MEETÂ FEW OF OUR TEAM MEMBERS
LA DONNA WHETSTONE
Tutor
La Donna graduated with a BS in Physics, minoring in English Literature. Her interests include astronomy, geology, English language, writing, and vocabulary building.La Donna has tutored for over 20 years since graduating from college. She spent her teenage years tutoring and counseling younger children through youth programs in Oregon. After college, she became a private tutor due to her interest in education. She has worked with children as young as three and as old as 22. Despite her science background, she is beginning a career as a writer, and enjoys tutoring English writing, spelling, and vocabulary the most. Coming from a family of ten children along with having a son, she has a lifetime of experience with children. She has tutored students with ADD, ADHD, dyslexia, and other learning disabilities. She enjoys teaching study skills to improve students time management and give them less stress when facing exams. La Donna believes every child has the ability to learn and that tailoring homework, study skills, and teacher interaction can encourage children to become more active in their own education. For her, the end goal should not just be improving grades, but cultivating a love of learning.
GEORGE WELKER
Tutor
George graduated in the early 1990’s from San Francisco State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting. Being an Accountant for the last 25 years, George has become great with numbers. While raising his 3 children he was active in his children’s schooling and activities. He also volunteered for many projects and class events throughout their time in school; as well as coached soccer for several years at the local AYSO affiliation. He always enjoyed working with children and giving back to the community.
Currently, George and his wife are raising their teenage granddaughter and have been for the last 2 years. When COVID-19 hit in March of 2020 George found himself home schooling his granddaughter through independent study. George and his Granddaughter not only managed to graduate from the 8th grade, she just completed the 9th grade, and will be starting the 10th grade this fall. This is something that George has spoken about on many occasions and is truly proud of both his and his granddaughters’ accomplishments.Because of his years of experience, he was able to relearn Algebra so he could help his granddaughter get through the class. His granddaughter has always struggled with Math/Algebra so being able to tutor her and get her to pass the class with a good score has been one of his most memorable and fulfilling experiences of his life.Throughout the years, George has proven over and over that he has patience and willingness to teach scholastic or sports; and not only does he enjoy working with young adults, but he also has the personality that allows young adults to communicate and trust him easily.
ROXANA RIVAS
Tutor
Roxana is a vibrant and dedicated tutor whose passion for education shines through her work with students from kindergarten to 12th grade. With her psychology degree nearly complete, she brings a unique understanding of the learning process to her tutoring sessions. Her experience as a bilingual instructional aide and school liaison has equipped her with the skills to connect with students and families from diverse backgrounds. Roxy's commitment to fitness, including yoga, cycling, boxing, keeps her sessions dynamic and engaging. Roxy is not just a tutor; she's a mentor, motivator, and advocate for lifelong learning.
JAQUELINE AZAH
Tutor
​Jacqueline Azah is a proud Cameroonian immigrant and prominent human rights activist raised in San Joaquin County. She attended Wicklund Elementary, Bethany Elementary, and graduated with honors from Mountain House High School. A recent graduate of Clark Atlanta University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a minor in Criminal Justice Administration, she brings a wealth of academic and professional experience to her tutoring services. With a strong background in English, writing, American/world history, and social studies, she honed these skills through her decorated background, including serving as a United States House of Representatives intern and lobbying education rights at the Georgia State capitol. During her undergraduate years, she was inducted as a Pi Gamma Mu International Honor Society in Social Sciences Member and has two published articles in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as a guest columnist. Currently, she works as a Paralegal at the Law Offices of Corren &
in Stockton, California, while simultaneously studying for the LSAT in preparation to be a fall 2025 J.D. (law school) candidate.
Her tutoring style is characterized by a patient and supportive approach that focuses on individualized learning to help students grasp complex concepts. Jacqueline finds great joy in sharing her knowledge and experiences with others, cultivating a positive and encouraging learning environment to enhance students' understanding and confidence. Outside of her academic pursuits, Jacqueline enjoys immersing herself in West African comparative public policy research, volunteering, running her Christian faith-based podcast, and spending time in nature. Her dedication to making a difference in her community is reflected in her commitment to tutoring and helping students succeed academically and beyond.
MELANIE MARKO
Tutor
Melanie has 16 years working with students both in General Education and in Special Education. Melanie is a Special Education Instructional Aide, her specialty is assessment based on IEP Goals for the purpose of reporting on them and baseline assessments for program placement. She currently attends college to complete her degree in Education with a background in Psychology. Her current accolades are her GPA of 3.88 and she is on the Dean’s List, all while taking accelerated classes. Melanie’s passion for teaching stems from her enjoyment of experiencing the moment a student masters a challenging task. The excitement and sense of pride in that moment is very fulfilling. She has been tutoring for 10 years, and can competently work with kinder-12th grade students effectively in phonemic awareness, decoding, phonics, reading fluency, comprehension, language arts, grammar, writing, high school English and essay writing, based following the common core standards. Melanie also has been working with students in kinder-8th grade on common core math standards since their adoption in 2013. She has access to most teacher’s edition math textbooks, and creates comprehensive lesson plans based on students specific needs, and assesses for mastery of skills. Melanie also has 3 years working with the new SAT incorporating lessons and practice tests from the College Board’s Educator’s Book of Knowledge, career exploration program, and ACT, SBAC, MAP, and PSAT test prep. In her spare time, Melanie is involved with animal rescue, spending time with her family, repurposing, and gardening.