Mary Heaton (she/her) has been working with children in K-8 education for over sixteen years and has been teaching for eleven years. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education from Temple University and a Master’s degree in Multicultural and Bilingual Education from the Universidad de Alcalá.
Mary realized her love for teaching in high school when she worked at a children’s center; her personal interactions with the children motivated her to pursue a career in education. Since then, she has taught in various bilingual classroom settings here in the U.S. and abroad in Madrid, Spain.
Mary’s greatest strength is her ability to understand and motivate students to become excited to learn. She is highly skilled at improvising in challenging situations; in fact, Mary has often found herself drawn to the students that other teachers have found to be “challenging,” because she knows they just need an extra level of attention and care to learn. Mary believes that early childhood is a critical time period to prepare young children to succeed in school and that great parent-teacher communication is key to any student’s success. She looks forward to working with you to help your child reach their potential!
Mary enjoys spending time with her husband, son, and daughter. She loves to travel — whether it’s finding new places to explore nearby or somewhere far away. You can also find her doing Zumba and yoga outside in her hometown.
Cindy Mummert (she/her) has twenty-five years of teaching experience at the middle school, high school, and college levels. She earned a Bachelor’s in Science in Education (BSE) in Mathematics at Millersville University and a Master’s Degree in Educational Technology at Lehigh University. As a mathematics teacher, she has worked with students of diverse levels and learning styles. Cindy has applied her teaching experience as a private tutor for over seven years.
Cindy thinks of math as patterns and relationships. She decodes math using graphic organizers, mnemonics, and real-world contexts. Math truly is everywhere! Cindy knows that we can all access our “math brain” if given patient and individualized support.
Cindy is an ongoing student of meditation and mindfulness and is excited to offer these techniques to maximize students’ focus and success. She is fascinated by all avenues of learning and self-discovery. She believes that we are all life-long learners through our life experiences. Cindy loves helping students embrace their inherent abilities. She views academic challenges as an opportunity for self-empowerment and self-knowledge. Often, what is gained through such challenges can be a springboard to expand into other areas, both academic and non-academic.
Cindy is an avid gardener and nature advocate. She has traveled widely and recently hiked in Nepal and explored parts of Northern India. She would love to visit all of the U.S. National Parks; some of her favorite parks are in Maine, Wyoming, and Washington. Cindy is an ongoing student of yoga and Ayurveda, one of the world’s oldest whole-body healing systems.
Jacob Ginsberg (he/him) has been tutoring informally since he was young; he began tutoring professionally eight years ago. Since earning a degree in English from Brown University, he has worked with students on academic subjects ranging from middle school math to college level history and calculus. Jacob teaches Socratically and creates individual plans of action in dialogue with his students, inviting them to take control of their own learning. Jacob believes students should capitalize on their strengths while working to improve in the areas where they need his assistance.
As a tutor, Jacob collaborates with students and helps them build good habits and new levels of understanding. He can help students with their writing at every level: grammar, structure, syntax, and theory. As a math lover who struggled in high school English, he believes that anyone can learn to write and read at a high level. He’s passionate about interdisciplinary learning and enjoys working across the humanities and sciences. He works to cultivate a love of learning in his students.
Jacob has an MFA in Creative Writing from Temple University. In his free time, he writes fiction, reads for a literary magazine, cheers (and boos) at Flyers games, and walks his dog Isabel.
Erin Gleeson has over seven years’ tutoring experience and currently teaches high school Algebra in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. She has a Bachelor’s in Geosciences from the University of Arizona and a Masters in Climate Sciences from the University of Bern in Switzerland. Erin has worked at the intersection of science and practice for over a decade. She has partnered with Nepali farmers, Peruvian herders, and diverse communities throughout the U.S. to build climate resilience through partnerships that integrate nature conservation with economic opportunities and social cohesion. Most recently, she worked to connect landowners throughout the Central Appalachians with the carbon market through sustainable forest management.
Because she understands the importance of critical thinking in solving our socio-environmental challenges, Erin enjoys helping students develop their college-readiness skills in areas as diverse as SAT/ACT, Algebra and Geometry, and AP Biology. Erin’s approach to teaching is strongly grounded in logic, evidence, and real-world examples. Erin loves how trivia about the natural world can unlock the secrets of math and science for her students. For example, she will teach students that bees use hexagons to make their honeycomb, because it’s the strongest and most efficient shape in nature. How cool!
