Catherine grew up in a family of five and she's the youngest one. She has enjoyed being back here after living in Canada for 7 years. She attended Windsor Secondary School located in North Vancouver and then moved to Ontario for her undergraduate study. She received her Bachelor's degree from Queen's University in Kingston Ontario. After graduation, she moved back to Taiwan to begin her work experience. Immediately after returning to Taiwan, she joined the TSMC customer service group. Working as the secretary for the secondary department of HIS for the past two years, she has learned much from the school, from the parents and also from the students. Being the office manager is another exciting move for her. This is her 10th year at HIS and she's really grateful to be here with all of you!

Laura is very happy to be part of the big HIS family. Laura lived, worked and studied in British Columbia, Canada for 11 years. Before moving back to Taiwan, she worked in a law office for one year where she learned important skills for her job at HIS. Because Canada is such a multi-cultural country, she met people from many different countries and learned different languages such as English, Mandarin and Cantonese. Working at HIS makes her feel that she is still living in Canada. During her spare time, she loves to watch movies with her friends and family and also enjoys biking.

Alex was born in Hsinchu. He is very approachable and easy to get along with, both in and out of the professional environment. He sees it as one of his most important responsibilities to try to better his capabilities and continue on the road of learning. Alex was a diligent learner at school and that really helped him while doing research in graduate school. His graduate thesis was on the bond pricing of Financial industries. Having previously held the position of branch manager of the Hsinchu District China Trust Commercial Bank, Alex has broad experience in accounting. Besides bringing his expertise in accounting services to HIS, it is his aim to improve his English language skills.

Eric majored in computers and education at university and obtained certification in elementary education. He also has expertise in operating system and server management, Cisco CCNA, Linux LPI Level 1, Microsoft MCP, MCSA and MCSE on server2003. Previously he has substituted at public elementary schools and worked in the IT department at a flash memory testing company. He is interested in sports and reading.

Mr. Long was born, and grew up in Birmingham, England’s second largest city. He attended the University of Leicester where he gained his degree in Chemistry. He first worked at a pharmaceutical company in London, employed in the quality control laboratory doing chemical analysis, before moving to New Zealand. In New Zealand, he managed the chemistry laboratory, worked on process improvement, and monitored the environmental safeguards at a manufacturing site.
In 2015, he gained his Post Graduate Certificate in Education from the University of Nottingham. He has been teaching science courses in Taiwan ever since.

When he’s not teaching, he enjoys the great outdoors, hiking and trail running. He loves to travel, and he has a keen interest in digital photography.

This is Mr. Hunter's second stint teaching at HIS. He left HIS 6 years ago to teach in Montana, USA. He enjoyed his time in Montana camping and hiking in some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. He is exited to return to HIS and feels quite at home again.  Mr. Hunter has two children and enjoys camping and hiking with them. Both children are active wrestlers and he also enjoys coaching them and attending tournaments with them. In addition, Mr Hunter enjoys music, woodworking, fishing, and drinking coffee with his wife of 14 years.

Javier was born and raised in a small town in the North-West of Spain. After obtaining his bachelor and master degrees in Physics at the University of Vigo (Spain), he came to Taiwan 16 years ago to continue his studies. He obtained his doctoral degree in Physics in National Tsing Hua University for this work developing and observing with automated telescopes. Afterward, he worked under a postdoctoral contract at the same university analyzing data coming from ground-based telescopes and satellites.

He has been working at HIS for several years already and when he is not in school, he likes to spend quality time with his family, watch classic movies, practice martial arts, tinker with his computer, and play old-school video games.

Javier is very excited to work in HIS and help students getting ready for their future college life.

Throughout my career working in Florida public schools as a teacher and trainer, I’ve had the privilege of watching my students achieve tremendous learning gains on the state and district tests. After teaching in Florida for fourteen years, I had worked and resided in Hsinchu where I taught at the high school level for almost ten years. Since 2015, I worked at the International Bilingual School at Hsinchu Science Park, a public K-12 school, operated jointly by the Ministry of Education and the National Science Council. While at IBSH, I have taught a variety of regular and AP English courses as well as elective offerings at the high school level. After years of working with and observing many outstanding teachers, I’ve managed to build classrooms that release the latent talents and skills in my students, close the achievement gap between struggling and advanced learners, and transform students at risk of failure into achievers and believers.


