Staff Writer
After substituting last year for Paula Bozeman’s English classes, Chow was hired as an English teacher and beginning journalism teacher and is well received by the students.
“Mr. Chow knows how to keep the class well entertained and always seems to be making his students laugh and stay interested.” sophomore Jack Smith said.
Chow attended the University of Southern California and originally pursued a career in journalism with the idea of being a news anchor. After graduating from USC as a journalism major, he moved to St. George, Utah where he was an anchor and reporter.
“I worked for KCSG as a news anchor for the 9 p.m. news,” Chow said.
While anchoring, he realized that reporting negative news was not satisfying and started to have adverse effects on him.
“I realized I just wasn’t happy in journalism, although I still love it,” Chow said. “I wasn’t happy because I would come home and everything was always negative. I decided that I wanted to do something different.”
Chow grew up surrounded by teachers such as his mother and father Norm Chow, a successful college football coach, so the career switch was not difficult. He enjoys seeing his students learn and understand.
“I had always loved teaching in any form,” Chow said. “Thinking about what would make me happiest is eventually what drew me to teaching. I knew it wouldn’t make me rich or famous, but that is what I liked to do.”
While attending Timpview High School in Provo, Utah, Chow was very involved in sports, student government and concert choir. He realizes the importance of having many good experiences in high school and tries to impart this on his students.
“I feel like you only have four years,” Chow said. “That is a short period of your life. So get involved and enjoy as much as you can. And that does not mean you have to be Homecoming queen but take part in every club that includes your hobbies, and really enjoy high school.”
Chow’s goal is to make himself approachable to students. He believes that this will create a more comfortable and safe learning environment.
“If a student has a problem and they come to me, that is a good thing,” Chow said. “I want them to develop a college-type relationship with me instead of keeping quiet about it.”
One tactic that Chow uses in the classroom is making the day’s lesson relevant to the students’ lives. By doing this, students are more likely to remember what they have learned.
“I want kids to walk away and think, ‘Mr. Chow was fun and we had a good time, but he taught me something,’” Chow said. “I want them to remember something.”
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