Every German student at Claremont High School will agree that Jennifer Tsai is a force to be reckoned with. And anyone can recognize it—her gaze blazes with determination; her poise emanates the regality of a queen; and her presence commands respect without a word. Through her discipline, work ethic, and unrelenting dedication, Tsai inspires her students to reflect her diligence in the classroom and beyond as well-rounded, fearless individuals in their future endeavors.
Waking up at five a.m. every morning, Tsai prepares herself physically and mentally for her long day ahead. Her schedule is filled to the brim as she teaches German 1A and 1B at El Roble, German 1, 2, 3, 3 Honors, AP German, and IB German at Claremont High School. Tsai also advises the CHS German Club—most notably known for hosting the annual school-wide Oktoberfest—while organizing countless opportunities for her students including two German exchange programs, Explorica tours, and multiple Goethe Institute partnered events. She also works for AP College Board as an AP grader and a member of the Test Development Committee for AP German exams.
Her commitment does not end there though: Tsai is also an IB CAS advisor, assisting students every step of the way to completing their CAS projects and earning their IB diplomas. This is in addition to being an MYP advisor, which involves working extensively with MYP students on their projects.
Furthermore, Tsai serves as the World Language Department Chair at Claremont High School. Upon assuming the position three years ago, Tsai immediately took charge, meticulously analyzing and meeting the needs of the department. This included obtaining language textbooks and updating the outdated technology provided by the school. For the teachers, she prioritized training for AP and IB, as well as promoted collaboration between all language departments. Essentially, the wonderful world language programs we enjoy today would not be possible without Tsai and her relentless advocacy.
Most notably, Tsai built the German program from the ground up. When she first became the German teacher at CHS in 2011, she was told to grow the small program in order to become a full time and over full time teacher. Tsai seized the challenge and eclipsed it by an astonishing margin; in recent years, the German program has become so popular that sections of overflow students are taught by Tamara Nicoll, one of the CHS English teachers who taught German in the past.
Tsai’s success was and is not without its challenges though. She reveals that her strength has proved an asset and a shortcoming.
”I have a strong sense of responsibility and I think that’s my biggest downfall as well,” Tsai said. “So when I go to interviews and [am] asked about my strengths and weaknesses, I always say I’m a perfectionist. Because I’m a perfectionist, I don’t let myself do something…not so well. But I have had to learn.”
Tsai recalls how in years prior, she would devote herself so strictly to being a teacher that she would dismiss her friendships and miss out on events like birthdays and baby showers. She would spend every waking moment perfecting every aspect of her job—even down to the layout of the posters of her room and the program design of German events—and would sometimes leave the campus at midnight, occasionally setting off the security alarm. Yet Tsai eventually realized that this was neither sustainable nor meaningful.
”Ever since COVID, and […] my grandmother died, my grandfather died, and my dad is in the hospital, in and out, I’ve learned that life is too short for you to dedicate yourself to one thing,” Tsai said. “You have to find a balance. So I now have learned that it’s okay that I don’t have everything perfect.
“I realized that if I take care of myself, I’m a much better teacher, I’m a much better person, I’m a much better friend,” Tsai said.
One of Tsai’s philosophies is that a teacher’s job is not just teaching students, but also preparing them for their futures.
“I know that not every single student is going to go to Germany or become a German professor, but maybe learning German will help them enrich their own studies, their own future, and help them discover certain things that they may not have discovered on their own,” Tsai said. “I do think teenagers need some pushing to explore areas that are out of their comfort zone.
“This is why I have class leaders [and public speaking at] Gartenfest, [in order] to expose students to different things,” Tsai said. “Because these are skills that you will need when you go into the workforce. When your boss [approaches] you to ask you what you’re doing, […] you have to be able to say, ‘this is what we’re doing, this is what we’re trying to accomplish.’”
Moreover, Tsai shared her perspective on the responsibility of an educator.
”My role is to be a mentor, a teacher, to guide my students, to show them how it’s supposed to be, or at least explain why things are a certain way,” Tsai. “I always explain why I do certain things […] because I think students should know so that they can make the best educated decisions for themselves.”
Tsai explains that this is one of the reasons she loves teaching—while helping her students make connections, she also watches them grow and eventually spread their wings.
