Mr. Karsten Kim is one of the newest teachers at West Potomac High School. 

He is in his first year teaching at West Po but his fifth year teaching overall, this being his second school he’s taught at. He taught his first four years at a small charter school of around 300 students in the south side of Memphis, Tennessee. 

He previously taught Integrated Math, a mix of algebra, statistics, geometry and calculus, but now teaches both Geometry and AP Statistics at West Po. 

“It’s great, the community is great here,” Mr. Kim said. “The teachers have been super welcoming and I feel a lot safer here. My last school was 300 kids strong and West Potomac is 3,000. The hardest part has been remembering everybody’s name, but besides that I’ve been enjoying it.”

Mr. Kim is pretty familiar with Northern Virginia, having attended Centreville High School in Fairfax County. He attended college at the University of Virginia, originally studying to be a biomedical engineer before realizing it wasn’t for him and switching to study youth and social innovation.

“I want to help society in the best way I can,” he said when asked why he started teaching. “I realized that changing the world doesn’t have to mean becoming the President of the United States or becoming a doctor that cures cancer. A Lot of times changing the world can mean changing someone’s world.”

Outside of school, Mr. Kim enjoys going to church and playing some games on the side. One of his biggest passions, though, is music. He enjoys singing, playing the drums and playing the piano.

“I really enjoy music,” he said.