REYAM M.

AMBER C.

Amber is an Ontario certified Primary, Junior, and Intermediate Teacher. She grew up in Vancouver and Toronto and earned an Honours Bachelor of Arts at the University of Toronto. As well, she obtained a Bachelor of Education at the University of Ottawa with great distinction, and she is currently pursuing a Master’s of Education in Studies in Teaching and Learning. Amber grew up with a deep love of teaching, language, and culture, and took the opportunity to continue teaching as her career. She has taught students from K-12 for the past 7 years and has diverse experience in teaching ESL students, students with multiple exceptionalities, and as well as various subjects such as Language Arts, Math, Science, Geography, and Visual Arts. She has also tutored standardized exams such as SSAT, IELTS, and College Admission Assessments and taught English in South Korea. As a professional mentor, she continues to develop instructional strategies for working with children and accommodating their needs. Amber also enjoys learning about each of her students’ interests and strengths to help students learn effectively.

COURTNEY K.

Courtney has been in the teaching and childcare field since she was young herself. She was enrolled in French Immersion in kindergarten, and continued her french education through both highschool and university, mentoring and teaching younger students. She completed her Bachelor of Arts in History with a minor in French at McMaster University in Hamilton. She went on to obtain her teaching degree from Brock University, specializing in Primary/Junior education. Courtney worked as an occasional teacher and tutor in Hamilton, before spending a year in Switzerland practising her french and working with children and adults to improve their english. Courtney believes that one of the most important factors in student success is confidence, and she works to instill this in every student she teaches. Students confident in their abilities try new solutions, take more risks, participate more in class, and keep trying when they make mistakes. In her free time, Courtney enjoys all things artistic, including painting, knitting, sculpting, cooking, sewing and drawing. She is also a huge sci-fi nerd, and can often be found with her nose stuck in a book.

NEIL P.

Neil is a recent graduate from the University of Toronto, graduating with a BSc in Biology, Statistics, and French. Neil has a passion for the sciences and math and hopes to pursue a Masters’s degree in Biostatistics or Bioinformatics. He has worked as a research assistant and a lab manager for various biological science labs for the university.

He enjoys biking and film and is currently in the process of publishing his undergraduate thesis on the ecological effects of invasive species.

Neil has always enjoyed assisting peers, students, and colleagues in achieving their academic goals. There is nothing more rewarding to him than seeing others succeed!

JOSEPH S.

Joseph completed his PhD in History at the University Toronto. He also holds an MA in History from the University of Toronto, an MA in Archaeology from Leiden University, an MSc in Human Palaeoecology from University College London, and an Honours BA in Archaeology from the University of Toronto. Having studied at a university level or conducted academic fieldwork in nine countries, Joseph has been exposed to a wide range of teaching styles and educational approaches. He endeavours to draw upon these diverse experiences when working with his own students.

Joseph has a decade of teaching experience at the University of Toronto, where he has been employed as a course instructor, writing instructor, and teaching assistant. He has taught a variety of undergraduate History courses, and, as a writing instructor, he has worked with students from across the Faculty of Arts & Science. He also spent two years teaching in the university’s International Foundation Program, a bridging program for incoming international students who are English Language Learners. He is comfortable working with students one-on-one, leading small discussion groups, and lecturing to very large classes – but he prefers working with students individually. In addition to his post-secondary teaching, Joseph has experience as a high school supply teacher in Toronto and as an English tutor in Beijing.

Joseph’s teaching philosophy is predicated on the creation of a supportive learning environment in which students are encouraged to reflect on new ideas while developing the disciplinary skills needed for nuanced engagement with content. He is an empathetic, patient, and flexible teacher who aims to mentor as well as to instruct. His years of developing, delivering, and evaluating undergraduate university course content have given him significant insight into the challenges faced by incoming students in higher education. As a PAT tutor, he aims to prepare his students by helping them to strengthen the skills and study habits that they will need to thrive.

In his spare time, Joseph enjoys travel and reading, and he is something of a film buff. His interests include history of all flavours, entomology, martial arts, and poetry. He currently has articles forthcoming in a number of scholarly journals, and he is writing two books (one a work of culinary history and the other a novel).

Learning is a lifelong journey, and Joseph is grateful to have had many wonderful teachers, colleagues, and students as travelling companions along the way.

OLIVIA L.

