Kristin Wingate teaches Japanese language and culture at Cranford Public Schools at the high school level. She oversees the school's Japanese Club and Japanese National Honor Society activities. In the past she taught concurrently both Cranford Public School's middle school and high school grades.Previously, Kristin taught Japanese 1, 2, and 3 at New Providence High School. Prior to that, Kristin taught at Ridge High School in Basking Ridge, NJ at the Intermediate, Pre-Advanced, and AP levels for four years. She also served as an Instructional Coach for the Bernards Township Public Schools District. As a participant in the Japan Foundation's Short-Term Summer Teacher Training Program, and past participant of Middlebury's Summer Language Schools (Japanese) and the US State Department's Critical Language Scholarship (Japanese), Kristin is always striving to sharpen her linguistic skills and cultural knowledge in an ever-changing global society.Kristin graduated with a Master's degree in Asian Studies from Seton Hall University. During that time, she served as a Teaching Assistant of Japanese for Seton Hall’s Department of Asian Studies and was a substitute teacher at Passaic County Technical Institute. Kristin’s research interests pertain to contemporary Japanese society and how the attitudes, values, and opinions of today’s Japanese youth can provide indicators for future changes in Japanese culture and society. She recently completed her master's thesis entitled "Embracing Immigration: Contemporary College Students'​ Perception of Foreign Labor."​According to ACTFL standards, Kristin's Japanese language ability is Advanced Mid as of June 2021.As of April 2022, Kristin is certified to teach K-12 Japanese in over 35 states.