Meet the Tutors!

Anne is the founder of Outside the Box: Creative Tutoring. She majored in Elementary Education with double minors in Mathematics and Language Arts at Northern Michigan University. Anne is autistic, and after working in the classroom as a student teacher, she realized that it wasn't her style to be tied to a traditional teaching setting. She wanted to reach students individually so she chose to work with students one-on-one outside of the classroom. This gave her the freedom to key in on each student's interests. She prides herself on finding what it is that gets a student excited to learn.

Though her autism makes it difficult for her to socialize with other adults, it has proven to be her super power when it comes to working with and relating well with children and teens. She loves to laugh during sessions and will not hesitate to sing, dance, and be utterly ridiculous when honoring a student's achievements. She often uses silly voices and accents to make boring topics enjoyable. Anne believes that a student that is laughing is making a strong connection to the material. She regularly makes jokes and tells offbeat stories to teach serious topics. Just don't be surprised if you get a note sent home that says your child was giggling while taking a test.

Anne has always loved creative writing. As a child it was her goal to grow up and be a famous author. Her passions have shifted and she loves working with children now, but she did find time to write a children's novel, Annie Banana, and a young adult novel, Dancing in the Rain, both of which she hopes to get published.

Anne's family is growing as she and her husband have adopted a ten year old girl. For as long as Anne can remember, she knew she wanted to adopt children instead of having her own. A quote that has inspired her comes from the movie Martian Child. "I don't want to bring another kid into this world, but how do you argue against loving one that's already here?"

Stephanie is currently a student at Grand Valley State University majoring in Psychology with big dreams of becoming an Occupational Therapist. She is a certified art teacher for K-12, and has taught in over ten different school settings in the past decade. Far preferring a one-to-one or small group approach, Stephanie knows how to make learning fun. Her specialty is infusing art into any subject, and fusing art with any interest the student has. She is also a registered behavior technician for children with autism through Centria Autism Services.

When Stephanie isn't in classes or teaching she can be found in the kitchen concocting vegan meals, painting, or playing her with 6 year old daughter. She's an environmental and democracy enthusiast and likes to bike the city or white pine trail collecting signatures for ballot initiatives.

Peggy is currently a real estate entrepreneur. She worked in insurance management and consulting for over 20 years at the corporate offices of CNA Insurance and Specialty Underwriters. She has always loved science (and college football) since she got her BS in Chemistry at the University of Notre Dame. She has tutored various ages and worked as a substitute HS teacher.

Peggy enjoys working one on one with students to build their confidence and knowledge by connecting the study of science and math to everyday life experiences.

When not working, she enjoys live music (especially opera), gardening, foreign languages and travel. She has been to the UK, France, Germany and China.

Suzanne is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a BA in Creative Writing and a Hopwood Award to her name, as well a serious love of books, both in reading them and writing them. During the school year she works as a Montessori Teaching Assistant, and has made it one of her many goals to one day become a certified Lead Teacher for Montessori. In the summer, she teaches with the Institute of Reading Development, where she works with students from four years old to adults, helping them become stronger, more confident readers.

Suzanne's passion is working with children, and she counts herself beyond blessed whenever she gets to experience their unfiltered thoughts, engage their enthusiasm for the world around them and the worlds they find through books, and build up their boundless potential. She is constantly looking for creative ways to inspire others to become passionate about learning, and also independently tutors in reading, writing and French, being officially recognized as proficient in the language at the University of Michigan. She loves to volunteer and teach with Artists Creating Together for their visual and dramatic art classes, has starred in numerous musicals and plays, and had her artwork displayed at Michigan State University.

In her free time, Suzanne loves to read any and all books, work new worlds into being with her writing, paint and draw in multiple kinds of mediums, and make every day a musical. She loves traveling the world, creating art with her friends, making delicious messes in her kitchen, binging amazing Netflix shows, and spending time with her family at Lake Michigan.

Dakota Button was a student at Michigan Tech for three years and is finishing her degree online at SNHU, majoring in neuropsychology. She's passionate about making sure everyone, no matter what age group, has every opportunity to be the best version of themselves. In addition to working with children and teens, she is able to offer classes for parents as well. You're never too old to learn!