My teaching style is direct and decisive, yet flexible in responding to constantly changing demands of the teaching profession. During my career, I have had the opportunity to teach a diverse group of students, thus enhancing my teaching techniques and instructional methods. As a result, I have developed superior interpersonal and leadership skills. In addition, I have become proficient in motivating my students by developing engaging lesson plans and using alternative assessment strategies to accurately gauge my students’ performance. In addition to quizzes, exams, and standardized tests, my assessments incorporate a variety of performance-based measures and portfolio opportunities.


I believe one of my greatest strengths as a teacher is instilling a love for learning. Achieving that goal means helping students to understand, organize, and retain information in order to become confident, lifelong learners. It also means respecting each student’s background, culture, and learning style and holding high expectations that all children can and will learn.
Before embarking on a teaching career, I was a practicing attorney for over twenty years in the U.S. After passing the bar, I was admitted to practice law in the following jurisdictions: NY, NJ, PA, and FL. The pinnacle of my legal career was working on an appellate brief and arguing a case before the US Supreme Court in 2000.

Michelle is excited to be continuing at Hsinchu International School and to continue to grow in our thriving community. She is from Johannesburg, South Africa and obtained her Bachelors in Education at the University of the Witwatersrand. Her B. Ed is a double major in English in Education and Geography in Education. Along with her husband (and now daughter) she has lived in Taiwan for a number of years. Michelle has had the privilege to work at a diverse range of schools in Taiwan that has broadened her understanding of both Taiwanese culture and the needs of native and non-native speakers of English. Michelle is also very interested in the areas of Critical Literacy Metacognition and this can be seen in her approach to teaching Language Arts. In her spare time, Michelle enjoys reading Sci-fi fantasy novels, cooking, baking, and crocheting. This school year she is especially excited about being involved in growing the school journalism club.

Colin Cochrane is a Canadian teaching English in the Secondary Department. His degree is in English, the Fine Arts, and the History of Art and Architecture, with post-graduate certification from the Ontario College of Teachers. His extensive teaching career has been supplemented by valuable experience in architectural preservation, cultural history museums, and British and European antiques. He believes that relating the English curriculum to life beyond the school walls is essential. He encourages students to become more accurate, articulate, and confident in English, and exploits the study of literature as a unique opportunity for them to gain pleasure, personal growth, and a deeper understanding of humanity. He genuinely enjoys his interaction with his students, and observes their individual progress with real interest.

Liling grew up in Taiwan and obtained her Bachelor degree from the National Chengchi University. Because of her interest in education, she later acquired her post-bachelor degree in education at the National Taichung Teachers College. Liling has never forgotten her passion toward mathematics, and therefore decided to continue with a graduate program in mathematics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City in the United States. Liling has enjoyed working with students at HIS and is passionate about igniting students’ passion for learning.

Jessie Lei grew up in Hong Kong, and have settled here in Taiwan for more than ten years. 
She has her both Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees from the University of Hong Kong (HKU), in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and in Mathematics, respectively. 

She has enjoyed teaching in Mathematics and Computer Programming. When she is not teaching, Ms. Lei enjoys spending time with her family reading, watching movies, and playing table tennis.

Hank Hsieh, born in Taiwan, holds both Bachelor and Masters degrees of Music in Composition from University of British Columbia, Canada. He moved back to Taiwan 5 years ago and has been actively involved in Taiwan’s music industry. His works have won and been nominated for many awards, including Golden Melody Award, Golden Bell Award… etc.

Mr. Robus holds Master’s degrees in both Social Sciences (Social Psychology/Sociology) and Education. He has been working as an educator since 1998 and has taught from Pre-K to undergraduate level in that time. 
 
After leaving the United Kingdom, he moved to Taiwan “for just one year” but has now been living here for quite some time. His desire to work as an educator in a multicultural, international environment filled with students, parents, and educators from all over the world brought him to HIS in 2014. 

Mr. Seymour has lived in Taiwan for over eleven years and has resided here in Hsinchu for the past ten years. Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, Mr. Seymour also had the opportunity to live in Mexico and Costa Rica before moving to Taiwan. His education background includes bachelor's degrees in history and anthropology and a minor in Spanish from the University of Louisville. In addition, he holds a Master's Degree in the Art of Teaching from the University of the Cumberlands. He will complete another Master's Degree in School Leadership from Asbury University during the 2022-2023 school year. Mr. Seymour's teaching experience includes English, Spanish, history, geography, anthropology, government, literature, and ESL courses. When he is not in the classroom, he enjoys being outdoors. Hiking, cycling, exploring Taiwan, sports, and exercising are all activities that interest him in his free time. Mr. Seymour looks forward to his 5th year at HIS and having a great school year!

