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Faces of the Tri-State: Teacher brings Chinese language and culture to students
Nicole Thacker points to phrases on a dry erase board as she teaches Chinese Wednesday, September 2, 2009, at Chesapeake Elementary School.
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CHESAPEAKE, Ohio — Nicole “Nikki” Thacker had no idea that helping the wives of some Chinese doctors would lead to two trips to China and eventually to a job teaching the Chinese language and culture to students in the Chesapeake school district.
Thacker, a 1987 Chesapeake High School graduate, went to the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago to get a degree in international ministries. She got a chance to put that college degree to work when she met some Chinese women in Huntington in 1994 who couldn’t speak English. “Their husbands were in medical school,” Thacker said. “I became interested in Chinese culture.”
Through contacts she made, Thacker signed up with the English Language Institute of China for a trip to teach English as a second language. She ended up spending three years in Inner Mongolia before returning to Marshall University to get a master’s degree in adult education in 2000 before heading back to China for a four-year stint teaching English as a second language in Xian in Central China in 2002.
“I had a contract with a university in China,” Thacker said. “On the second trip I was a part-time teacher and a full-time student for the first year. Most of the students I taught were English majors.
It was hard, but we could communicate. We tried to speak only English. My Chinese was so-so.”
Chesapeake Superintendent Scott Howard said he was thrilled to find someone with Thacker’s qualifications to teach Chinese language and culture in the Chesapeake district.
“We live in a global economy,” he said. “She has a wealth of experience in Chinese culture and language. She lived there for seven years.”
Thacker has 19 students at Chesapeake High School, where she teaches one class. She spends three days a week at Chesapeake Elementary School teaching eight classes and teaches two days a week at Chesapeake Middle School.
“The students can already recognize some of the (Chinese) characters,” Thacker said. “I’ve also been so impressed with the teachers. They come with their students, and they’re learning with the kids.”
Howard says he hopes the district can establish a relationship with a city in China.
“Down the road, I hope we can establish an exchange program,” he said.
While jobs here are tough to find, Thacker said, “It’s real easy to find jobs in China on the Internet.”