“It’s so rewarding to see the ‘a-ha’ moment,” Tsai said. “Like, you didn’t understand something and then now you do—that shine in your eyes. Also, I see students growing up from ninth grade—‘this is how you organize your backpack, write your name on the paper’—to when they are at graduation and I am handing them their diploma. I’m like, ‘wow, you’ve come so far.’”
She considers the most profound part as seeing them as fully functioning adults who can do their own laundry and park their cars.
Furthermore, Tsai attributes her strong advocacy for equality in the classroom, friendships, and support systems to her personal struggles growing up. Being born and raised in Germany and moving to the United States at the age of thirteen, Tsai had to grapple with clashing cultural viewpoints.
“Being Asian, you’re taught to obey, to be quiet, to serve and help…so I’m an incredibly good daughter, I’m an incredibly good sister, because these are ingrained in you as a child,” Tsai said. “But growing up in the Western world, I have learned to fight for my rights and stand up for equality.”
She also thinks back on the struggles she had, having Asian heritage in a German school.
“When I was growing up [in Germany], I was like an alien, a zebra,” Tsai said. “It was hard because […] when I was in school, there were one-point-five Chinese people: I was the one, and the point five was my mom’s friend’s daughter, whose mom was Chinese and dad was German.”
Thus, it was during this time that Tsai met one of the most influential women in her life: Frau Wolf, a German woman who adopted five different children from all over the world in addition to having two biological children.
“Because for the first time when I went into her class, I did not feel like a foreigner,” Tsai said. “I felt like Germany was my home.”
Besides Frau Wolf, though, another inspirational woman Tsai looks up to is her grandmother.
“[My grandmother] was one of the first women to work after World War II,” Tsai said. “She was an elementary school teacher, she was very well-dressed, […] and she balanced having four children while being a mother and one of the first women to work in her generation. She was very strong and she held the family together.”
For context, Tsai’s family resides in three different continents: some are in Germany, some are in America, while others remain in Taiwan.
“[My grandmother] was the outgoing one, […] she would hold family gatherings…she had a lot of close friends who she sang Chinese opera with, which I learned from her,” Frau Tsai said. “I also played the guzheng…so my grandmother really inspired me to embrace my Chinese culture and to keep in contact with different people.”
If not for Frau Wolf and her grandmother, Tsai would perhaps not be who she is today.
“I really look up to [Frau Wolf] and I think it’s one of the reasons why I became a teacher,” Tsai said. “And because my grandmother was an elementary school teacher and my mother was an art teacher.”
In truth, Tsai never planned on becoming one. Growing up, she was intent on pursuing business and entrepreneurship as a means of earning a lot of money. And for a while, she did: Tsai began working as a real estate agent at the age of nineteen. Yet Tsai’s outlook shifted at one point.
“Then I realized that money isn’t everything,” Tsai said. “Money doesn’t get you happiness. Money doesn’t get you friends. It’s what you do, your passion, that makes a difference.”
Tsai was actually introduced to her passion while earning her bachelor’s in German at UCLA. Close to her graduation, her German professor pulled her aside to ask her if she was interested in pursuing a master’s degree in German Literature. When Frau Tsai expressed concern over the cost, he informed her that it would cost nothing if she taught.
“And I was so scared my first time teaching,” Tsai said. “I was shaking […] at the same time my students were shaking—I felt so worried and I also felt that my students were so worried. And I realized, no, German should not be scary. You should not be afraid of the language. This should be something that’s fun.”
From that moment on, Tsai decided to pursue teaching, a choice she treasures deeply.
“Teaching is my life passion,” Tsai said. “I have done many other things—I cut hair, I worked in a doctor’s office, I’ve worked at a pizzeria, a museum—I have done a lot of different jobs but when I became a teacher, I knew this was it: I’m going to do this till, you know, I die. And I’ve never looked back.”
Tsai, who can only be described as a woman of indomitable strength, never fails to inspire awe and respect among her students and colleagues. She makes the impossible possible, and she works relentlessly to recognize every student, uplift them, and encourage them to become so much more. Her tenacity and impact on her students is unparalleled, and Claremont High School is beyond blessed to have a teacher as phenomenal as Frau Tsai.
