Little Panda Staff Bios


Xiaoping Johnson, PhD
Principal
Teaches: Preschool Da Gong Ji Class (4&5-year-olds) and Xiao Qing Wa (3&4-year-olds), After School Classes & Young Eagle Program
A native Mandarin Chinese language speaker, Xiaoping was born and raised in China. She received her BS and Master degrees from China and her PhD degree from the US. She has many years of experience teaching Mandarin to children and adults. Her expertise was recognized recently by the US government when she was asked to develop its Mandarin teaching curriculum -- a program currently in operation. Xiaoping and her husband live in Cary with their son.

Erin Hsu, MA
Director of After School Program
Teaches: Preschool Xiao Bai Chuan Class (3 & 4-year-olds), Extended Day, After School
Born and raised in Taiwan, Ms. Erin received her Masters’ degree in Education from National Taichung University and her US teaching certificate from University of California at Irvine.
Prior to moving to North Carolina, Ms. Erin taught in at a Mandarin Immersion program to children ages 2-9 years, tutored adult English speakers, taught at the Sunshine Chinese School as a preschool teacher, and tutored students in Taiwan in Mandarin, English and Math.

Julie Huang, MBA
Vice Principal
Teaches: Preschool Da Gong Ji Class (4 & 5-year-olds)
A native Mandarin Chinese language speaker, Julie was born and raised in Taiwan. She received her BS in Taiwan and MBA degree in the US. She also has many years of experience teaching Mandarin to children and adults. Julie's proficiency in Mandarin teaching has also lead her to establish the curriculum for local Chinese schools in the US. She has been with Little Panda Preschool since the start and is adored by all her students. Julie lives in Durham with her husband and two daughters.

May Zhu, MA
Teacher: Xiao Hong Hua Class (3&4-year-olds) and After School
May is a native Mandarin speaker from southwest China. She received her Bachelors and Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education from Beijing Normal University. New to Little Panda this year, May bring a lot of energy and new ideas to the program.

Helen Wu, BA
Music Teacher & Classroom Teacher: Preschool Xiao Hong Hua Class (3&4-year-olds), Extended Day, After School
Helen is a native Mandarin speaker raised and educated at Beijing's Normal University. She received her bachelor's degree in music and taught middle school and high school for six years before coming to the US. Helen has brought her music education experience to Little Panda and we all feel very lucky to have her with us. She currently lives in Durham with her husband.

Nancy Mapps, BS
Teacher: Preschool Xiao Qing Wa Class (3 & 4-year-olds) Extended Day, After School
A native Mandarin language speaker, Nancy was born and raised in Taiwan. She graduated with a BS degree from Tainan College and has working experience as a teacher, sales manager and business owner. Nancy has lived in Durham with her husband since 2000 and is currently taking classes in early childhood education.

Hannah Zhang, MA
Teacher: Preschool Xiao Song Shu Class (2 & 3-year-olds) Extended Day
Born and raised in Beijing, Hannah received her BA from Tsinghua University in Beijing, in automotive engineering. Last summer, she earned her Masters Degree from the University of Minnesota in Graphic Design. She now lives in Durham.

Mary Ma, BA

Teacher: Xiao Song Shu Class(2&3-year-olds)                                                                                         A native Mandarin Chinese language speaker, Mary was born and raised in China. She received her BA in Chinese language in China and is an accomplished writer and Mandarin instructor in China. Mary immigrated to the US recently and she lives in Durham with her husband.

Vera Wang, MA
Teacher: Assists with preschool classes
A native Mandarin speaker from the Southeastern part of China, Vera received her BA from Southwestern University of Finance and Economics and her Masters in Accounting at Jinan University.

Jing Chen, BA
Teacher
Teaches: After School, Young Eagle Program & Adult Mandarin Language Programs
A native Mandarin Chinese language speaker from Beijing, China, Jing received his BA from China in Chinese history and literature. He has been teaching Mandarin Chinese in China and in the US for many years. Jing lives in Durham with his wife and their son.

Melissa Zemon, BA
Marketing and Administration
Born and raised in New York, Melissa is a native English speaker making a concerted effort to learn Mandarin along with her two children Alexandra (6) and Cole (4) who have attended Little Panda since 2006. She received her BA from Syracuse University’s S.I. New House School of Public Communications and spent the better part of 12 years working in the magazine publishing industry in New York, Washington DC and Miami. She currently resides in Chapel Hill with her two children and her husband.