MEET 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.
PUSHPINDER SROA
Tutor
While completing his undergraduate program in the Bay Area, Pushpinder tutored his peers in the area of Math & Science subjects and has excelled in all of his previous professional teaching positions that he has held in the past. Push has over 10+ years of experience teaching K-12 and college level students in biology, chemistry, physics, anatomy, physiology, microbiology, medical science, and math subjects all the way to calculus. He has years of experience preparing students for SAT/ACTs. Push has Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Saint Mary's College of California and is a medical graduate holding an MD degree.
Outside of common core teaching, Push works in the clinical research side of medicine to help with the development of new drugs for cancer patients and enjoys being able to work alongside his scientist and physician peers while assisting students within the academic space. In his most recent professional roles, Push has taken part in the development of 8 anticancer drugs which have already received FDA approval.
During his free time outside of work, Push loves spending time with his family, traveling with his parents, wife, and daughter, hiking, and being in nature. On the weekends, he takes part in a number of community and volunteer activities to assist the local communities.
RAJA VASANTH
Tutor
Raja graduated with his PhD (2018) and Masters (2013) in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research interest focused on “reactive flows” entails a strong background at a fundamental level at the intersection of mathematics, physics and chemistry. He is well equipped to handle a broad range of generalized courses (math, physics and chemistry), targeted (specific) advanced courses (AP Calculus AB/BC, AP Physics 1/2/C, AP Chemistry, etc) and standardized test preparation (SAT, ACT, GRE, etc).
During his graduate school, he has served as a full-fledged teaching fellow twice and as a teaching assistant numerous times for various courses ranging from freshmen to graduate level. He has also tutored several high school students with their general coursework and standardized test preparations. This experience in dealing with students at various levels (high school to engineering senior) gives him a unique perspective on understanding the difficulties faced by students as they transition from high school to engineering focused classes at the university level. Raja is a full time researcher in a national lab and is planning to take up a position in academia due to his passion for teaching and research.
As an aspiring faculty, Raja strongly believes that his primary goal is to support the students’ cognitive processes by fostering in them confidence, critical thinking skills and problem-solving strategies aided by foundational knowledge so as to ground their ideas in practice. He believes that effective teaching starts with promoting a nurturing learning environment, where the teaching strategies are carefully tailored to match with students' needs.
Outside of research and teaching, Raja enjoys watching football (Visca el Barça), cooking and long walks.
THI NGUYEN
Tutor
Thi recently graduated from San Joaquin Delta college with an AS degree in Health Science in spring 2023. Currently pursuing her BS at Sac State, Thi is steadfastly working towards her dream of becoming a Physician Assistant.
Thi's dedication to education has helped her fulfill her role as a math and science tutor at the Huntington Learning Center, where she has effectively guided students in grades 7 through 12 in Algebra. I, II, Physics, Chemistry, SAT test prep. Her proficiency in these subjects, coupled with her patient and approachable teaching style, allows her to effectively communicate complex concepts to her students, fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation for learning. She takes great pleasure in supporting her students in achieving success and seeing them grow. Her teaching method combines clear explanations, interactive learning techniques, and tailored strategies to suit each student's unique learning style.
Thi is currently working part-time at Dameron Hospital as an ER scribe, she loves reading books, playing piano and being out in nature
JESSE RUSSELL-CHEUNG
Tutor
Jesse graduated from San Francisco State University {SFSU} with a degree in Philosophy.
While at San Francisco State, he took courses such as Formal Logic, Law and Society, Ethics in
Medicine, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Mind, and Macro/Microeconomics. While at SFSU, Jesse
worked as a teacher’s assistant in the Psychology Department for two semesters. As a teacher’s
assistant, he reviewed and graded student work, in addition to observing performance and
providing constructive feedback to improve and cultivate written communication skills.
Jesse specializes in teaching reading/writing skills, in addition to all social science subjects with
an emphasis on critical thinking. He is also very equipped to tutor any natural sciences his
students require. He is known for his ability to create a positive and engaging learning
environment, using a range of techniques and strategies to keep students motivated and
enthusiastic. Jesse takes pride in his student’s achievements and he believes that unwavering
commitment to student success is what makes a reliable and effective educator.
In his free time, Jesse loves swimming and doing film/book reviews. He also enjoys watching
basketball and European soccer.
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.