Dakota's other job includes working with autistic children and she previously worked with adults with traumatic brain injuries. You can often find her studying various subjects in psychology or reading studies about the treatment of PTSD in veterans through neuropsychology.

Mayela was born in Durango, Mexico, but was raised in the industrialized city of Monterrey, Mexico where she Graduated from the Monterrey Institute of Technology. She has BA in Accounting. She has worked in financial and accounting audits for KPMG and freelance work. She also is an English language instructor from the same institute in Monterrey. In 2010 she moved to McAllen, Texas and in 2015 moved to Grand Rapids as she and her family were uprooted due to her husband´s employment. Since then has moved on to teaching Spanish for Lingual Learners and is an ELL bilingual teacher's assistant in the Sparta school district.

Mayela is the proud Mother of two beautiful girls, two yorkies and has been happily married for 20 years. She has found her passion in teaching Spanish to children and helping immigrant children to learn English. She is very empathetic, kind hearted and really cares about their development. Other than teaching the language, she enjoys exposing them to the vast and wonderful Spanish speaking cultures. Mayela enjoys reading and traveling abroad. During her 20 year marriage, she and her husband have visited Paris, London, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Monte Carlo and Italy. She loves to be in the company of her family and cannot wait for the moment to go visit her loved ones in Texas and Mexico.

Stephen is a recent graduate of Grand Valley State University with a Bachelor's of Science in Statistics with a minor in Economics and currently holds a position at H.D. Hudson Manufacturing as a Business Analyst. Stephen is passionate about working with numbers - whether that be interpreting data, doing rapid mental math, or putting together charts to put complicated numbers into a more meaningful concept. Stephen also has a deep appreciation for the French language and took it for all 4 years of high school, he even traveled to France and got to try some of it out in real time.

In his free time, Stephen enjoys jamming to his favorite tunes on his bass guitar, watching movies, playing chess, or spending time with his family. Stephen also has an adorable cat, Luna. Stephen is excited to work with Outside the Box so he can help pass on the knowledge he has been able to learn throughout the years and help others succeed in ways that are tailored to them.

Lacie was born and raised in Michigan by her deaf parents and had two C.O.D.A. siblings. She grew up in the mainstream schools and graduated from Model Secondary school for the Deaf in Washington D.C. She spent 6 years working with mental health in Florida. Lacie relocated to Austin, Texas, to serve for Texas School for the Deaf for 10 years as a residential educator. She is currently living in McAllen, Texas, to continue her entrepreneurship journey. Lacie enjoys traveling, camping, art crafts, and spending time with her family.

Jessica graduated from Moody Bible Institute with a bachelor's in Applied Linguistics, with a minor in Greek. She worked as Teacher's Assistant to a professor there for three years and published many articles for the student newspaper. She has since worked as a tutor for four years with VIPKID, an online tutoring company, and has worked with hundreds of students ages 4 through 15. She enjoys teaching language arts and social studies especially but has taught many classes on science and math as well and has seen great progress among her young students. She has thoroughly enjoyed homeschooling her three children for four years and loves to see their love of learning grow each day.

Jessica reads extensively and one of her greatest passions is to encourage her students to read more and to enjoy learning about the world around them. Her own children are often lost in a book throughout the day. Her favorite genres to read are historical fiction, biographies, science fiction, and fantasy. She also loves to explore nature and her family is often out exploring new parks and forests nearby to learn about animals and plants.

Jessica is excited to work with Outside the Box and to help foster a love of learning among her students and encourage them with their studies and to see them excel! She hopes to teach them how to develop their study skills and take pride in what they are learning.

Evan is currently a Therapeutic Counselor. He graduated from Clark University with a major in Psychology and a minor in Physics. He continued his education in Europe and graduated from University of Nicosia in Cyprus. Cyprus is a beautiful island with a rich history, you should ask him about it. He enjoys helping people to improve the quality of their life and future. One of the best ways to ensure this is providing and guiding people with the necessary tools to succeed.
Evan is a citizen of planet Earth and loves to travel. He recently moved back to the USA from Europe and is getting situated for his twin daughters and wife to join him. Even though his daughters are 8-years-old they have learned to speak Greek during their time in Europe.

