Creative Writing and Poetry Archives

Zachary Young

March 26, 2017

Zachary Young grew up in New York City and graduated from the Brooklyn Technical High School. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Professional Writing at S.U.N.Y. Cortland. Then he completed his Master’s degree at Relay Graduate School of Education while simultaneously teaching full time with the New York City Department of Education. Zach also taught 6th grade writing at a charter school. Before teaching in New York City, Zach worked for the New Jersey Department of Education coaching public speaking and debate teams with middle and high school students. He ultimately left the classroom to focus full time on private tutoring and providing individualized support.

Zach is a skilled ELA instructor, having taught Reading and Writing in New York City schools, and can help students build skills to decipher even the most difficult texts in any subject area. In addition to English, Zach has taught Social Studies and can assist students in History, Political Science, and Geography. He has worked closely with parents as a classroom teacher, and understands the importance of constant communication for student success. He has years of experience adjusting learning exercises and lessons to suit the needs of each student and has various ways of differentiating learning materials using Individualized Education Programs. Zach is devoted to meeting each student where he or she is and building upon his/her strengths.

In order to ensure his student’s success and independence, Zach will help his students with how they learn in addition to what they learn. He works to help them gain self-awareness, confidence, and the strategies to address their own academic shortcomings. Through executive function coaching, Zach reduces academic stress by helping students tackle problems efficiently and manage the meta-work. Checklists, planners, and organizational instruction are some of the ways he has assisted with the growth of past honor roll students as well as students who struggled to achieve their potential.

Zach’s teaching philosophy is that each unique student requires consistent and special focus to have sustained growth. When he isn’t helping his students, Zach can often be found performing sketch comedy around Manhattan and Brooklyn, or doing improv comedy with the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. Zach is a proud nerd and can’t pass up an opportunity to discuss the latest video games or upcoming Superhero movies.

Sage Haas

December 26, 2016

Sage Haas is an elementary school teacher and private tutor with over a decade of experience. For as long as Sage can remember, she has always wanted to be a teacher and learning specialist. She graduated from SUNY Buffalo with a Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences and a concentration in Education. Sage then completed a dual Master’s degree in childhood general and special education at Hunter College, as well as an advanced certificate in Gifted and Talented Education. While in graduate school at Hunter College, Sage was an Assistant Teacher at PS6 in Manhattan, where she developed a passion for a full inclusion model. She taught 3rd grade ICT at Brooklyn Arbor Elementary School (PS414) in Williamsburg, Brooklyn for 5 years until relocating to London, UK. For the past 3 years, she taught at The American School in London and worked in grades 2, 3 and 4. She is proud to say that she truly loves what she does.

Sage believes that all children are unique in the way they think, grow, learn and explore. With the rigorous standards for school children today, Sage understands the importance of finding a way into the curriculum both as a classroom teacher and private tutor. In working with a wide range of students, Sage has been able to tailor instruction, materials, and supports in order to meet these diverse needs. Whether working with an individual, a small group, or a whole class, making real-world connections and making learning meaningful is a priority to her. Through exploration, discovery and practice, students will acquire the knowledge needed to forge connections, think critically, and foster the skills that lead to a healthy and fulfilling life.

In Sage’s free time she enjoys reading, art, traveling, hiking, cooking, and spending time with family and friends.

Brittney Wilcox

August 29, 2016

Brittney Wilcox is an experienced private tutor across ages and subjects, with particular expertise in the humanities, writing and research skills, and organizational and executive functioning coaching. For over ten years, Brittney has provided tutoring and academic support to students from elementary through high school in private and public school settings. Brittney partners with students to enrich their learning, transform their study habits, develop confidence, increase motivation and self-awareness, and improve academic performance. Her students (and their parents) appreciate Brittney’s encouraging, creative, and organized approach to teaching. She believes there is no “one-size-fits-all” method of instruction, so she differentiates lessons and scaffolds learning accordingly. She is especially passionate about literacy and instilling in her students a love for reading. Brittney strives to help learners—of any age, in any language—confidently express their stories and voices through the written word.

Outside of her one-on-one work with students, Brittney is a professional in the field of international education, specializing in language, literacy, and education in emergencies. Brittney currently manages community-based English programs for the International Center—an organization providing ESOL/adult education opportunities for immigrants and refugees throughout New York. She earned her Master’s degree in International Educational Development from Columbia University’s Teachers College, where she was also a research assistant, curriculum development intern, and contributing editor for the Journal for African Education. Her master’s thesis analyzed the world language children’s collection of the New York Public Library. Prior to her current role with the International Center, Brittney worked at a Nordic cultural foundation in Manhattan and served as the chief of staff for the president of a biomedical research foundation. Originally from Seattle, Brittney moved to the East Coast to study journalism and French at New York University. As an undergrad, she interned in children’s book publishing at Penguin Books and spent six months studying literature and the arts in Paris.

In her free time Brittney enjoys traveling with her husband, volunteering in her community, reading YA novels and The Economist, learning new languages, taking barre classes, pursuing creative projects, and listening to NPR.

Dan Moore

June 13, 2016

Dan Moore graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a Bachelor’s degree in Television Writing and a Master’s degree in English Education. He has worked as either a private tutor, a special education paraprofessional or a permanent substitute in New York City public schools since he graduated in 2012.

Dan Moore has managed and run in-class college essay-writing workshops and tutored/taught a variety of subjects including all levels of English, History, Social Studies and some Sciences. He also specializes in SAT, ACT, ISEE, CTP and Stanford-Binet test preparation. In addition to these, Dan helps his mom (a music teacher for the last 30 years in New Jersey) run a weekly class teaching sketch comedy to elementary students during the winter.

Dan’s teaching style is highly personal and highly empathetic; he is adept at tailoring his lessons to the individual learning needs of his students. He has the subject-area expertise to really challenge the highest-level learners but also the patience and teaching experience to maximize sessions with students whose greatest strength lies in other subjects. Having worked in New York City public schools for several years, he has seen all kinds of learners and can use their strengths to work on their weaknesses.

During the pandemic, Dan attended a coding bootcamp and began working as a full-time computer programmer in 2022. He tutors in the evenings after slowly, patiently reducing the number of error messages he sees all day long and getting phone menus and call trees to work.

Outside of teaching and programming, Dan is a Sports Emmy-nominated writer for Bleacher Report’s animated series Game of Zones.

Zachary Brewer

April 15, 2016

Zachary Brewer is a private tutor specializing in elementary math, literacy, and technology. He is also a middle school math tutor and a writing tutor for all grade levels.

Currently, Zach is the Educational Technology Specialist at Corlears School where he teaches all of school’s pre-kindergarten to fifth grade classes, integrating technology into every subject. Zach is passionate about technology, particularly the opportunities it gives students to apply traditional subject matter in modern ways. For instance, his students have learned math concepts through programming video games, they have prepared video news reports about events around the school, they have created animations about science topics, and they have written, filmed, and edited monster movies.

Previously, Zach was a math enrichment teacher at P.S. 85 in the Bronx. There, he designed and taught a supplemental mathematics curriculum called “Math Art” to third through fifth graders. The visual, hands-on activities of Math Art reinforced and expanded upon math topics while increasing student involvement and sense of accomplishment. He has since turned the curriculum into a self-published book that has sold over 5,000 copies. A lover of writing, Zach has begun work on his second book about educational technology.

In his free time, Zach enjoys hiking and camping, photography, and playing 1960’s and 70’s pop songs on the piano.

Zachary Young

Company Overview

School Planning

Private Tutoring

Test Preparation