Eric Chipman 麦老师 |  Director

Eric has a Master of Arts in World Language Pedagogy and is a certified secondary teacher of Chinese and ESL. He has a Chinese ACTFL proficiency rating of Advanced-High and has worked in the field of Chinese language education for his entire career. Mr. Chipman is a highly regarded classroom teacher with experience teaching 3rd-5th grade Chinese Dual Immersion, as well as middle and high school language courses. 

Outside of the classroom, Eric was an Assistant Director for the Utah Chinese DLI Program, the Associate Director of the University of Utah Confucius Institute, and the Chief Education Officer for Mandarin Matrix, an international Chinese education company. Mr. Chipman is a widely respected Chinese teaching mentor and teacher trainer. Over the last decade, Mr. Chipman has helped lead many curriculum development and publishing projects purchased and used daily by learners around the world. He has guided many student groups and school administrator delegations to China.

For 13 years, Eric has either directed or taught in a variety of Chinese STARTALK programs and summer camps. He is also an Eagle Scout and lifelong outdoor enthusiast. He has volunteered as a Scout Master to a Chinese heritage scout troop and other youth groups, guiding dozens of outdoor expeditions for teens. He is a certified First-Responder, Life Guard, and Climbing Wall instructor. 

 

Brinn Bagley 毕老师 | Curriculum Designer & Camp Manager

Brinn has a BS in Elementary Education, a Masters Degree in Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences, with an emphasis on Instructional Design, and is an ERAFANS Certified Nature-Based Educator.

She has been involved with children and education her entire career: as an immersion kindergarten teacher in Guilin, China, an immersion AuPair in Spain, a camp counselor at an outdoor adventure camp for teens, a classroom teacher and curriculum developer in the Utah Chinese Dual Immersion Program, a classroom teacher in the Stamford American International School Mandarin Dual Immersion program in Singapore, a teacher trainer and curriculum developer for LinguaLearners Mandarin Immersion preschool, a private Mandarin tutor, and as a STARTALK summer camp teacher and teacher trainer. She fully believes in the magic of summer camp and prefers classrooms without walls.

 

Yalan King 关亚岚 |  Program Co-Director

As a program director, Yalan King has executed 20 successful STARTALK programs from 2008-2021 spanning elementary to high school student and teacher training programs and three Infrastructure Grants.

Previously she was President of Advocates for Chinese Education, who successfully initiated the first two San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) Mandarin Immersion programs. She was recruited by the Chinese American International School, the nation's first K-8 Chinese immersion school, to establish the Mandarin Institute. Additionally, she has been working with schools nationally for the last two years providing Chinese language curriculum and reading resources for the K-16 market. She is an avid traveler, explorer, and walker of her dog. 

 

Previous Camp Instructors and Counselors

Wanting Wang 王老师 ｜ Lead Instructor

Wanting Wang is currently a Mandarin Dual Immersion teacher and the Mandarin Lead in Gilbert, Arizona. She has taught for 7 years and has worked with students of many different ages. She received a bachelor’s degree in Linguistics with a TESOL certification and went on to receive a Master of Elementary Education from Arizona State University. Wanting has presented in ACTFL, NCLC, and AZLA focusing on teaching strategies to increase student engagement through collaborative learning, as well as on a summer dual language immersion program focused on teaching STEM in the target language. Additionally, Wanting participated in the 2017 and 2022 ASU Mandarin Startalk program first as a teaching assistant/residential advisor and then as the lead teacher and organized her own summer camp in her own school district to provide Mandarin enrichment opportunities to students outside of school.  When not teaching, Wanting enjoys spending time with her family outside and traveling. 

 

Enrique Rivera 安老师｜ Lead Instructor 

Enrique Rivera is a middle and high school educator in Maricopa, Arizona, focused on teaching World Language. In addition to speaking Spanish, Enrique is also an Advanced-High level speaker of Mandarin Chinese. Enrique graduated from Arizona State University with a Master of TESOL and received his bachelor’s degree in English Linguistics with a Minor in Chinese. During his time studying at ASU he studied abroad in Chengdu, China, and since then worked as a program manager with ASU STARTALK programs and an instructor with Mandarin Institute Language in the Wild STARTALK program. In addition to learning about language, culture and society, Enrique also enjoys learning about himself through the practice of yoga, hiking, cooking, baking, boxing, and resistance training. 

 

Marty Chen 陈老师 | Head Instructor

Marty is among the most well-respected and effective Chinese teachers and teacher trainers that you'll find! She has a Master's degree in Curriculum Design, many different certifications, and has been teaching high school through elementary school (both English as a traditional English-based teacher and a Chinese Immersion teacher) since 2004.

Not only has she been involved with many summer programs in Utah,  but she's also widely sought after as a lead teacher for summer programs across the country.  In her spare time, she is a passionate birder and explorer!