Beth taught in special education resource rooms for eight years. She homeschooled her seven children for about twenty years. She has worked as a substitute in several schools in Ottawa and Kent Counties. Most recently, Beth taught PreK for one and a half years in Hopkins, MI. She enjoys tutoring preK-elementary aged students and loves to make the learning process fun.

Beth enjoys spending time with her husband, adult children, and grandchildren. She loves to cook big family meals. Beth enjoys a variety of sports, but she especially enjoys biking and swimming for exercise. She loves playing the piano and planing board games with her family. She also likes to spend quality time doing crafts with her grandchildren.

Sharon has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Spring Arbor University. Her passion is helping others, so tutoring is fun for her! Sharon was a substitute teacher at her children's elementary school for 13 years. Then, she spent 2 years as a Preschool Aide for 4-year-olds. While she was still a substitute teacher, she began working for VIPKID. This company trained her to make learning fun as she taught English as a second language to children online. Sharon has also tutored adults in ESL through Bethany Christian Services.
Sharon enjoys spending time with her family! Sharon, her husband, and two children have traveled from the New England States, to the Deep South, and as far West as South Dakota. As a family, they have had the many opportunities to learn about the different cultures that make-up the United States.

A single mother in her early thirties, Jessica hails from Rockford, Michigan. She has exhibited a lifelong academic bent and passion for learning. For Jessica, school was about academics, and making friends was just a bonus! She graduated high school with a 4.1GPA. Jessica earned a full-ride academic scholarship to Lee University in Tennessee. She ultimately ended up accepting the scholarship offered by Aquinas, and was invited to compete for additional scholarship money in Aquinas's Leaders Scholarship program. While pursuing business management, Jessica jumped some steps and went straight to owning, operating, and managing her own LLC, "Melodies Music Studio" of Rockford, Michigan. Jessica managed all of her own marketing and advertisement, website design, independent contract employees, curriculum sales, instrumental rentals, and so on. However, her passion was in the teaching! She has taught piano and music theory for 16 years, specializing in children with special needs. After many years as a stay-at-home-mom, Jessica's passion for academia was recently re-kindled when she began tutoring a sophomore student in Rockford High School's virtual program.

As a mother of a multi-talented, intellectual fifth-grade daughter, Jessica has her hands full! Her daughter has grown into her favorite person to spend time with, and they have many shared interests and hobbies. There is one thing particularly that Jessica and her daughter have in common: their love for animals! Flora and fauna won Jessica's heart from a young age, and she found herself involved in everything from rehabilitating orphaned wildlife to hiking, horseback riding to gardening. A four-year-old thoroughbred racehorse, nine-year-old bullmastiff, three cats, and Chilean Rosehair tarantula currently complete the family. Jessica spends a lot of her free time in the saddle, as her equestrian career is very important to her. She also enjoys reading, writing, crafting, eating sushi, listening to 90's country, and binge-watching horror movies on Netflix.

Adi has taught math and science to 6th graders for the past three school years. She just recently moved to Grand Rapids from Indianapolis and is so excited to tutor students in this city. Adi's favorite subject is math! She also enjoys social studies too. As a teacher, Adi believes in getting to know the student before she can effectively teach them, being patient with ourselves and trying to think of fun strategies to remember information to make learning more relevant to our life.

When Adi is not teaching, she loves to spend time with her husband and her dog, Charlie! Adi is expecting a baby in November and looks forward to the fun and excitement that will bring to her family. Aside from family time, Adi loves walking, reading books, listening to good music and yoga.

Reyna is a registered behavior technician and has been working with children on the spectrum for two years. She has a background working with special needs students as direct support staff as well as helping at church and tutoring elementary aged students. She even taught a drum class. She volunteers at a local community center weekly where she helps with children from around the world.

