Gissela V.

Born in Ecuador and raised in Chicago, Gissela began her education career at the age of eighteen tutoring middle school math and reading. Deciding to pursue education further, she traveled to her home country where she worked as an ESL Teacher for three years. It was during this trip that she fell in love with teaching and returned to Chicago to graduate with a Bachelor’s in English Literature and Secondary/Middle Ed. with an ELL endorsement. Eight years of classroom experience has taught Gissela that relationship building, goal setting and collaborative learning are essential for a students’ growth. Gissela considers herself a lifelong learner, which is why she is not only continuing a postgraduate degree but she loves to attend local classes to learn new skills such as sewing or health and body mobility. Being an avid reader and a lover of hot cocoa and winter weather – she enjoys reading poetry, manga and biographies of people who inspire her. She loves to host Book Clubs with her friends and travel with her husband – anywhere as long as it has mountains and a body of water!

COLLEEN S.

Colleen Slattery has a Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education with a major in History and also has a Master’s degree in Literacy Education. She has been teaching social studies and tutoring students across all grade levels and subject areas for the past ten years.  She currently teaches at a public school in Westchester, NY.  Colleen’s passion for Literacy fuses with her passion of incorporating reading and writing strategies that help students comprehend various levels of texts, apply new vocabulary words in discussions, and enhance their educational experience. In addition, she is also the facilitator in a ‘Steps to Success’ Program for middle school students. This program helps students transition into middle school with the primary focus on homework help, reviewing for upcoming tests and projects, learning the best study strategies, and executive functioning. Colleen is a lifelong learner who is caring, patient and who strives to build trusting and productive relationships with her students and to motivate them to accomplish their goals.

Dr. Ingrid U.

Ingrid Ulbrich is a passionate and tenacious educator who believes in the unlimited potential of all students to enjoy and succeed in STEM. In addition to helping students learn math and science, she helps them take ownership of their learning and strengthen their learning skills. Ingrid’s enthusiasm for STEM and learning shines through in all of her interactions with students.

Ingrid is a graduate of Niwot High School, MIT (B.S., Environmental Engineering) and the University of Colorado – Boulder (Ph.D., Atmospheric and Analytical Chemistry). She has 20 years of experience tutoring in STEM subjects, including 10+ years of teaching college chemistry.

When she’s not working with students, Ingrid probably has a spatula, musical score, book, or knitting needles in her hands. And maybe a cat in her lap, too!

Kayla H.

Meet Kayla Hicks, a Speech-Language Pathology graduate student. Kayla grew up in Oklahoma City where she received her Bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Oklahoma State University. There she taught high school students from Phnom Penh, Cambodia formal grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation of spoken and written English. She also tutored college students in English, Essay writing, and Psychology. Kayla then moved to Illinois to work toward her Graduate degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Midwestern University where she is expected to graduate in May of 2023. Kayla has gained professional experience as a Speech Pathology graduate student who has facilitated evaluation and intervention in neurodegenerative disorders of communication (TBI/ABI, Parkinson’s Disease, Stroke, Cognition, Aphasia, etc.) and children with unique communication needs (Expressive/Receptive Language Disorder, AAC, Autism, Childhood Apraxia of Speech, Articulation, Language, Social learning, etc.) Through speech and language intervention, she has been able to foster her love of teaching and support students and adults with unique needs across multiple subjects to meet their educational goals. She has been able to make her students feel more confident in the classroom and their personal life by supporting improvement in writing, reading, vocabulary, language, speech, and math.

Kayla’s experience has allowed her to be flexible and adaptable with all students. She offers a calm, yet welcoming demeanor, infectious joy, candor, and positivity. In her spare time, Kayla loves going on walks, playing games, laser tag, and dancing. Kayla also spends her time helping out at a local dance studio, where she gets to share her love of dance. You can catch Kayla with a big smile on her face, helping someone become their best self.

JOAN C.

Joan is a veteran teacher with a Master’s degree in Elementary Education.  She spent 14 years teaching, both in elementary and middle school classrooms. She has tutored privately in Westchester and Fairfield counties for the past 15 years.  During Covid, Joan homeschooled families in the local area. Currently, she works with elementary students in all subjects as well as middle and high school students in English and history. Joan also supports students’ writing, study skills and executive functioning.

Sacha F.

EN: Sacha has fully immersed himself in the study of English Literature since he graduated high school in 2017. He graduated with a DEC in Literature at Dawson College in 2019, received his BA Specialization in English Literature from Concordia University in Fall 2022, and is currently obtaining my MA in English Literature from Queen’s University. In the future, he hopes to become an educator and teach college-level English courses, where his passion will resonate through his classrooms and to his students.
Sacha is perfectly fluent in English and French. He is a well-rounded individual with interest and knowledge in various other subjects, such as French and Math. His experience in tutoring ranges from one-on-one personalized tutoring to being a mentor for larger groups of youths around Montreal. Sacha believes that anyone and everyone can succeed in whatever they put their mind up to. He hopes to show that to his students in the future.

Concordia University: Bachelor of Art – Specialization in English Literature 
Dawson College: DEC in College Studies – Arts, Literature & Communication 

FR: Sacha s’est entièrement plongé dans l’étude de la littérature anglaise depuis qu’il a terminé le secondaire en 2017. Il a obtenu un DEC en littérature au Dawson College en 2019, a reçu son baccalauréat en spécialisation en littérature anglaise de l’Université Concordia à l’automne 2022, et est actuellement en train de terminer sa maîtrise en littérature anglaise à l’Université Queen’s. Dans le futur, il espère devenir enseignant et donner des cours d’anglais au niveau collégial, où sa passion résonnera à travers ses salles de classe et auprès de ses étudiants.

Sacha est parfaitement bilingue en anglais et en français. Il est une personne polyvalente avec des intérêts et des connaissances dans divers autres sujets, tels que le français et les mathématiques. Son expérience en tutorat va de l’accompagnement personnalisé en tête-à-tête à être mentor pour des groupes plus importants de jeunes autour de Montréal. Sacha croit que chacun et chacune peut réussir dans ce qu’il ou elle entreprend. Il espère montrer cela à ses futurs étudiants.

Université Concordia : Baccalauréat ès arts – Spécialisation en littérature anglaise
Dawson College : DEC en études collégiales – Arts, littérature et communication

Aliya R.

Aliya graduated from McGill University in May 2024, and acquired her Bachelor of Arts with a major concentration in political science and a minor in economics. While not currently enrolled in school, she is taking online business courses and plans to return to pursue an MBA.

She attended high school and Pre-University at Lower Canada College (LCC), completed and obtained her IB diploma, certificate of bilingualism and graduated with honours.

Her previous experience in tutoring includes peer tutoring through LCC for junior school students to prepare them for weekly evaluations in English, French and math. She has tutored elementary and middle school education in Math, English and science consistently for seven years, as well as high school math, and believes that with the right tools and support, every student can reach their full potential.

Kaitlyn G.

Kaitlyn attended high school level at the Study School, college level at Dawson in Pure & Applied Science (also took the Health Science courses, anatomy, organic Chemistry, etc. ), and university level at Concordia in Civil Engineering. While she has an affinity towards math, science, and physics, most subjects were enjoyed at some point! Kaitlyn can help generally with homework and understanding, but is also very helpful with test and exam preparation.

FRANK H. III

Luke C.