Room 113 has long been a favorite for many NDA students, and this year it has a new face: Mr. Yang, the new robotics and engineering teacher for the 2016/17 school year.

The new teacher is most looking forward to “the students, and the community here.”

“Most students,” he continued, “due to their Catholic education, are more respectful to their teachers and want to learn.”  

Growing up, he most admired his English teacher who managed to teach his students a very difficult language while involving and interacting with them as much as possible. Mr. Yang hopes to bring this same energy and enthusiasm to his classroom everyday.

Although Mr. Yang’s future here at NDA promises to be interesting and engaging, the story of how he arrived in these hallways may be even more gripping.

Mr. Yang earned a Master’s degree in Physics from Capital Normal University in Beijing, China.

He worked in the library of Tsinghua University.

It is one of the top-ranked schools in China for technology, and according to Mr. Yang, “comparable to MIT.”

After six years working experience as a reference librarian, he decided to move to America in hopes of learning the most advanced knowledge in library science and look for new opportunity.

Unfortunately his adventure to the States could not have been at a worse time. The year was 2008, right around the time of an economic crisis involving the stock market and housing. Jobs in the library system were few and far between.

Instead of giving up, Mr. Yang adjusted.

“I had to move on, so I started to learn more programs and new areas of technology,” he said. Mr. Yang then went on to get his MBA from Clarion University of Pennsylvania. He never stopped learning.

When he found himself in Wisconsin, he studied software programming at NWTC while working as an Academic Coaching Assistant. When he got word that Notre Dame Academy was searching for a new technology and engineering teacher, he did not hesitate to demonstrate that he was more than qualified for the job.  

With such an amazing story and so much knowledge already discovered in his life, one can only wonder what Mr. Yang will do next.