Peter is currently teaching Algebra 2 and Pre-flight Math at West Michigan Aviation Academy. This school year is his second in Michigan, as he moved here to be with his wife Catherine in July 2021. Before moving to the Grand Rapids area, Peter taught math and special education in Antigo, Wisconsin and Loveland, Colorado. While Peter has specialized in mathematics throughout his career, he is a lifelong learner, and loves to immerse himself in the sciences and humanities, and has a passion for education and seeing his students grow. Peter's values each student as an individual with a unique set of strengths and weaknesses, and uses this perspective to get the best from his students every day.

When he is not teaching, Peter is a busy father to his 9 month old (as of December 2022) son, Ezra. Peter was formerly a competitive chess player and speed solver of several Rubik's puzzles, and can still be found enjoying those passions on a less competitive level. He also loves to cook and hike often with his family and friends.

Elyssa has a bachelors in Anthropology and Spanish from Indiana University. Over the last 6 years, her jobs have mainly been in the education field as an ESL paraprofessional and substitute teacher. Elyssa first moved to Grand Rapids to teach Hispanic adults English with the Literacy Center of West Michigan, as an AmeriCorps member. She enjoys teaching others English, elementary and conversational Spanish. She also holds a minor in History and an International Studies Certificate. Elyssa has been abroad to England, Scotland, Spain, and Costa Rica. She always loves to share about her travels.
Elyssa continues her love of teaching at home each day with her baby boy, Koa. Elyssa and Koa love to read together! She is now a stay at home mom but loves to help tutor in the evenings. She also enjoys time outside in summer, Latin dancing, and traveling to new cities in Michigan when she gets the chance.

Elizabeth holds a Bachelor's degree in Child Psychology and Master's degree in Elementary Education from the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She has over 10 years of elementary teaching experience in a variety of grade levels and roles, including language specialist. Elizabeth recently stepped away from the traditional classroom setting to spend more time with her daughter Frankie, and pursue her love of yoga. Elizabeth is now a yoga studio manager, certified kid's yoga teacher, and in the midst of her 200-hour registered yoga teacher training.


Elizabeth and her wife Kelli, a high school ESL teacher, have traveled to nearly 40 countries over the last decade and they continue to be passionate about world cultures, food, and language. They spent 4 years living in the Middle East and 6 years in Beijing, China. Elizabeth enjoys spending time with her family, reading, baking, being outdoors, doing home projects, and practicing yoga.

Kristin is our most "mature" tutor, but like a fine wine, she has gotten better with age. She has a Master's degree in English from Ball State University, and earned her Bachelor's in English at Wittenberg University in Ohio. Kristin has enjoyed lifelong travel in Europe, Canada, and most of the states, and has tutored English to ESL students, both children and adults. She has also taught beginning piano to both children and adults, off and on all her life, and tutored privately in math, history, and social studies.

Mostly, though, she teaches essay composition and sometimes Western Humanities at Aquinas College, and has been doing so for fifteen years. She's taught composition also at GVSU and GRCC, and currently at Davenport University. In the summers she has facilitated at SAT essay-writing preparatory workshops, and directed the summer program at Lake Michigan Academy for different learners, grades K to 12. Other supplemental work has included dog walking (Kristin is the Number One Animal Lover of the Universe) and companion for the elderly.

Kristin is diverse in her interests and skills, but in terms of people, she holds a fond place in her heart for children and the elderly, for similar reasons. They are easy to talk to, because they are genuine. She has strong faith in the intelligence of children, and respects them for that. What results is a keen affinity with them, and she uses that to help them learn.

Kristin's favorite things to do are travelling, writing, reading, petting cats, playing games, binge-watching excellent TV with her two grown sons, swimming, and laughing so hard she needs her asthma inhaler.

Sam is a self-employed Marketing Consultant, husband, and dad of four kids. He is also co-leader of the children's ministry at Tribes Church in Rockford. He home schooled two of his children for three years and is very active in their homework and education. Sam is excited to tutor for Outside the Box: Creative Tutoring so he can help more students and expand their possibilities.

Sam's passions are many, but acting and drama are probably his biggest. He majored in English and minored in Theatre at the University of Michigan, and has been doing something with acting when he can since graduating in 1992. Sam's dream is to start a children's theatre here in Grand Rapids and have drama programs and camps for kids who want to be the next Academy Award winners.