Laurence was born and raised in Toronto, Canada, and had spent most of his life there until graduating university. Laurence attended the University of Western Ontario and earned a double degree in human resource management and sociology. After graduation, he came to Taiwan to pursue teaching and has been doing so ever since. He joined Hsinchu International School over five years ago working in both the elementary and secondary school departments as a substitute teacher. He has currently taken on a more permanent position as a part-time teacher in the secondary department.

Laurence enjoys traveling and exploring new places in South East Asia with his lovely wife and two children. Together, they have explored the many different countries where sightseeing, tasting new food, scuba diving or reading on the beach is a must on any vacation. Laurence also enjoys watching the latest movies or going out to any new restaurant in Taiwan.

Laurence loves the environment here at Hsinchu International School where a genuine love of learning is fostered in a warm atmosphere of friendship. Here teachers are constantly awakening a natural curiosity of education. Laurence is excited to work with the highly skilled and professional staff as well as the very enthusiastic and passionate students in grades 7,8 and 9. He looks forward to a very prosperous and productive year.

Veronica was born and raised in South Texas, along the Texas- Mexico border. Growing up in a Spanish speaking community, she quickly realized the importance and advantages of being bilingual. Therefore, she understands the challenges and benefits of being able to speak, understand, read and write in multiple languages. She graduated from the University of Colorado with a BA in Psychology and earned both her Teaching and ESL Certifications from the State of Texas, USA. She has worked in the Texas Public School System, American School of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, and this is her 6th year teaching here in Taiwan.

Outside of school, she keeps busy with her family but she does enjoy traveling, going to the theatre, cinema, concerts venues and going out to eat. Shopping is one of her favorite past times. She loves all things jewelry and collecting handmade items.

Sophie has her Master’s degree from National Tsing Hua University, in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language. She loves all her students trying to learn everything she taught them and talk to her in Chinese.

“Learn in order to practise.” is her goal for her students, she develops different ways to help her students understand and master Chinese easily. She always encourages students not to be afraid to make mistakes, because mistakes will help them learn better. And she is always willing to help them get better.

In her spare time, she loves to spend time with her family and friends, travel, read, and play with her two lovely dogs- xiao guai and feeble, or be a photographer when her husband skates.

Jeff is a native of California, USA. He graduated from Rutgers University of New Jersey majoring in East Asian Studies. Since childhood, Jeff has always been interested in various sports but excelled in martial arts. He currently holds the rank of black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Taekwondo. Jeff has had extensive teaching experiences coaching children martial arts, and as a secondary education teacher for the School District of Philadelphia. During his time there, he held Brazilian Jiujitsu Club after school for troubled youth.
Prior to finding his passion in teaching, Jeff was a professional chef of French and Japanese cuisine. He also has an Associate's degree in Culinary Arts from Orange Coast College in his hometown. He enjoys cooking and playing guitar in his free time.

Peggy grew up in Hsinchu. After completing her college education in Taiwan, she went to the US and obtained law degrees from both Cornell University and Washington University in St. Louis. She was an attorney in Chicago before moving back to Taiwan with her family. Peggy has never forgotten how important her higher education and global experience are to her both professionally and personally. Therefore, she has dedicated herself to assisting students in discovering their strengths and interests, exploring career alternatives, and finding suitable institutions of higher learning. Before joining Hsinchu International School, Peggy has been a college admissions consultant with Solo International Education for four years. She is excited to work with HIS students to discover their potential, develop persistence and prepare students to embark on an exciting future and a fulfilling life.

A Taichung native, Joanne graduated from Nursing College in Taipei. From there she proceeded to work at the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital International Medical Center in LinKou where she was a leader of the ICU ward she had been maintaining for five years. She later moved to Hsinchu where she spent the next two years assisting in the operating room at the National Taiwan University Hospital.

Since her time in the O.R., Joanne has been a personal professional caregiver for young children while raising a family of her own. Eager to rejoin the workforce, Joanne decided to combine her love for medicine and children and found a perfect match here at HIS. Joanne enjoys traveling and cooking as well as a good movie. She cherishes family and friends above all and is eager to help those in need.  She is grateful to have joined such a great staff and team at HIS as the school nurse.