You may have noticed a couple of unfamiliar faces walking the halls of Whitney Young throughout the first couple weeks of school. To some people, these faces may not have a name. To others, the faces may just have a name. However, all of these faces have a story. One of the new faces here at Whitney Young belongs to an ultimate Frisbee enthusiast known as Mr. Kang. We were lucky enough to get a glimpse of his story during an exclusive interview with him this week when Mr. Kang brought to light some of his deepest and darkest secrets. Just kidding, we did get a lot of really cool information though. We learned that this year Mr. Kang is a new member of the Math Department and teaches Algebra 2, Precalculus, and Calculus classes. With his unique outlook and spirited personality Mr. Kang brings a burst of energy into the classroom. “Mr. Kang is always enthusiastic and willing to help,” says his current student, Quinn Gorman ‘17. This may be his first year at our school but, Mr. Kang is no rookie when it comes to teaching as he is the former math teacher at Robert Lindblom Math & Science Academy where he worked for eight years before coming here.
When he’s not inspiring the students of Whitney M. Young, Mr. Kang enjoys playing video games, reading, drawing, and rock climbing. His favorite place to eat is from our local Urbanbelly where he gets the scrumptious Pork & Pineapple which consists of wok, fried jasmine rice with scrambled egg, pork belly, and pineapple. He also likes dining at The Publican and Cemitas Puebla where he indulges in a heavenly torta (Mexican sandwich) from time to time.

Originally, Mr. Kang dreamed of being an engineer, however, during his college years at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, he realized that becoming a math teacher was his true calling. “I enjoy helping people learn math,” says Mr. Kang. His students are just as excited to learn math as he is excited to be teaching math. Current senior, Patricia Calderon ‘17 says, “Mr. Kang is the kind of teacher that makes you want to challenge yourself. In the time he’s been here, I’m already comfortable enough to ask him any math question or just crack a joke, and he has high expectations that his students want to match.” “He’s a math wizard,” adds Shania Santana ‘17, one of Mr. Kang’s students, “I wish I had his wizard skills so that I could actually be good at math.” This shows the dedication and passion that Mr. Kang brings to his classroom each and every day. We hope that Mr. Kang continues with his craft in spreading his magic throughout our entire school.

From the Beacon and the entire Whitney Young community, we would like to give Mr. Kang a nice, warm welcome. He is a key member of the Math Department and an even bigger addition to our Dolphin family.