Julian graduated from Florida International University with a degree in History and a Caribbean Studies certificate. From here, he is currently pursuing a master's degree from Western Michigan University. As a historian, he was required to read many firsthand accounts as well as literature from different time periods. While reading, it became necessary for him to use critical thinking and writing skills to teach and learn more about history. As a native Spanish speaker, languages come naturally.

While obtaining his degrees in Florida, Julian was a teacher for an afterschool program called Bricks 4 Kidz. He taught kids to use their critical thinking skills to build models using Legos. With an emphasis on using one's imagination and creative ideas, Julian encourages students how to think and learn in a fun learning environment.

Jonah Chickering Graduated from Aquinas College in 2019 with a BA in English Writing. In college, he worked at the Aquinas College Writing Center where he tutored hundreds of fellow college students with any stage of the writing process. This included working from square one on a written project to detailed editing and citation work. He helped people from all backgrounds including ELL students and non-traditional aged students. Although he is early in his career, Jonah has found what he loves to do and what he loves to teach others.

Jonah has a love for reading and writing that he wants to share with everyone around him. Becoming lost in a story and thinking deeply about theme, style, and form is something he will do every day of his life. His favorite genres are science fiction, fantasy, and horror. He loves to write creepy poems and stories about far away places. Teaching people to foster their own creativity is one of the most rewarding things he has ever experienced.

When Jonah isn't hitting the books or the word processor, he is most likely out walking his two Golden Retrievers, playing Magic: The Gathering with his friends, cooking a meal with his identical twin brother, or car pooling to the beach. Jonah is extremely excited to work with Outside The Box: Creative Tutoring so he can help as many people as possible learn how fun and rewarding reading and writing can be as well as how to cultivate creativity within themselves.

Jake is an adjunct professor at Grand Valley State University teaching Biology labs. His graduate experience is in plant ecology and he has three years of field experience in Northern Alaskan tundra biomes, but is also familiar with the local ecology of Western Michigan where he was born and raised. Some of the most rewarding experiences he has had include teaching others standard operating procedures and introducing people to foreign tasks and ideas, as well teaching himself what was needed for his graduate degree. He enjoys gardening, reading, hunting, and various martial arts. Learning is a process of discovery and making mistakes

Nadia has grown up with sign language as her first language. She is hard of hearing and wears two hearing aids. She has deaf parents that taught her sign language. She was involved with many of the different deaf clubs events. She also volunteered at Camp Chris William for the Deaf/Hard Of Hearing/Blind/Coda campers since 2016. She has worked with a variety of ages and disabilities. She was always inspired to help other people who are in need or interested in learning the language and culture.

Currently Nadia is a small deaf business owner. She makes her own art and crafts. She makes bath salts with herbs, candles, wire wrapping with crystals, wood crafts and paintings. During her free time Nadia enjoys traveling out of state and going on adventures with her friends. She loves being outdoors and spending time with her family and friends.

Sarah is currently a student at Grace Christian University. Over the course of her education, Sarah was homeschooled and enjoyed the ability to learn a variety of subjects independently from curriculums and classroom settings. While in high school, she took college classes at both Cornerstone University and Grace Christian University. She has always had a huge love for learning.
Sarah is working toward a future career in the publishing world. Along with her love for the written word, Sarah has also been learning American Sign Language since she was 8 years old. Sign language is a beautiful, unspoken language. Sarah hopes more will come to appreciate its uniqueness.
Sarah loves to read and write. She even works in a bookstore! When she isn't with a book in hand, she can be found drawing, researching, or even riding her unicycle. She is excited to spread the joy of learning!

Carmen was born in Mexico. She grew up in the state of Sonora. She has a BA in Accounting. In 2008 she got married and moved to Tucson, AZ. She was a volunteer in United Way-VITA during Tax season. She was a foster mother too. In 2015, she moved to Grand Rapids, MI due to her husband's employment. She has worked teaching Spanish in Lingual Learners and volunteering with some families. She loves teaching Spanish and Hispanic Culture to children and adults. She also practices English with her nephews.

Carmen is very responsible, kind and reliable. She enjoys cooking, reading and traveling with her husband, extended family and friends.