Erin’s mindfulness practice is rooted in being active and aware outdoors. In her free time, she works on restoring the natural habitats of her northern Virginia home, plies her mostly green thumb in the garden, and cycles and hikes extensively. Erin is also a beekeeper: she maintains hives both at her home and at the Swiss Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Sarah Malik (she/her) is a medical student at the Medical College of Georgia. She completed her undergraduate education at Princeton University with a major in International Affairs and Public Policy and a research focus on Macroeconomics and Development. Before coming to RTC, Sarah worked mentoring international students in extracurricular development and college preparatory skills; she found it immensely satisfying working with students across cultures and at varying levels.
Sarah loves building relationships with her students and seeing them progress over the course of sessions. She has a wide variety of interests and academic experience — she tutors everything from APUSH to AP Physics – but Sarah loves Math in particular, and hopes to share this love with her students. Having taken the SAT and ACT herself only a number of years ago, Sarah especially enjoys being able to be a positive influence for students during a time that can often be stressful to navigate.
In her free time, Sarah plays lots of soccer, PlayStation, and enjoys traveling with her friends and family.
George Fenton (he/him) is a writer and educator living in Philadelphia. He earned his B.A. in English from Saint Joseph’s University, and both a Teaching Certificate and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Temple University. George has been tutoring professionally for over five years. He enjoys tutoring students in subjects as diverse as French, Biology, History, Economics, Government, and Writing, and especially enjoys tutoring for Advanced Placement courses.
Having graduated from a very competitive and high-stress high school, Sisi really emphasizes mental and emotional well-being in the process of reaching success and achieving goals. Sisi encourages students to evaluate their school-life balance and construct a positive environment for students to set study schedules. She earnestly believes that short- and long-term success is rooted in daily emotional health, and she hopes to support students in this manner to better manage their high workloads.
Because of George’s experience with students from a variety of disciplines, he understands that each learner is unique in the way they absorb a topic. Thus, George likes to build educational scaffolding around the way a student already thinks, so that they may find the conclusion using their own knowledge as a jumping point. George believes that the goal of each tutoring session is not only understanding a subject, but also building self-confidence, and by extension, developing a student’s personal growth. George loves meeting learners where they are and showing them where they can go, whether it be in writing, economics, or science.
Beyond tutoring, George loves using his abilities crafting short stories and participating in The Moth’s monthly story slams at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia. George has also worked as a traveling musician, touring the country as a guitar player for several bands. Whether it’s music, painting, or writing, any creative outlet brings George great joy.
Ruby Monn (she/her) is a veterinary student at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. She completed her Bachelor’s of Science in Animal Science with minors in both Nutrition and Biotechnology at North Carolina State University. She has successfully published as a first author in Translational Animal Science and served as a second author for numerous other published research manuscripts and abstracts. In addition, she worked for two years at Duke University studying genetics in metabolic diseases, as she is passionate about the science behind medicine. Her in-depth work in the sciences and maths has made Ruby an exceptional STEM tutor, and she loves sharing her passion for them with students.
Ruby is dedicated to working with students on their level in a way that best meets their learning needs. Her favorite tutoring experience was working with ESL students in Cape Town, South Africa through Ubunye Teach-out, where she taught basic reading, writing, and mathematics. As a STEM tutor for RTC, Ruby loves unlocking the puzzles of Chemistry, Biology, Physics, and all levels of math to students based upon their needs as learners. Ruby understands that any student at any level can grasp science and math concepts if guided by a kind and encouraging teacher.
In her free time, you’ll find Ruby exploring Philadelphia to find fun new work-out areas, beautiful views, or a new culture to learn about! She also enjoys getting away from the city and going for long hikes or spending time on her family’s farm in southcentral PA.
Sisi Tang (she/her) graduated from Duke University with a B.S. in Biology and History. She has over five years of teaching and tutoring experience and has worked extensively with high school seniors in the college application process. Sisi has an extensive background in biology, math, the physical sciences, and computer programming. Having taken college-leveled calculus in her freshman year, Sisi has a natural proclivity towards numbers and logical reasoning. Currently, she works as a MRI Research Specialist in the Perelman School of Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
Sisi’s approach to teaching is rooted in applying real-world examples and observations. She tries to bring the “outside world in” by helping students see the larger picture and using examples and practice to enhance and solidify their knowledge. She encourages students to capitalize on what they already know, understand the why behind concepts, and apply those skills in different contexts. With any student, Sisi wishes to make learning fun and a lifelong adventure. Hence, she likes to point out the patterns, disguises, and commonalities between different subjects, be it writing and humanities or math and science.
