Overview:

-Carissa Welton says she always wanted to be a teacher, and the seed was planted on a college trip to China.
-"When you learn another language, you really learn about the culture," she says.
-Welton is a participant in Planet Detroit's spring 2025 Neighborhood Reporting Lab.

This story is published as part of Planet Detroit’s 2025 Spring Neighborhood Reporting Lab, supported by The Kresge Foundation, to train community-based writers in profile writing. This year’s participants will focus on highlighting grassroots leaders driving positive change in Metro Detroit.

Carissa Welton starts work at 5 a.m., roughly six days a week. It’s not a schedule she would have chosen for herself, but luckily, she is doing something that she loves and also something that opens up the world to others.

Welton lives on Detroit’s east side and is a foreign language teacher at Detroit Waldorf School. Her teaching journey began when she traveled to China in college. The trip ignited a lifelong love for cultural exchange and a passion for teaching. 

What is your workload like? And how many years have you been teaching? 

I am teaching several students here in Detroit and around the world, specializing in foreign languages. I have over 20 years of experience teaching people English as a foreign language and second language, and right now, I have this opportunity to help set up a program at Detroit Waldorf School for students in grades one through eight to learn Mandarin Chinese. 

Of all the languages to learn, how did you end up learning Chinese?

I learned Chinese through studying Asian art history. A lot of the artwork is also related to their written language, which is a form of art as well. I’m a wordsmith, so I love words and linguistics. When you learn another language, you really learn about the culture. You can’t just learn the language without learning about the history, especially with an ancient language like Mandarin Chinese that goes back thousands of years. That’s really what was fascinating for me about learning Chinese.

How does Mandarin Chinese differ from other languages?

With a tonal language like Mandarin Chinese, you’re using the same center of the brain where music is processed because it’s more like singing than speaking. Western languages can be very monotone, and you can still understand each other. In Mandarin, that’s not possible. 

Mandarin Chinese is not the only foreign language you speak.  What are the other languages, and were they difficult to learn?

I began studying French in junior high and continued studying the language until I graduated with honors from Huron High School in 1994. I received a full scholarship to the University of Michigan, where I studied nursing.  I left the program in 1997 to take a job in real estate. I eventually saved enough money to move to California in 1999. I then got involved in commercial real estate, which afforded me the opportunity to enroll in a creative writing class at San Francisco State University in 2001. I took a semester of Spanish. And, of course, French and Spanish are so closely linked, right? My brain is so funny. All my French came back when I started learning Spanish, and I was like, no French, go away. I’m trying to learn Spanish right now. 

When did you decide to teach languages, and why?

In 2002, I switched out of the creative writing program to study Asian art history. Before graduating in 2003, I went on a school trip to China.While I was there, I met several Australians who were teaching English as a foreign language. They planted that seed of possibility. I  always wanted to be a teacher; when I was a child, people would ask, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”  That was always one of my ideas. 

What is it about teaching that intrigues you?

I like helping people learn and sharing information. And maybe a little bit of a selfish reason is, as a teacher, you get to learn, and I love learning. I like researching. I’m also very curious. I like finding out about different cultures. I’m always asking people more about their histories, and so I think that’s really where my love of teaching kind of ties in with my love of writing as well, just gathering information and presenting it to others.

MORE FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD REPORTING LAB

What led you to get involved with Planet Detroit’s Neighborhood Reporting Lab?

I am writing an ocean exploration series of novels for young people.  I also used to write for The China Daily, The Bejinger, and the Women of China Magazine. So, when I saw this opportunity to highlight a community leader with my writing talent, I decided to get involved. 

What do you hope to accomplish by getting involved with the writing lab?

I have always looked for creative ways to nurture the environment and share with the public. It probably comes from running Greening the Beige, the volunteer platform that raised environmental awareness through the arts in China.

I’ve known Detroit since the late 1970s so I’ve seen a lot of positive changes to the riverfront, offering more public access and play space for children. That’s my green passion: youth empowerment and environmental protection. Our city has a lot to offer. 

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