Olivia is a medical student at McMaster, having completed a Bachelors in Medical Sciences and a Minor in Health Sciences at Western University. Along with her passion for science, Olivia loves mentoring and has been described as a good-humoured, thoughtful, and caring teacher. Olivia tutored languages throughout high school and then organic chemistry in university, and she has also helped run science workshops in her community. She strives to make the learning environment a safe place for mistakes, having made many herself, and is excited to help students achieve their goals. When she’s not figuring out how to use her stethoscope, Olivia is probably gardening, biking, or strumming her new guitar.

KATHERINE C.

Katherine is in her Masters of Applied Science in Biomedical Engineering. During her engineering undergraduate degree, she built electrocardiograms (ECGs), coded model patient intake systems, and developed a mobile application for American Sign Language (ASL). Now, you can find her mixing chemicals at the lab bench for studying neurodegenerative disease and bacteria.

Katherine first discovered tutoring in high school, where she worked 1-on-1 with grade 9 and 10 students in Academic French classes. At Ryerson University, she helped undergraduate students understand the fundamental science which would serve as a foundation for the rest of their learning as a teaching assistant. Katherine also continued tutoring youth aged 5-18 in reading, writing, and French. In addition to academic guidance, Katherine realized the value of fostering a safe, welcoming space for learning and understood that a diverse set of people requires a diverse set of interactions and responses. She served as Vice-Captain, and later House Captain, responsible for a group of 150+ incoming students during the week-long orientation programming that she helped facilitate. As elected Director in her faculty’s Student Society, it became clear to her that developing an open rapport was key to fostering an environment of support among one’s peers and mentors. This values-driven mindset led Katherine to volunteer with vulnerably housed populations in palliative care.

Katherine’s work with end user design, connection with students, and delivery of service with patience, care, and respect are experiences she strives to provide to her students for a supportive environment that develops their successes.

SAMANTHA F.

Samantha graduated from Queen’s University with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in English Literature and Psychology, and a Bachelor of Education the following year. She discovered a love of working with children during her time as a camp counsellor at Camp Kadimah out in beautiful Nova Scotia, where she balanced planning engaging programs and forming meaningful relationships with campers of all ages, eventually winning the Peter Stone Award for Best Camp Counsellor. Following her stint out east, a longing to travel abroad sent her to rural Italy to teach English to Italian students at an Italian summer camp. The learnings from this experience teaching English as a Second Language found their way into a variety of her other roles, including tutoring, tour guiding, and leading the ESL Summer Program at Upper Canada College. Aside from teaching, Samantha worked as an editor on Queen’s student newspaper, the Queen’s Journal, earning herself a writing award from Amnesty International. Samantha builds a foundation of trust, reciprocity, and pleasure into her teaching, focusing on intrinsic rewards and student-specific interests and personalities. When she’s not teaching, Samantha finds great enjoyment in reading nonfiction, practising yoga, and spending time with family and friends.

KELVIN H.

Kelvin Hui first graduated from Queen’s University in 2008. In 2009, he then graduated from OISE (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education) at the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Education in the Intermediate/Senior grade levels.

Since then, he taught anywhere and everywhere! He taught in public schools, private schools, Montessori schools, and several schools overseas. He jumped at the opportunity to teach in both England and China. He absolutely loves traveling, immersing himself in a new country and new culture, and most importantly, teaching students of course! Through these experiences, Kelvin developed a deep passion for working with young children and guiding them to reach their fullest potential. He understands that learning is a process that requires hard work and patience.

Kelvin looks forward to meeting and working with new students in the near future.

ALLIE M.

Allie is an Ontario-certified Primary/Junior teacher with additional qualifications in special education as well as Intermediate English and math. After completing both her Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education at Queen’s University, Allie was honoured with the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario’s Faculty of Education award. After graduating, Allie moved to England to work in a specialist setting for children with a range of needs. There, Allie taught small groups of middle school students their subjects in a primary-style classroom, catching them up on curriculum they had missed in their mainstream schools. Allie’s desire to engage students of all educational backgrounds stems from her volunteer work with organizations such as Holland Bloorview, Canadian National Institute for the Blind and Making Waves. These experiences have taught Allie the importance of tailoring learning to the individual student and incorporating their interests wherever possible. Allie also recognizes the role of resilience in learning, helping her students build both academic and emotional skills simultaneously. Like her students, Allie is always learning, collecting certifications from organizations such as the Geneva Centre for Autism, TRIBES and Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). At present, Allie is pursuing her Master of Education, where she works as a Teaching Assistant for pre-service teachers studying inclusion. When Allie isn’t at work or school, she can be found reading, cooking, learning Braille, doing yoga, or hanging out with her dog Charlie!