Jay is near the end of his college career and will soon have a BA in History and a minor in English writing from Aquinas. He is a Phi Alpha Theta National Honors Society member for History, as nominated by several professors. He has been a Peer Tutor for History as well as an Athletic Study Tables tutor through AQ CORE for about three years and prior to that he was a peer counselor in High School. He is adaptable and adept in academia, but is also a personable and patient tutor.

In his spare time, Jay writes poetry, is an artist, and is an journaler/diarist. He has a stationary collection, lives with four cats, and tries to read at least six books a year. He's a personal fan of theology and mystic tradition, though he enjoys a good work of Fiction as well. Jay enjoys traveling and likes to hike and mediate on trips. He finds the combination to be a wonderful experience!

Rachel strives to build trust with her students so that they feel supported and willing to take risks. Rachel's teaching personality is calm and steady. Through a variety of activities, she strives to meet students where they are. Rachel earned a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and a master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Martin Luther College. She has applied these degrees in individual and group settings.

Jim served as a pastor, Bible teacher, and missionary for the last 33 years. He also helped with the home schooling of his seven children over a period of 20 years. Now he serves half time as a pastor and occasionally substitute teaches in the Hudsonville area. He has a passion for working with older students and loves to find creative ways to help them grasp difficult concepts.

Jim enjoys spending time with his wife, Beth, and his seven children and five grandchildren. He also enjoys watching sports, reading, traveling, and learning about other cultures. Jim lived in Estonia in Eastern Europe for thirteen years and on the island nation of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf in the Middle East for eight years. He especially enjoys conversing with others about history and world affairs.

Tabor is a recent graduate from Grand Valley State University with a Bachelor's of Exercise Science and is pursuing her Master's in Clinical Dietetics. She has been a science and math tutor at the collegiate level for three years and is excited to start working with the K-12 group. One of her passions is sharing knowledge with others and being able to spark a genuine interest in a subject that was previously seen as "too difficult" or "boring" by a student. Tabor likes to keep the tutoring environment fun and upbeat while also making sure the student's needs are being met.

While she's not tutoring, Tabor loves to spend time outdoors, including hiking, biking, or camping in the West Michigan area. She also loves to exercise as she is a recently retired collegiate track and field athlete. As someone with an exercise science degree, Tabor combines her passion for fitness with her knowledge of biology, anatomy, and kinesiology to experiment with different training styles. Above all else, Tabor loves to connect with students and make learning more fun and enjoyable!

Irina was born in Romania. She was a teacher for 1st to 4th graders. Ask her how the educational system is different and how kids have only one teacher from 1st to 4th grade. She came to United States of America in 2000. After going back to school, she graduated from Grand Valley State University with a BA in Legal Studies. Currently, she is a Practice Assistant, assisting Intellectual Property lawyers.
Irina enjoys her Book club and reads extensively. One of her greatest passions is to encourage her students to read more and to enjoy learning about the world around them. Also, she is good at math: Algebra, Calculus, even Geometry. Math is fun if you have the right teacher to make you love it and understand it.
Would you like to learn some Romanian? Would you like to learn about another culture and some European history? Ask Irina.
Irina misses her long walks with her dog, Lucy, and now she walks her hubby. Also, she likes to cook, work out, even knit. Irina loves to explore nature and her family is often out exploring the lake, new parks, and outdoor activities in general.

Tiffany graduated from Grand Valley State University with a Master of Education in Learning Disabilities and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology/Special Education. She taught middle school for nine years, including Special Education/Resource Room Language Arts, Math, Reading Intervention, General Language Arts and Honors Language Arts. While originally from Michigan, Tiffany spent 10 years in Arizona. While in Arizona, she went back to school at the Southwest Institute for Healing Arts and earned professional certificates for both Yoga and Massage Therapy. Also in Arizona, she took a break from teaching and entered the world of Human Subjects Research at Arizona State University. Now back in Michigan, she works as a massage therapist at Emmanuel Hospice. She and her husband (also a massage therapist) are excited to be opening their own massage practice, Duo Massage in Ada.

