and 2. She is gone because she had a baby and is on maternity leave. Mrs. Dicks left on January 30th and is coming back between March 7th and 24th.

   So, who has been teaching Biology 1 and 2? Dr. Zhang has come to the rescue!

   Dr. Zhang is from China. She came to the United States in July of last year because her husband got a job in the U.S. Some facts about Dr. Zhang are that she has two kids of her own, one of whom is 8 years old and another who is 6. In addition to English, she speaks Chinese and Japanese. Notably, Dr. Zhang’s name is spelled with the “Zh-” but is pronounced with a “dz-” sound. Lastly, her favorite hobby is reading.

   When asked about Dr. Zhang’s teaching style, students agree that the main differences are that she does not let them have notes in class, the homework is more difficult and there is more of it. While speaking with a 9th grade student named Declan Adams, he summed up that Dr. Zhang is mostly nice and not overly strict or mean, although Declan also said, “It would be helpful if she would let us take notes in her class.”

   Ideally, Dr. Zhang would obtain a long-term job in Arizona, but she is willing to continue substituting until then. Dr. Zhang’s specialty is in physics, so teaching biology was totally new, yet she “…liked learning about the biological terms.” Her favorite thing about teaching at TPA is that she feels well respected and valued, and it just makes her feel good. 

   Dr. Zhang had a special request to say something to her students. She stated, “I have wishes for my students because life is hard out there, …always have a smile on your face, and I love you.”