WS/FC Graduate Living in China Talks with Students at Philo-Hill Magnet Academy



Heather Scales, John Tackabery, Lan Liu

Still recovering from a 17-hour flight from China and a disorienting 12-hour time change, John Tackbery dropped by Philo-Hill Magnet Academy today to meet with the eighth-graders in Lan Liu’s Chinese class.

Among other things, he talked about what a good idea is for students, as these students are, to start learning Chinese while still in middle school. “There are a lot of opportunities if you are an American and speak Chinese,” he said.

Liu pointed out that also means the opportunity to make good money. Heather Scales, the school’s magnet resource specialist, talked about how, for the students who already speak English and Spanish, adding Chinese would make them particularly attractive to businesses looking to do business internationally.  

Tackabery, who graduated from Mount Tabor High School in 2008, is the son of Jill Tackabery, who is a member of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education. Tackabery became interested in China while he was a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A minor in entrepreneurship and study abroad sent him to Beijing to work with a British company that put together specialized travel packages. Deciding that he wanted to learn the language, he took a language immersion program in Shanghai.

Tackabery graduated from Carolina in 2012 and returned to Shanghai to work for a company that imports such foods as Hershey’s chocolate syrup. He is home for the holidays and to renew his visa.