New York City Metro Area

New York City Faculty My Learning Springboard's faculty is comprised of top-notch educators at every level from private, public, and charter schools as well as colleges, universities, and subject matter experts in their respective industries. Our faculty is based in the NYC metro area, including parts of Westchester and Long Island. Other locations include Washington, DC metro area, Northwest DC, Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Potomac, and Rockville, Maryland; and Palm Beach County, Florida, including Boca Raton, Delray Beach, and Palm Beach. We are available for consultation, virtual tutoring and distance learning beyond these areas as well.

Kovan Pillai

August 28, 2014

Kovan Pillai, PhD, is the Executive Director of the New York Math Circle and currently provides private tutoring and enrichment teaching with My Learning Springboard. He previously taught at the United Nations International School.

Kovan Pillai started teaching mathematics in 1985 and in between teaching stints has worked as an astrophysicist, a medical researcher and a portfolio manager, applying mathematics in these different fields. He graduated from Oxford University with a First Class Honors degree in Mathematics and also holds a PhD in Statistics from NYU, where he won the prestigious Edward Deming Fellowship. He has published research articles in General Relativity and also on the development of CPAP technology in the medical field. Kovan has taught in Hong Kong, London and New York and has extensive experience with students of all levels and ages from 6^th Grade through college.

As a parent of a Trevor Day School alum and private tutor, Kovan has developed a deep understanding of mathematical challenges faced by students at each grade level and has prepared students for standardized tests, including the ACT, SAT, SAT subject tests (Math 1 and 2), AP Calculus AB and BC and also the mathematics competitions AMC 8, AMC 10, AMC 12 and AIME. He also tutors college students, including mathematics majors.

Areas of expertise: Pre-algebra, Algebra I, Algebra II, Trigonometry, Geometry, Number Theory, Pre-Calculus, Calculus (AB and BC), various undergraduate mathematics courses and statistics.

In his spare time, Kovan enjoys cycling around New York.

Jaime Mezon

August 21, 2014

Jaime Mezon is passionate educator and private tutor. Most recently, he was on faculty at The Elisabeth Morrow School as a first grade head teacher. Before that, Jaime was on faculty at Avenues in Chelsea where he was a teacher in a Spanish immersion section of kindergarten. Additionally, Jaime worked as an admissions consultant for Avenues. As an admission consultant, Jaime assessed a variety of incoming students through model lessons and hosted playgroups. He joined Avenues from P.S./I.S. 210, Twenty-First Century Academy for Community Leadership in Manhattan, where he worked as a teacher in a bilingual special education fifth grade classroom.

Prior to P.S./I.S. 210, Jaime Mezon was an assistant teacher, supporting classroom teachers in an inclusive special education kindergarten classroom at P.S. 029 in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. He facilitated the Kids Club after-school enrichment program, where he practiced motor skills with lower elementary students through arts and crafts and provided homework support to middle school students. Prior to this role, he provided language instruction to emergent bilingual Spanish-speaking students, and tutored K-6 students in various subjects through the Alianza Dominicana MOSAIC Beacon in the Bronx. Jaime creates an environment where children are motivated and confident in their abilities to perform above expectations. He is skilled in Fundations, Wilson’s reading system, Handwriting without Tears, TERC Investigations, GO Math, Math in Focus, Singapore Math and ReadyGEN.

Jaime Mezon received a B.A. in Economics from SUNY New Paltz and an M.S.Ed. in Bilingual Special Education from the City College of New York. He is fluent in both Spanish and English.

In his free time, Jaime enjoys reading, traveling, playing basketball, and spending time with family.

Eminesse Gonzalez

June 4, 2014

Eminesse Gonzalez is currently a Learning Specialist on faculty at The Spectrum School, working with Kindergarten and first grade students with autism spectrum disorder. Eminesse also teaches a 1st Grade class on Saturday mornings through the GO Project, providing extra support to students in public schools and teaching reading, writing, and math strategies that are aligned with the Common Core Standards. As a private tutor, she works with a wide range of learners in elementary and middle school. Eminesse received both her Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree from Pace University, with a combined focus in Elementary Education and Special Education.

Eminesse has provided instruction in an array of different environments, working with first, third and fourth grade students from diverse backgrounds. Her experiences have helped her to her fully understand that every child is unique and learns differently. In Valhalla, New York, Eminesse worked as a student teacher where she gained experience with differentiation in regards to literacy and math. In Manhattan, New York, Eminesse was welcomed into a new academic community where she gained her first experience teaching in an inclusion classroom. For a full academic year, she assisted students of different cultural, linguistic and economic backgrounds who, she is proud to say, demonstrated tremendous growth by the end of the year.

