She can crochet. She can do origami. She can even save you from DeltaMath. Kristina Wong originally was a tutor until she heard that honors pre-calculus and calculus students at White Station had gone through a fourth of the year without a teacher. It broke her heart to see so many students that she recognized barely learning her favorite subject. 

Although Wong didn’t originally have a set-out career path, she knew that she had to get a job once her kids leave for college.

“I wasn’t looking for a job this year, but I knew that these kids had no teacher, so I contacted Mrs. Holland,” Wong said. “Having them [students] not have a teacher for that long was just painful.” 

Teaching is not the only thing that Wong has up her sleeve; she also has a love for creating things. Wong has always had a love for art, although she was never able to take an art class during her school years. Nevertheless, Wong has kept her adoration for creating art alive by using the crocheting skills her grandmother taught her and then taking her projects to craft fairs to sell.

“Creating stuff is my passion,” Wong said. “Knitting, crocheting, origami, weaving — I’ve always liked art.”

Moreover, in the classroom, Wong has made a lasting impression on her students already. She is said to be very encouraging and understanding with her students. To the students’ relief, Wong started teaching after fall break, and she was soft-spoken and caring when she began. 

“Off the bat, she was so sweet; she did not come off too strong, [and] she understood that we did not know what was happening,” Shreya Ganesh (11) said. “She understood we hadn’t learned anything since last year was all online and worked so well with any concerns we might’ve had.”

To students’ solace, Wong is a teacher that is lenient on fixed due dates; she understands that math can be overwhelming and attempts to take the immense stress of the grade off her students’ backs. Wong helps her students focus on learning the information given to a mastery level rather than teaching them how to achieve a passing grade in her class. 

“She’s very good at handling students and making sure that we all understand the material before she moves on [by] giving us all the resources we need to understand the material,” Jayden Carter (10) said. 

Wong’s pre-calc and calculus classes give off a very distinct dynamic because Wong has created an environment where her students feel as if they can ask her any question without feeling embarrassed. Her students feel comforted and stress-free while being in her classroom due to the clear compassion Wong has for her students and their needs.

 “Usually math classes have a super stressful vibe, but that class is such a comfortable setting; I’m almost glad to go to that class,” Ganesh said. “I find myself wanting to pay attention.” 

Beginning to teach has been a hard adjustment for Wong, especially because along with the time required to teach, she is also taking classes to receive the credentials to teach. She has never taken on an extensive full-time job like teaching, but having experience tutoring students made the transition to teaching slightly easier. 

“I have benefited already; [teaching] is stretching my horizons,” Wong said. “The biggest difference [between teaching and tutoring] is the students I tutor contact me while some of my students aren’t as willing to learn.”