In her free time, Sisi loves reading, cooking, and playing music. Her personal goal is to visit all the U.S. states and national parks by the age of 60. She is an avid follower of holistic medicine, practicing meditation and acupuncture frequently for stress relief and personal improvement.
Karim Bourenane (he/him) is a medical student at the California University of Science and Medicine near Los Angeles. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience from Pomona College and a Covid-19 Contact Tracing degree from John Hopkins University. Prior to working at RTC, Karim spent his college years volunteering to tutor high school students, primarily in STEM subjects. He also provided college counseling and tutoring to low-income students.
Karim’s favorite aspect of tutoring is watching his students become confident with material with which they previously struggled. Karim believes in meeting his students where they’re at and adapting his teaching style to maximize results. He’s really passionate about STEM, and especially Biology and Chemistry. Because of his own preparation for the MCAT, Karim can relate to his own students’ experience studying for high-stress exams. Karim understands that students need a foundation of mental health to succeed academically, and he often practices mindfulness with students in their lessons together.
During his free time, Karim likes to be in nature, hiking, camping, kayaking, and meditating. He also loves to play soccer and video games. He would love to visit Antarctica one day.
Julia Adams (she/her) has been tutoring informally since she was in high school. She graduated from Washington and Jefferson College with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, with minors in Mathematics and Education. Throughout her undergraduate career, Julia volunteered tutoring mathematics at a teen center, where she guided students in everything from fractions to calculus. Each light bulb moment, that “a-ha!” that indicates a student has connected the dots, is what continues to inspire Julia; she has continued to gain a deeper appreciation for tutoring in her five years working 1-2-1 with students.
Julia knows RTC’s teaching philosophy better than most: she was one of Miss Claire’s students, and she herself learned to beat the ACT on her journey to college. Her ACT achievement helped her earn her sizable merit aid at W&J. Julia brings this test-taker’s expertise and empathy to her work as an RTC tutor. She’s our first alumna test prep tutor, and she’s our secret weapon!
Julia is passionate about teaching because she is passionate about learning. Every student brings new opportunities for Julia to learn along with them. Julia believes in Socratic teaching and understands that if a student can work through problems cooperatively with their tutor and explain how they did it, they build both their skills and confidence. Julia especially loves teaching mathematics because of its concrete answers, and biology because of its practical applications.
In her free time, Julia is an active artist and spends her free time painting, drawing, cooking, and spending time outdoors around her home in Pittsburgh, PA. Julia is a strong advocate for having a creative outlet to relieve stress in difficult situations and uses her creativity as a form of mindfulness.
Casey Burke (he/him) is a writer, tutor, mentor, and digital marketer living in West Philadelphia. Growing up as the oldest of four siblings taught him patience and provided a foundation for the mentoring efforts he went on to pursue. These included a summer job as a camp counselor and a role in his high school’s mentoring program for disadvantaged middle schoolers, both of which cemented a passion in him for helping children grow and find joy in working toward their goals. Casey knows that every child thinks differently, and as a tutor, he is determined to identify and cater to each of his student’s individual learning styles.
Casey earned a double B.A. in English and Cognitive Science from the University of Virginia, with a concentration in literary prose. After college, he started working as a paid search analyst for a digital marketing agency, where he consistently sought opportunities for teaching and mentorship. He was selected to participate in an externship program, and these teaching experiences drew him closer to a transition to education in earnest. Casey is a natural, kind, and intuitive teacher, and he has enjoyed tutoring RTC students in various subjects.
Writing has been one of Casey’s passions since he was old enough to spell. For Casey, any kind of writing is a form of self-expression: helping students improve their written work is ultimately a way to help them find a singular voice and build confidence, both on and off the page. In addition to writing, Casey teaches Spanish, Math, and U.S. History. In teaching, Casey relishes the challenge of zeroing in on an appropriate goal for each student, then developing a specific, long-term plan to make it happen. His interests range widely across subject areas, and for him there are few greater joys than putting in the time and effort to understand a new concept, whether it’s a Spanish conjugation, a polynomial equation, or the War of 1812. Casey aims to inspire this love of learning for its own sake in every student he teaches.
In his free time, Casey enjoys fiction, distance running, cooking, playing the acoustic and bass guitars, listening to his sizable record collection, and reading about philosophy and music.