Eminesse exudes a genuine passion for teaching and learning. In 2013, she had the opportunity to present at the 9^th International Literacy Conference in Guatemala City, Guatemala. While visiting underprivileged schools in Guatemala, Eminesse had the opportunity to share interdisciplinary teaching methods with educators around from the world. Her main objective was to invite teachers to utilize more creative approaches in the hopes of enhancing literacy within all academic subjects. For Eminesse, visiting Guatemala City was an eye opening experience that reinforced the concepts of collaboration, differentiation, and being a reflective practitioner.

Eminesse currently resides in the Lower East Side area of Manhattan where she enjoys reading, trying new restaurants, and spending time with family and friends. This year she hopes to continue her love of traveling, which she attributes to her open-mindedness and love of learning.

Ally Sheedy

April 22, 2014

Ally Sheedy has been working in film, television and theatre since she was 15 years old. She started off doing television commercials while in high school, and attended the University of Southern California as a student in the BFA theatre program. While pursuing her studies in theatre, Ally shot several successful films, including: War Games, directed by John Badham; The Breakfast Club, directed by John Hughes; St. Elmo’s Fire, directed by Joel Schumacher; and Twice In A Lifetime, directed by Bud Yorkin, starring Gene Hackman, Ellen Burstyn, and Ann Margret. Ally also worked one summer at The Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

Ally has since starred in over 50 films and television series, as well as appeared onstage. She won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Actress for her work in High Art, written and directed by Lisa Cholodenko. Ally starred off-Broadway in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and in Triptych, written by Edna O’Brien at the Irish Repertory Theatre.

In 2013, Ally filmed Full Circle, a mini-series written by Neil LaBute, and shot her fifth season in a recurring role on USA’s series psych.

Ally has studied drama at New York City theatre institutions Circle In The Square and The Neighborhood Playhouse, as well as a summer program created by Julliard at Skidmore College. She also participated in a Shakespeare workshop at The Public Theatre, taught by Harold Guskin, and continued to study with him independently.

For the past three years, Ally has been teaching an on camera film class at La Guardia High School, and in that time, has co-directed four productions. She works one-on-one with senior drama students on film for professional work, and coaches them individually on their monologues for college and conservatory auditions. In her private tutoring work with My Learning Springboard, Ally coaches students one-on-one in preparation for college auditions or performances.

Because Ally started her career at such a young age, she is uniquely suited to offer guidance and help develop the natural skills of young performers. She is the proud mother of a college student, and particularly loves discussion, exploration and the development of ideas with students in this age group.

Chris Ruenes

March 29, 2014

Chris Ruenes began teaching when he was in 7^th grade, offering guitar and piano lessons to younger children as well as to his peers. Since that time he has privately tutored continuously in various disciplines, ranging from test preparation to music theory. Chris graduated from Columbia College at Columbia University in May 2013 with a BA in Music Composition and American Cultural History. During his senior year, he was singled out for departmental honors in recognition of his music thesis, a composition entitled “Ruptures.” Inspired by the creative applications of computer science that he witnessed at Columbia’s Computer Music Center, Chris became determined to learn as much about programming as he could before graduating, attaining proficiency in Java as well as in the more music-centric Max/MSP by the time he left. He currently works as a software developer.

Chris’ experiences with computer programming have had a real impact on his teaching philosophy. Initially apathetic about computer science, Chris quickly became a voracious student after seeing how much it overlapped with music composition, both in its practical applications, and in the state of mind it required. This experience helped confirm Chris’ belief that any subject can be taught in a way that will make it resonate with any student—it is just a matter of tackling the subject with the tools that a student is already comfortable using, and from a point of view that he or she already finds intellectually stimulating. Chris believes that this resonance is essential to a student’s ability to truly understand a topic. In the short term, the enthusiasm it generates provides an entry point into the material. In the long term, it reinforces what the student has learned and allows this material to stick. Besides teaching, Chris enjoys spending his time biking, running, rock climbing and exploring New York with friends. He sings and plays guitar and piano, and joins open mic nights and group improvisation sessions throughout the city whenever he can. He is currently the assistant music director of the Columbia University Gospel Choir, and is in the process of getting a new band off the ground, called VoXX-ing (pronounced “voice crossing”). His current composition projects include collaborations with filmmakers, visual artists and dancers, as well as with other musicians.

New York City Metro Area

Kovan Pillai

Jaime Mezon

Ally Sheedy

Chris Ruenes

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