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Learning lesson from a name

Virginia Wong, who is a county Teacher of the Year finalist, says stereotypes of her last name provide a good way for teaching tolerance.

By LETITIA STEIN
Published January 28, 2005

VALRICO - Confusion is a Parents Night ritual for Virginia Wong.

All night, the language arts teacher at Tomlin Middle School watches parents peer into her classroom. They double check the room number. Some move on to the next door in the hall.

When they stumble back, Wong is ready.

"Are you looking for a little Chinese lady?' " the blond language arts instructor asks with a wide grin. "Ta-Da!"

But any confusion over her background - Wong is a white woman who married a Chinese-American - quickly turns into a lesson on stereotypes for students. Tolerance and the Holocaust are two of Wong's favorite subjects.

For life's lessons, as well as textbook learning, Wong relies on humor and an open mind. Still, the New York native would never have expected to find a niche as a teacher in east Hillsborough County. Now she is one of 10 finalists for the Hillsborough County Teacher of the Year.

Growing up in Long Island, Wong poured herself into athletics and books. She toyed with the idea of joining the military after graduation from high school. At the time, American boys were fighting in the Vietnam War. Wong felt an urge to do her part.

"My parents didn't think that was a good idea," Wong said, noting that her father, a teacher, wanted her to continue her education. "It didn't take a lot to persuade me."

Wong met her future husband, Jeffrey, at the State University of New York in Brockport, where both studied to become teachers. They married and taught at the same school in Long Island for almost a dozen years.

But the couple decided to make a change when schools began closing in their district due to declining enrollment. Her husband went back to school and trained as a systems analyst. Eventually, he got a job that brought the family to east Hillsborough.

Wong loved teaching, so changing careers didn't appeal. She took some time off to raise her two children. To keep her teaching skills from getting rusty, she signed up as a substitute teacher for Hillsborough County schools.

Five years later, Wong returned to teaching full time. She soon landed a job at Tomlin Middle in Plant City. Between school years, Wong's life revolved around her home in Bloomingdale. When her two children were old enough to care for themselves, a menagerie of pets demanded her attention.

A dog named Zoe has lived with the family for years, along with Oreo, a cat. Wong tries not to get too attached to the homeless kittens, puppies and other animals that find their way to her doorstep. She nurses them back to health and finds them homes.

Some are harder to part with than others. The family once adopted a possum that showed up on the front lawn. After keeping it for a month, Wong found a wildlife refuge that it could make home. She was in tears when she went to give the animal away.

She says the man running the refuge looked at her like she had lost her mind.

"He goes: "Lady, that's no possum. That's a swamp rat,' " Wong said.

There are no more possums allowed in the Wong household. Just a couple of kittens and a fish that Wong cares for with the help of her daughter, Laura, who studies photography at Hillsborough Community College. They are exceptionally close.

"She's probably my best friend, not to sound sappy, but I can talk to my mother about everything," said Laura, who lives at home.

There's no better place for family time than Sag Harbor, a village in New York where the Wongs have spent their summers for years and know everyone in town.

"That's where I get to plant my flowers," said Wong of her home away from home, "because I don't have to deal with all the bugs that eat everything down here."

Wong feels more at ease in the fishing village than anywhere else. Except the classroom.

"I like going to work," she said, modestly brushing off the achievements in school that earned her a finalist spot for Teacher of the Year. "Teachers are not used to being in the spotlight."

Letitia Stein can be reached at 661-2443 or lstein@sptimes.com

AGE: 52.

FAMILY: Husband, Jeffrey, 53; son, Brian, 23; daughter, Laura, 19.

JOB: Language arts instructor, teaching grammar, literature and reading to eighth-graders at Tomlin Middle School.

FAVORITE BOOK TO TEACH: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, because the classic has all the intrigue of a modern suspense, and students are completely absorbed.

ON BUTTERFLIES IN HER STOMACH WHILE INTERVIEWING FOR TEACHER OF THE YEAR: "The strange thing is I can stand in front of a classroom and never have a problem. But in front of adults, it's different."

COLLEGE MAJOR: Physical education.

HOW SHE GETS INVOLVED IN ANIMAL RESCUE: "It just falls in my lap."

SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENTS: Head of language arts program for sixth, seventh and eighth grade. Mentor to six teachers. Involved in several school committees, including the School Advisory Council.

[Last modified January 27, 2005, 09:33:08]