During her free time, Tiffany loves to relax on the couch with her Australian Shepherd, Tag. She is a big fan of terrible comedy movies and a lover of learning. During the Covid-19 shut down she learned to play the harmonium and continues to find ways to engage her creative side as she learns. While never overly athletic as a child, she has discovered a passion for trail running, thanks largely to her husband Patrick who is an ultra distance runner. Patrick and Tiffany enjoy traveling together with friends and family to crew racing events all over the country.

Lynn works during the day in insurance. She is currently working toward a Law and Society degree at Michigan Technological University online. She has big dreams of attending law school one day and finding ways to help her community with it.

She has extensive work experience working with children in after-school programs, helping them get their homework done and designing and leading educational activities to help develop an understanding of the subject.

When Lynn isn't working, she is curled up reading a good book with her favorite tea, crocheting or doing obedience classes with her dog, Frodo.

Bryan is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville with a BS in Mathematics, was president of the math club his senior year and also tutored students in College Algebra, Pre-calculus, calculus, differential equations, discrete mathematics, linear algebra, statistics, and real and complex analysis. Previously he has worked as educational assistant at Saint Louis Community College where he helped students taking pre-algebra and algebra online learn the ropes of those subjects. He is currently working on a Masters from Texas A&M-Central Texas.


Bryan's passion is working with students that struggle in math. There is nothing like seeing that moment when the concept clicks and the light bulb comes on and that makes dealing with all the frustration worth it. He counts himself beyond blessed whenever he gets to experience their unfiltered thoughts, engage their enthusiasm for the world of mathematics around them and the worlds they find through exploring the different facets of mathematics. He is always looking for creative ways to inspire others to become passionate about mathematics and is very thankful for the push for STEM subjects.

In his free time, Bryan loves to write, play video games, fish, and go off roading. He is looking forward to spring to see if he can add dirt biking and hiking to that list of hobbies. He has recently been undergoing a life changing weight loss journey and to date has lost over 100 pounds. He loves hanging out with his grandson (pictured in his id picture) and is eagerly awaiting the arrival of his granddaughter.

Amanda graduated from Ferris State University with a bachelor's degree in US History and a Minor in American Studies. After graduating college, she began working a Spectrum Health working as a technician in the OR before becoming a Library Coordinator at the Butterworth Campus. In 2020 at the start of COVID she chose to leave Spectrum Health and started working remotely for Advantage Solutions as a financial assistant.

In her free time Amanda enjoys spending time with her husband and three children, reading, and playing video games. She is excited for the opportunity to help others in her community by tutoring.

Sydni was a student at Ohio University from 2018-2021 where she graduated one year early in with a BS in Psychology. She is currently an Occupational Therapy Doctorate (OTD) student at Western Michigan University - Grand Rapids where she is working on her second year. She plans to work as an early intervention or school-based OT with an emphasis and advocacy for childhood and adolescent mental health. During her years at Ohio University, she tutored her peers in statistics and psychology courses and found a love for helping others excel in understanding concepts that appear difficult to them. Born and raised in a small town near Cedar Point in Ohio, her studies brought her and her engineer boyfriend to Grand Rapids where they found a new love for West Michigan adventures.

In her minimal spare-time, Sydni can be found relaxing on the couch with her boyfriend, going to the gym, shopping, taking long walks or playing at the park with her Siberian Husky, Moose. Sydni is a coffee enthusiast who runs on caffeine, and ALWAYS has a nice oat-milk latte in her hand from either local coffee shops or her home espresso machine.

Connor graduated from Hope College in 2021 with a bachelors degree in Business. After college he decided to switch careers and pursue education. While working on his family farm in a small town near Ann Arbor, he completed his K-5 certification and is in the process of becoming certified in secondary Social Studies as well! His favorite subject is History. He moved back to West Michigan in July and currently works at West Elementary in Wyoming as the building's floating substitute. He's been there since the start of the school year.

Connor grew up on a farm and has been working on it since he was thirteen. He enjoys the country lifestyle and the outdoors. He loves football, baseball, and golf but enjoys watching and talking about all sports! When he was in college he spent his summers working for the University of Michigan football team. He coaches football in his free time as well as spending time with friends and his German Shepard named Reggie.