 

 

 

Ching-fen Huang 黄老师 ｜ Head Instructor

Ching-fen Huang has over three decades of experience as an educator in the United States. She possesses a wide range of teaching experience from heritage schools to public high schools and universities, and has worked with all ages from toddlers to adults.  Ching-fen is a trained Grader of Performance Assessment for California Teachers.  She holds a B.A. in Business and M.A. in Teacher Education.  Additionally, she graduated from the Leadership Program by Stanford World Language Program and has been involved in STARTALK since 2007.

Ching-fen is currently teaching AP Chinese, and Chinese 3 at George Washington High School in San Francisco. She also teaches a kindergarten class at Palo Alto Chinese School in Palo Alto. 

Aside from swimming, biking, boating, camping, and many outdoor adventures, Ching-fen enjoys gardening during her leisure time. She and her garden were featured by the local CBS station in Spring 2022! 

Meichun Lin 林老师｜ Core Instructor

Meichun was born and raised in southern China where she would run between rice fields and fishponds in her childhood. She came to Idaho as an exchange student in 2012. The Rocky Mountains landscape seized her heart, and she became an outdoor fan who would go backpacking in spring, paddle boarding in summer, biking in fall and skiing in winter. She also enjoys gardening and studying wild edible plants. She is certified in CPR and First Aid since 2015, and Wilderness First Aid since 2018.

Meichun has led a variety of middle and high school
outdoor trips, from day hikes in local Idaho to week-long backpacking trips in southern Utah. Meichun has a BA in English (Foreign Affairs Translation and Interpretation), a MA in English (Cross-cultural Understanding) and MA in Education (Curriculum and Instruction).

She loves her job as a foreign language instructor which she's held since 2007. She is certified to teach Chinese and English in Idaho and was selected as the Idaho “Rotary Distinguished Educator” in 2021. Currently she is a
Chinese teacher at middle, high school and college level in Boise, Idaho.

Lucy Sui 隋老师 ｜ Core Instructor

Born and raised in Beijing, China, Lucy moved to San Francisco with her family in the year 2000. Currently she is teaching Chinese at the prestigious Chinese American International School in San Fransisco. She has enjoyed teaching Chinese to all age groups since 2004. She has a special talent in cultivating her students to become self-motivated learners. Her curiosity and energy to learn new things is infectious.

Lucy has participated in nine previous STARTALK programs and has a Master's degree in Chinese linguistics from San Francisco State University. In her spare time, Lucy likes to be outside either walking, hiking, or running.  

HsiuMei Yang 杨老师 ｜ Core Instructor

With over a decade of elementary and middle school teaching experience in the Utah Chinese Dual Immersion Program, HsiuMei is currently teaching advanced 9th grade dual immersion courses preparing for the AP test, Chinese Media and Culture, and Chinese 1 & 2 world language courses. She is a dynamic and powerful teaching personality 

Born in Taiwan, HsiuMei likes to go diving in the summer looking for corals, fish, and sea turtles. Since she has moved to Utah, she enjoys camping and biking in the national parks with her husband. Every fall, she loves to hike in the mountains enjoy the changing autumn leaves and soak in the mountain hot springs! HsiuMei is still trying to adapt to Utah winters, however.

Xin Chen 陈老师 ｜ Core Instructor

Xin has been teaching Mandarin Chinese at Berkeley High School since 2006. She is a certified AP/IB instructor and I really enjoys working with young people and sharing the rich beauty of the Chinese language and culture. She also loves to explore nature and try the new things. 

Chen Laoshi has successfully participated in STARTALK programs wi the Mandarin Institute since 2013. She has her BA in English and Masters degree in Education from Patten University. 

 

 

  

Wenjing (Grace) Xie 谢老师 ｜ Core Instructor

Grace is a DLI Program Coach at Tarwater Elementary School in Arizona. Prior to her position at Tarwater, she was the Curriculum Specialist at Arizona State University’s Confucius Institute for almost 10 years. At that position, she oversaw the development of curricula in fourteen K-12 Confucius Classrooms and conducted PDs for the Mandarin teachers across Arizona. She was also appointed as AP curriculum manager for an AP Linkages grant at ASU and served as Startalk lecturer at ASU Startalk Camp in the year of 2011 and 2013.  

She enjoys traveling! Whenever she travels to a new place, she loves to explore the local cuisines and try out new things.  As a mom with two boys, her weekend activities include hiking, biking, and traveling to different sport venues to attend games. 

 

 

Macie Barney 倪老师｜ Camp Counselor

Macie comes to us as a counselor with an advanced proficiency in Mandarin Chinese and an avid love for all outdoor sports and adventure. She is Chinese Flagship student at BYU and has interned with a therapist who practiced adventure therapy with activities like rock climbing. She's currently training to run her first marathon and would drop anything to ski, climb, run, camp, or play any sport!  

 

Heather Condie 孔老师｜ Camp Counselor

Heather has been deeply immersed in Mandarin Chinese while teaching English in China, studying and living in Taiwan, and now a student in the BYU Flagship Program. She is from St. George, Utah, which is a mecca of outdoor adventure. She loves being outside, especially hiking and mountain biking, which did competitively throughout high school. 

Check Back Here For More Teacher Profiles to Come!