After over 400 days away from Belmont Hill, the longest-tenured Chinese teacher on campus, Mr. Shen, is back in the classroom. Mr. Shen took a year-long sabbatical, awarded to Belmont Hill teachers for every decade of service to the school. For Mr. Shen, his sabbatical served as a well-deserved break and an opportunity to spend time with his family in China. The experience was a welcomed one, as he had not visited his friends and family in his home country in over five years due to COVID restrictions and tensions between China and Taiwan. The visit was eye-opening to him, who witnessed first-hand how much China had evolved over the past five years: “When I visited China, it was amazing how much it had changed. The entire country is cashless, there are a lot of electric vehicles, and the change in people’s lifestyle was surprising.”
The experience was also an emotional one for him. Mr. Shen noted that the highlight of his trip was “being able to celebrate Chinese New Year with my mom in person for the first time in over 15 years. My son Jia Jia [’29] was able to celebrate it for the first time with all his grandparents.” The celebration came as a relief. He mentioned that his only regret from the sabbatical was that he did not get to spend even more time in China.
Mr. Shen is still quite eager to resume his teaching career: “My favorite part is to come back and see how the students have grown since I left.”
His return is also popular among students, who appreciate his knowledge and control of the Chinese language and culture. Will Achtmeyer ’26 stated, “He always brings a great energy and passion to the classroom, and really cares about teaching and helping students develop their Chinese skills.”
The Panel is happy to have Mr. Shen and his expertise back on campus.
