Founder Story

The idea for UstartTeaching (UST) began in summer of 2019 when our youth teachers traveled to a Chinese elementary school.

The students there had very limited access to education, only learning basic subjects such as math and Chinese. Without teachers, they never had English, science, music, or art classes.

The youth teachers taught them their very first lessons on these subjects. The students really enjoyed learning with the youth teachers and everyone had a lot of fun. The principal herself even said that she has never seen her students so excited during class and show so much interest!

Our youth teachers also gained a lot from this teaching experience. It was very exciting and rewarding to see their students holding up their first artwork, singing in English, and engage in answering questions.

Plans were made to return the following summer, but COVID-19 suddenly made virtual education a part of students’ lives around the world.

The challenges inspired new ideas: Elton, George, Ella, and Emma, high school and middle school students devoted to helping others, met to create a platform that connected passionate teachers of various academic and extracurricular programs with students. They believed students know students best and that virtual education is the most efficient way to help as many students as possible around the world.

Since its formation, many excellent youth teachers have joined UST and delivered high-quality classes to students worldwide, from the United States to Canada, Japan, Australia, China, and Nigeria.