Meet Our Team
Program Director ---Ms. Costea, Ruby
Ms. Ruby Costea currently works as the Program Director for 2020 Startalk Chinese STEAM and Culture Summer Academy.
Ruby Costea is the Academic Dean at Greenbelt Middle School in the Prince George's County Public School. In addition, she works as the Subject Matter Expert for Maryland Public Television for the online Chinese 1 course and Quality Assurance Specialist for the Maryland State Department of Education for Chinese 2 & 3. She was the World Languages Specialist at the Maryland State Department of Education, the Coordinator of the TESOL Education: Training for All Teachers Master's Program, and director of the Startalk Arabic and Chinese Teacher Training Program for McDaniel College. When she has free time, she enjoys volunteering for the Prince George Arts and Humanities Council and learning new hobbies.
Instructional Lead --- Mr. Chuang, Steven
Mr. Chuang is the principal at a prestigious Mandarin immersion school with a Gifted and Talented Education program in California.
Mr.Chuang has been involved in STARTALK programs since 2009 in varying capacities: participant, lead language instructor, mentor, and director. In 2011, he directed the STARTALK Chinese Students Summer Camp Academy in Philadelphia. In 2015, he was the instructional lead and coordinator for the Paint Branch STEM and Cultural Immersion Chinese Academy as well as the Chinese instructor for the 2015 Center for Human Services (CHS) Chinese Teacher Program in Maryland. From 2009 to 2010 in Philadelphia, he was the instructional lead for the STARTALK Summer Institute for Chinese Language and in 2012, he was the Chinese team leader for the PENN Excellence in Leadership Summer Institute and a Chinese mentor for the McDaniel College Summer STARTALK Teacher Institute. Mr. Chuang has been working as the Instrucational lead & Padegogital coach with PGAHC Chinese Summer Camp since 2015.
Ms. Liu, Pei-Hsuan - Lead instructor
Ms. Liu earned her B.A. in English and Educational Psychology from National Taiwan Normal University in Taiwan and a Master's degree from Syracuse University, NY. With many years of teaching experience, she has taught in numerous subjects and grade levels from kindergarten to middle school. After relocating to the US, she found her passion in teaching Chinese as a second language because the language represents her heritage.
She is certified in the subject of Foreign Language-Mandarin and Elementary Education and also received teaching training through the Center for Human Services STARTALK program in the past few years. Her favorite thing to do is to read fun and interesting Chinese stories with her children and students and her dream is to have a mini Chinese library in her house.
Instructor---Ms. Xi Wang
Cathy Wang is a Chinese language instructor to 6th graders at Paint Branch Elementary School for the 2019 - 2020 school year. She received her Master’s in Education-Interdisciplinary in May, 2017. Her Bachelor in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language and minored in English in China.
She believes a good teacher can inspire home and instill a love of learning. And education is the key to success in everyone’s life. Being a great educator has always been her dream. She had teaching experience on both the elementary and middle school level in China. SheI taught the STARTALK Chinese immersion summer camp since 2017 as well as volunteered at West Side Elementary School, Cumberland, MD, for their Chinese Immersion Program for two years before she joined the team.
She loves Chinese culture and wants to introduce the fine culture to the whole world. She believes learning the language is the best way to understand the culture. She combines language and culture in my class and use interactive activities to let students have fun in learning.
Instructor---Ms. Chang, April
April Chang currently teaches as a second-grade teacher at Paint Branch Chinese Immersion Elementary School. Before she joined PGCPS Resident Teacher Program and taught third grade, she had taught Chinese STEM courses at the 2016 StarTalk Chinese Steam and Culture Academy Summer Camp and also taught 4th grade Chinese STEM at Paint Branch Chinese Immersion Elementary School. She was born and raised in Taiwan and has an MBA degree from Johns Hopkins University. Before she moved to the U.S., she had been a senior public relations practitioner. As a communication veteran, she coached numerous novice PR practitioners and was inspired by the mutual teaching and learning process. Driven by her passion for learning and teaching, she pursued her certificate of Teaching Chinese as Second Language from the World Chinese Language Association and has been teaching Chinese language and culture to students of all ages and levels since then. She currently teaches at Tzu Chi Academy Chinese heritage school in Bethesda on weekends. She enjoys working with young children. Their energy and honest pursuit of knowledge serve as a constant reminder of the importance of education for her.As a Chinese teacher, one of the most important aspects of her teaching is sharing the Chinese cultural aspect of language with her students. The Chinese culture is enormously rich in traditions, stories, and history. She is always happy to share her traditions and foods to students to make her instruction on cultural topics more lively and enjoyable. For her, it is a rewarding experience to grow with students and to share their excitement in learning.
Instructor---Ms. Shen
Ms. Shen is currently a Chinese immersion classroom teacher at Paint Branch Chinese Immersion Elementary School.
Ms. Shen holds a Master’s in Education from the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), and she is certified in Elementary Education and World Language Education. Before she joined Paint Branch in 2016, Ms. Shen taught novice-level Chinese learners at the Confucius Institute and Center for Young Children at UMCP while she pursued her degree there. She also had her teaching internship as an immersion teacher at Washington Yu Ying Public Charter School in a full Chinese immersion setting. Ms. Shen has been teaching in the Startalk Chinese STEAM and Culture Summer Academy since 2016.
Ms. Shen enjoys working on different projects with her students. She believes it's very important to help students see the real-world applications of what they have learned through projects and develop the STEM skills they will need in the future.