| Nguyen Nguyet Anh |
| Koch Ming Toi |
| Kim Chi Crittendon |
| Anh Houng-Thi Tu |
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| Community Events |
Kim Chi Crittendon
esl teacher, Abington Elementary School
Kim Chi Crittendon married an American and escaped from Vietnam with him during the last month before the Communist takeover. First they moved to the rural South where she ran a restaurant and began their family. They have three daughters. Later they moved to Northern Virginia where she went back to school to earn a master’s degree in teaching. Kim Chi is an ESL teacher at Abington Elementary in Arlington, VA. In the late 1980s when many of her students were Central American refugees she decided to learn Spanish. She studied the language in Ecuador for several summers. Kim Chi believes in working hard and pursuing goals. She is particularly proud of having run the Marine Corps marathon.
Quotes from Kim Chi Crittendon:
When I was young, my teacher always told me that you need to look at people with respect and respect the way they are. It doesn’t matter what language, what colors, or whether they’re rich or poor. Everybody has something to offer.
“The best part about being here is that you have so many choices and so many opportunities to pursue your dream. Whatever your dream is, you can make it happen. I wish that the children can see that. Whatever you set your mind to it, you have the opportunity to do it. I often tell my students, ‘Don't tell me that you can't do it. You can.’ You set goals for yourself.
I remember when I took the first Spanish course, I set a goal. I said, ‘Within the next five years I would like to improve my Spanish and I would like to be able to speak Spanish at the level where I can communicate effectively.’ Slowly, I will be able to do that, but I don't say I'll never be able to do that. If you say that, then you might believe that you'll never be able to. But if you just set it, you know, it's the small goals and you work, work, work, work to it.
I'm a runner. I run. The first time I told people, I said, ‘I want to run a mile,’ they all looked at me and laughed. They said, "‘Try fifty yards first.’ So I said, ‘Okay. That would be a good idea.’ So the first time I picked up running, I said, ‘I wanted to get out and just run a mile. Why couldn't I do it?"‘ Well, I couldn't do it. I got up to maybe about ten yards, I don't remember, fifteen, I would pass out. I mean, I was totally out. So I said, ‘Okay, fifteen. Next time twenty, thirty, forty, up to half a mile, and then a mile.’ And then I looked back and I said, ‘Wait until the day I can run three.’ I set my goal [to be that] I could run three. And then six, and then ten. I look back and I say, ‘Well, I wonder... by the time I reach maybe thirty, could I do a marathon?’ And I did it, because I was able to space out and work out and say, ‘If other people can do it, why can't I?’ [I ran] the Marine Corps [Marathon]—26.2 miles.
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| Kim Chi Crittendon |
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| Kim Chi Crittendon |
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| Kim Chi Crittendon and her family, Arlington, VA |
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| Kim Chi Crittendon with her students at Arlington Elementary School |
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| Kim Chi Crittendon with her students at Arlington Elementary School |
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| Kim Chi Crittendon with her students at Arlington Elementary School |
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| Kim Chi Crittendon preparing for a marathon | |