JiaYing (Gawin) 老師, Ph.D.

Director

Gawin is a Taiwanese-American who grew up in Missouri.  She has studied Mandarin since childhood, and now, as an adult, she appreciates all of the hard work her mom put in for her to know Mandarin! Gawin first took on Little Panda for her own children’s Mandarin education. She believes the preschool age is a wonderful and amazing age and works hard to ensure Little Panda is a warm, creative, and nurturing environment. She particularly enjoys seeing growth in the students’ abilities and confidence as they attend Little Panda.  Gawin is lead-teacher certified and lives in Durham with her husband and four kids.

Chen 老師, B.A.

Teacher for ages 2-3

Zheng Chen is a native Mandarin speaker who was born in Beijing, China. She moved to the United States in 1998 and has lived in North Carolina since 2006. After loving the process of teaching her daughter Chinese, she obtained an Early Childhood Education Certificate and began teaching the language to more students. Since being in North Carolina, she has taught hundreds of students in many different schools in the Triangle area. She loves seeing her students grow up and seeing their Chinese progress. Zheng believes being patient and empowering students is vital in seeing their growth. Zheng looks forward to teaching Chinese to even more future children. Currently, Zheng resides in Chapel Hill with her husband and daughter.

Tianlin老師, B.A.

Teacher for ages 3-5

Tianlin is a native Mandarin speaker from China. She completed a double major in teaching and architecture and taught elementary school students in China for five years before moving to the U.S.   Tianlin has taught young children Mandarin in the Research Triangle area since 2007.  Besides teaching at Little Panda, Tianlin also teaches at other local Mandarin programs such as the weekend Chapel Hill Chinese School.  Tianlin lives in Cary with her husband and has a grown daughter who likes to come back home to visit.

Tsao 老師, B.A.

Substitute teacher

Chiu Tsao is a native Mandarin speaker from Taiwan.  She has over 20 years of teaching experience.  It all started with teaching her own children Mandarin. She also taught at her local weekend Mandarin school and served as a principal for a few years. In addition to teaching Mandarin, Chiu was also a Kumon math teacher for 10 years. Chiu moved to the Triangle area in 2018 and is enjoying spending more time with her grandchildren.